Chiang Mai | Sherry Lachelle Travels

The Wat Rong Khun temple or “White Temple” is located in Chiang Rai, Thailand and we stopped there while en route from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong. As you can see it is beautiful and very artistic. It was in fact designed by an artist named Chalermchai Kositpipat.

The hands sculptures were on either side of the walkway at the front entrance!

He had quite an imagination…

At the border of Laos we boarded this slow boat for an eight hour trip on the Mekong River. We had the boat all to ourselves!

We stopped at a village where the Hmong hilltribe people lived in Laos…and a discussion began concerning happiness. One of the women on the trip felt very sorry for these people. They seemed quite happy to me! So long as people have a roof over their head, food to eat, clean water, and medical attention when necessary…especially if that is the life they have always led…then perhaps the simpler life style is less stressful.

The history of Hmong people is very interesting…you should take a look.

Beautiful girls…

Pet monkey on a chain…:)

Next…more of Laos…followed by Vietnam!

Talking Heads (synkroniciti.com)
Hmong talk (ahmongwoman.com)
Beautiful days in Chiang Mai Province Thailand – Part 1 (discovertheorient.wordpress.com)
White Temple of Chiang Rai: Unique and Interesting Contemporary Art (beontheroad.com)
Artist & Temple by Jacky CW (500px.com)

If you’ve been reading along…you know that in 2009 I did a lot of travel. It began with Egypt and Jordan in March–followed by Peru for three weeks in May, and now in December, another G Adventures trip to Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

So…for the story–

After checking into my hotel in Bangkok, Thailand…having just traveled 33 hours from the Midwest, I needed a massage. Although it was 3:30am in the morning, I was able to get a massage in my room for $5.00 (from a girl). It was the first of four massages I would enjoy while in Southeast Asia. After sleeping for a few hours I briefly explored Bangkok prior to attending a “get acquainted” meeting with the other tour attendees, who turned out to be a married couple from England on their honeymoon and four women from Germany, California, England, and Canada.

The following day we took a boat ride on the famous canals aka Klongs of Bangkok and visited a Buddhist Temple…one of many to come!

I took some video footage from my trip and made a few movies (for the first time) with my Mac…so if you’d like to see some very aggressive catfish, watch this.

I loved taking photos of the monks…