Wat Rong Khun

Wat Rong Khun, known as the White Temple of northern Thailand, is a contemporary Buddhist temple near Chiang Rai, Thailand.

The brainchild of Thai artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat, it is a work in progress with additional buildings to be added in the future.  Construction began in 1996 and is expected to be ongoing for another sixty to ninety years.

The temple is a dazzling, brilliant structure of white plaster with embedded, glittering mirror chips.  I'd highly recommend sunglasses when approaching it on a sunny day.

An eclectic mix of Buddhist tradition and modern art permeates the temple and its grounds.  A Roman Catholic would likely risk stern papal condemnation for employing such novel juxtapositions in a place of worship.  Here, Buddhist monks serenely stroll the premises.

Ghoulish heads hang in trees, and murals depicting contemporary woes and ways, off limits to obedient photographers, adorn walls.  There are surely lessons to be learned and morals to be contemplated, but that would best be left to the unique intuition of the individual visitor.

The devil's brew.
A whiskey bottle perched on a representation of evil.
Fine with me, I never was big on whiskey.
As A.E. Housman so glibly noted years ago,
"Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink..."

The temple grounds.

Approaching the temple, visitors pass over a bridge
as a multitude of sculpted hands
reach up pleadingly from the depths of Hell.

Tourists and Buddhist monks in front of
the approach to the temple.

Back to earthly delights, chickens sizzle on a grill
across the road from the temple.

Hill Tribe Boy

Hill tribe boy.
Northern Thailand.

Tha Pae Walking Street

In Chiang Mai, Thailand, Ratchadamnoen Road is closed to traffic every Sunday evening, and a huge, vibrant, outdoor market comes to life.  Throngs of locals, tourists, and expats file into the area stretching from the plaza outside Tha Pae Gate, down Ratchadamnoen Road, and into the heart of the Old City.  

Over 700 years old, the Old City constitutes the part of Chiang Mai once surrounded by fortress walls and a moat.  Remnants of the original city walls remain.  The entire moat is intact.

The Sunday walking street market attracts street performers, and features a tempting array of street foods, as well as exquisitely crafted, indigenous goods to peruse and purchase.

Awaiting the masses.  Late afternoon, before
the arrival of  a sea of people.

Outside Tha Pae Gate.

A table of wares.

Street food.

Street crossing at Tha Pae Gate.
Songthaews, like the red one pictured here, are share taxis
that shuttle people about the city.

Street performers in the Old City.

Ratchadamnoen Road looking toward Tha Pae Gate.

Vendors and shoppers.

Street performer as darkness closes in.

A flurry of feet on Ratchadamnoen Road.

Wat Pantao is situated along the market route.

Hanging lanterns at Wat Pantao.

Reclining Buddha

In Chiang Mai Province, Thailand, worshipers
encircling the chedi at
Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep pass behind a reclining Buddha.

Beerlao

I was delighted when, on our drive from Chiang Mai, Thailand up to the Golden Triangle, our tour guide informed us that we would be able to buy Lao beer when we crossed the Mekong River into Laos.  She praised Lao beer as being "the best beer in Southeast Asia".  I thought to myself, who better to judge such a claim than the man sitting in my seat.

Sure enough, vendors in the Lao border market we visited were peddling both Beerlao Original Lager and Beerlao Dark Lager.  I was especially interested in sampling the dark.  I purchased a can of the original and a bottle of the dark which I cushioned carefully in my backpack.

Back in Chiang Mai, and before I got around to sampling the bottle I had bought in Laos, I came across Beerlao Dark at The Duke's on the Ping River -- a restaurant noted for good American food.  I was craving a decent burger and fries, and what better to accompany my meal than an unfamiliar dark brew to savor.

Duke's Swiss mushroom cheeseburger was tasty.  I ordered it with onion rings and snitched some of Stacey's fries.  All good fare.

The Beerlao Dark Lager was a pleasant surprise with a smooth, malty sweetness.  At 6.5 percent alcohol by volume, it doesn't fit the definition of a session beer, but, definitely not heavy or thick-bodied, it does go down quite easily.  I couldn't resist having another with my meal.  All in all, very satisfying.

According to RateBeer, Beerlao Dark is a Vienna style lager.  The style was developed in Vienna in 1841, and was an improvement on the dark brown lagers of the day.  The achievement was overshadowed by the first production of blonde pilsner lagers in 1842.  Even though pilsner lagers caught on rapidly, the Vienna style remained popular at Oktoberfest celebrations for years to come.

For drinkers in the upper Midwest of the USA, which has become a hotbed of quality craft brewing, another good lager in the Vienna style is Capital Brewery's Winter Skal out of Middleton, Wisconsin.  It was a big hit with family and friends at Christmas Day festivities in Spooner, Wisconsin back in 2011.  I've read there are changes afoot at Capital Brewing.  Hopefully, Winter Skal is kept in the lineup.

Travel Poster

A poster in Chiang Mai  lures travelers south to
the resort island of Phuket on Thailand's western coast.
The island's tourist trade rebounded quickly
following the devastating tsunami of  December, 2004.

Girl at Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep

Young girl at foot of steps leading to
Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep.
Chiang Mai Province, Thailand.