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Tues 17th Feb – Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai

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DW: This holiday requires us to be more dynamic than Japan. Thailand requires some flex, but nothing too much. Laos is shaping up to be more nebulous. Planning is irrelevant and in fact overplanning is to your detriment as it inspires false confidence. National elections have been called during our proposed trek, I reach out to Somhak (I have no idea what would have happened if I had not) and he says we need to shift a day earlier as he must vote (NB: Laos is in fact a one-party state…). He also notes that unfortunately his car is not licensed for us and we need to navigate the public bus instead. I pivot to a different Thai based trek. Somhak says “no worries, thanks for letting me know”. Vientiane accomodation seems unable to accept any form of realisable payment (Laos is a closed economy and Kip is not allowed to be taken out of the country). I feel another pivot incoming. Thai time is one thing. Laotian looseness is a different level altogether I expect.

CR: Half of today is transit to Chiang Rai, our second Chiang (not to be confused with Chang, as Claude helpfully tells us, which means elephant). Chiang Rai is very northern Thailand and its outskirts border Myanmar and Laos.

The bus we get from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai is very much a tourist bus. There’s only one Thai person on it. It has comfortable reclinable seats and well functioning airconditioning. The trip goes smoothly. I listen to an ABC Bookshelf podcast where Tim Rogers is a guest reviewer and spoils the entire plot of a book I am interested in and Declan listens to a podcast from an ex-Tesla employee.

Chiang Rai gives off a poor first impression. It looks completely dilapidated. The searing heat doesn’t help either. There are definitely nods to tourism – such as the beef ribs restaurant next to the hotel – but the region clearly does not pull in enough money to improve its facade.

We’re concerned that we won’t have enough to fill the next two days so, given it was my idea to come here, I am tasked with “fixing it”. I am hopeful I achieved this but following blog posts will determine whether this is true.

DW: There appeared to be continuous roadworks for the entirety of the road between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Despite this, our bus was perfectly on time.
DW: I can definitely imagine this river flooding. That height marker goes up a long way.
DW: South East Asia is much more efficient on a micro level with their land. An enterprising soul has setup a banana tree plantation in this vacant block next to an Ibis apartment building.
DW: I am not sure why the Blue Temple had more skull motifs and gods with six packs compared to other temples we had seen. It felt more modern in construction (the elephants were made out of reinforced concrete) and design (the intricacies were all at the level of mass produced structure, not handmade artisans). It also had a signature blue icecream being hawked, demonstrating my point in an earlier blog about Buddhism more directly engaging with commerce than other religions.
CR: The inside of Blue Temple is equally as intense as the exterior. No one would be able to accuse the Thais of being minimalist. It feels ridiculous watching Thai people pray here. It’s all so gaudy that it is hard to take seriously. On reflection though it’s equally as feasible as going to a church and listening to a man in robes. All religion is a strange way to spend time.
DW: I had forgotten my modesty pants and did not see the interior of the Blue Temple.
DW: This was my third fun drink of the day. Thailand has a big drink culture and you see Thai people everywhere walking around with some form of sweet drink from a cafe. I am just trying to culturally assimilate.
CR: I love these seats. Each group of Thai friends walked around taking photos and then sat down and individually reclined and started playing on their phones. We’re not so different after all.
DW: I have an appreciation for DEET after this holiday. Prior to purchasing DEET I was experiencing a constant flow of minor bites. Post-DEET acquisition I am bite free. I worry my tolerance is increasing though. I started at 12%, but that doesn’t hit the spot anymore. I secured 28% in anticipation of our jungle activities.
CR: Chiang Rai grows on us in the evening. So much money and time and social capital at work is expended on taking a longer holiday. The weight of expectation is heavy. When a location doesn’t quickly satisfy there is such disappointment. But it only takes the sun to set and the air to cool to calm down and enjoy thinking about a map of the world, and then about where Chiang Rai is on that world map, and about how far and strange that place seems at home in Australia, and that we are there right now.
DW: The broth was the rich, dark colour of eucalyptus leaves in a stagnant pond.
CR: Long twirled rice noodles covered in a deeply savoury broth, adorned with meats of your own choice (I avoided the offal) and a boiled egg and herbs. This was so delicious and I loved that it was a meeting place for locals to catch up about their day. It was chatty Tuesdays around us.

Categories:Thailand, Laos and Cambodia 2026

Dek

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13 Responses

  1. Strong views on religion CR! I’m not sure if you went to Rome when you were in Europe, but I suspect that the baroque interior of St Peter’s probably out-gaudies the Blue Temple. Not sure if the level of gaudy reflects level of religious zeal.
    You appear to be enjoying the food and drink.
    Good luck on the Laos plans. I would be getting stressed with all that movement.

  2. We did go to Rome but did not go to St Peter’s. Sadly I only remember very few things about Rome. We might have only been there two or three days. Rome feels like another lifetime and a different boyfriend ago but incredibly it’s the same lifetime and same boyfriend!

    I am enjoying the food and drink. I think Declan enjoys it less. I’ve always really liked the variety and depth of flavour of Thai food. I think the food in Laos will be more simple, being a poorer country.

  3. Who is somhak?

    What is the name of Laotian currency would be a screamer of a trivia tiebreak question.

    If somehow that didn’t work the last question would be describe in under 5 minutes how one could obtain such currency and is it possible to successfully plan a self guided holiday in Laos

    So in Laos they actually have a separate license to allow locals to have tourists in their vehicle.

    I have a feeling that the Laotian government views westerners as either drug dealers, spies or both.

    Are you still going to Laos?

    Are sandals, shorts and t shirt allowed inside the temple.

    Considering the heat what do the locals wear when attending temple.

    I like it but certainly would think twice about attending if I was hungover from the night before.

    I know nothing about Buddhist beliefs and practices. Do they attend temple more on certain days and times. Have you seen locals inside whilst you have been there.

    I have had a lifetime affliction of being always bitten by mosquitoes so I would have to use the highest percentage of DEET available to even have a slither of a chance of not contracting some ailment.

    Declan is looking pensive in the last photo.

  4. Tay Tay states in her song ‘mastermind’ from her midnights album “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”…. clearly shes never been to Laos!

  5. Dad: Somhak was meant to take us on our 2 night jungle hike.

    I wonder how many Thai people go to Laos on holiday… Maybe a lot wouldn’t be able to answer that question either!?

    No idea about the vehicle. He’d previously said all the transfers were no problems so what can you do 🤷‍♀️

    We are still going to Laos, but going later than originally planned because the hike has been cancelled and that was our accommodation for at least two nights. We’ve booked an alternative activity in Chiang Rai so will stay longer than originally planned in Thailand.

    Lots of loose long clothing in the temple. I don’t know either about the routine of temple attendance. There are lots of locals there praying when we have been there.

    Dad, maybe you’d be bathing in DEET? Otherwise you’d just be a big cloud of mosquitos.

    We’d been having a tiff that afternoon, hence Declan’s pensive look. Declan was cranky I hadn’t researched Chiang Rai more (at all) before putting it on the itinerary.

  6. Maddy: my mum is going to love this comment 🥰 you’ll need to introduce yourself in the comments to my parents 🙂

  8. Well it sounds like we would get along great then!

    Hi Mum and Dad… Im Maddy! a big fan of Caitlin as well. When shes in office and not working tirelessly on her travel portfolio, she is my client.
    I wont bore u on the details just know, she is a great teacher!

  9. Hi Maddy and it’s nice to meet you. Any friend of Caitlin’s is automatically a nice person so welcome to the chat.

    We’re also big fans of Caitlin’s but i suppose we don’t have much choice about that.

    I must admit I’m also slorking off work doodling on the blog so Caitlin’s adventures are reducing Australia’s productivity.

    Now to the most pressing issue over and above the travel adventures ~ did you manage to make it to the eras tour and what are your top 3 Taylor albums. State of grace is her best song ever.

    Cait, just a couple of questions

    How many other people are lurking on this blog. Just need to know so I don’t suffer a huge episode of foot in mouth disease.

    Lucky I stayed silent about your work gossip.

    I have a feeling Declan’s trips have a higher degree of preparation. Is your laissez faire attitude to travel planning doing Declan’s head in?

  10. Dad: I’ve given the blog link only to my absolute favourites at work. There is Maddy who you just met. Oxana, the tech lady at Barrenjoey (she’s the one doing the multi day run in the Amazon later in the year), Norrie (Japanese ex-broker still working at brokerage firm, who was interested when we travelled to Japan), Lee (who said his wife was interested in travelling to Vietnam and I was surprised to hear that, so shared my blog as a warning) and Lilly Tong who I worked with at UBS and was also good friends with Andri. It’s really the who’s who of markets. I don’t think many people read regularly though and are very unlikely to stray to the comments so you are safe!

    Yes, my travel ideology clashes with Declan’s. I am more reliant on the safety net of money to take care of issues. Declan abhors this attitude.

  12. Planning is irrelevant and Deet 28% is the death knell to any possibility of me getting Paul to that part of the world. I didn’t realise how modest you had to be dressed for tge temples. Poor Declan showing a flirty bit of leg one day having to fully cover the next.

    I was so excited by the Tay Tay reference that I might just bypass the blog and only read Maddy’s comments! Cait have you seen the 2 new extended music video versions for Opalite. Of course there isn’t just one because there must be many versions.

    Favourite photo those cane lounges closely followed by the river. Very impressed with photos this blog!! I also have noodle envy as I heat up my Woolies frozen roti. Love you xx

  13. Mum: I have not seen the 2 new extended videos. Will get that completed by day’s end.

    Very glad you’re enjoying the pictures. Blog is a good excuse for us to take photos otherwise I suspect we’d have about three photos in total at the end of the week.

    Tonight Declan wants to get the real deal cheese roti. Will document with photos.