My Travel Adventures

This weekend, Reese and I travelled to Chiang Rai, a city nestled in the northernmost corner of Thailand, and so far north that local agencies offer two-day boat rides to Luang Prabang in Laos. Chiang Rai was founded in 1262 by King Mangrai, who named it after himself: the word “chiang” means city, so a loose translation of “Chiang Rai” would be “the City of (Mang) Rai.” Heir to the kingdom of Ngoenyang, Mangrai unified the city states (or mueangs) of northern Lanna and present-day northern Laos, establishing the Kingdom of Lanna.

I did not expect to go out on Sunday as it was supposed to be cloudy, and my impressions of the weather when I woke up seemed to confirm the forecast. As I sat at my desk, however, the sky kept getting bluer and bluer until I could no longer bear staying inside. Walking along the road, I thought I would stop a passing tuk-tuk, but the farther I walked the less inclined I felt to pay money to cover the remaining stretch. My first stop was San Chaopho Suea, a Chinese temple also known as the Tiger God Shrine. Relatively small and lacking an open courtyard, the place was hot and heaving, its thick trails of incense smoke assaulting the senses. In addition to the Tiger God, the Goddess Mazu, and other mainstays of the Chinese pantheon, I noticed that the temple had a large statue of the Monkey King Sun Wukong.