Christmas Day in Chiang Rai

Christmas day started with a delightful family breakfast on the porch.  The same old favorites from the past few days with the addition of Christmas bread.  Mmm mmm good.  After finishing off my last cup of coffee, we headed off for the day.  The plan was to visit the "White Temple," "Black House," and maybe the flower festival that opened today.  First the temple and the house...

The White Temple and Black House are both creations of local Chiang Rai artisans.  They are just as they sound.  The White temple is, well, white.  The Black house is, well, black.  The story goes slightly deeper in that the creator of the White Temple is a devout Buddhist, whereas the artist of the black house is an atheist.  The White temple is essentially just a gallery, whereas we found the black house to be the artists home, studio, and gallery in one.  Quite cool.  Both locations (which are located on opposite sides of the city as well...) were perfect for pictures.  We spent quite some time wandering the grounds taking photos to our hearts content.

From the Black house we decided to check out the flower festival.  On the way we discovered it was not what it was cracked up to be and opted for a short 130 km journey out the Phu Chi Fam where there was a "warm waterfall" for swimming.  We came back to the homestay to pick up the necessities before heading out again.  It was once again a race against time.  With masterful skill, we managed to take a wrong turn, and missed the easy chance to get to the waterfall.  Perhaps it worked out for the best though, as we were fortunate enough to enjoy yet another amazing sunset in the mountains of Northern Thailand.

Well, enjoy the pictures from the past few days.  Tomorrow we travel back south to Chiang Mai for our massage class.  Stay tuned for updates and painful stories!

Merry Christmas!

Eduardo and Christelia