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Words Cannot Describe the White Temple in Chiang Rai

12/19/2012 by Kristin Addis 22 Comments

Day 71

But I’m going to try to use them to describe it anyways.  Along with some photos.  Those tend to help.

The White Temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand, has been on my bucket list ever since the first time I laid eyes on photos of it.  It looked incredible, and also artsy and creepy, like the Buddhist counterpart of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia.  The two have similarities – both have been built in the modern era and neither are completed.

The White Temple was started in 1997 and will remain under construction until 2070. My complete lack of planning got me into trouble again the day I visited the White Temple.  Normally, one can easily catch a bus to the temple for only 20 baht (less than $1). Ever-confident in my awful sense of direction, I headed out, foolishly, without a map. I had used the only one I had the previous night to fight the mosquito infiltration in my room and didn’t want to carry a paper soaked in mine or someone else’s malaria-infested blood around with me.

I walked in the 90-degree heat for 30 minutes and realized I had no idea where I was going. I stepped into a 7-11 where a tiny woman took pity on me and offered to call me a taxi. “Bus station very far” she said. I said I feared the taxi was expensive, but she negotiated with him to use the meter so that it would cost about the same as the bus, then brought me to what appeared to be a gynecologist’s office to wait for the taxi.

Under the curious stares from pregnant Thai women probing me, I waited. And waited. And waited. The taxi finally showed up and tried not to use the meter. After some back and forth, I paid more than I wanted to and finally found myself at the temple.  Luckily, entrance was free.

Finally, I got to lay eyes on this:

white temple chiang rai
aaahhhmazing

And more importantly, these little guys:

White temple chiang rai
Beautiful, are they not?

I scurried into the temple area, eagerly snapping pictures, prancing around trying to get every angle of these amazing hands:

white temple in chiang rai
I’m a big fan of our red-fingered friend in the middle flipping the bird

…and skulls!

white temple chiang rai skulls
Awesomely creepy

There was a man with a loud speaker and microphone who eventually noticed I was holding up the stream of people steadily piling through the narrow temple paths.  “Lady, keep moving, keep moving!” he said as I chuckled and kept snapping pictures.

White temple chiang rai
We need this photo…
chiang rai white temple
Also entirely necessary
white temple chiang rai
She certainly couldn’t be overlooked

I looked through my photos and wasn’t satisfied, so I had to go through once again, and hope my friend with the microphone didn’t notice. Then again, I was one of the only foreigners there and I was wearing purple elephant hippie pants and a bright pink t-shirt.  I’m not sure how or why I thought I’d scurry past him successfully. I started my photo snapping again:

white temple chiang rai
I didn’t get this the first time around!
white temple chiang rai
…nor this!

Sure enough, he noticed me right away, and got right back on his microphone: “Lady! Keep moving, keep moving!” I started giggling again as I slowly started to oblige.

white temple chiang rai
Finally finished with photos – the astounding White Temple

With some heavy help from poor Yvonne all the way in Luang Prabang, I successfully found the bench, under the tree, on the highway, to the right of the giant photo of the king, and made my way home for 20 Baht. It was a good day all-in-all, and resulted in some amazing photos and memories. *Click here to see the full set of photos on Flickr. 

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About Kristin Addis

Kristin Addis is the founder and CEO of Be My Travel Muse, a resource for female travelers all around the world since 2012. She's traveled solo to over 65 countries and has brought over 150 women on her all-female adventure tours from Botswana to the Alaskan tundra.

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Comments

  1. Hogga says

    12/19/2012 at 8:29 am

    This is beyond insane!

    Reply
    • Kristin Addis says

      12/20/2012 at 11:01 pm

      But also pretty awesome!

      Reply
    • Kristin Addis says

      12/20/2012 at 11:01 pm

      But also pretty awesome!

      Reply
  2. Michael Hodson says

    12/19/2012 at 8:51 am

    I only stopped there for like a half hour on my way to Laos. Your photos kick mine’s ass 😉

    Reply
    • Kristin Addis says

      12/20/2012 at 11:01 pm

      I spent a couple here. I was just so mesmerized! Thanks 🙂

      Reply
    • Kristin Addis says

      12/20/2012 at 11:01 pm

      I spent a couple here. I was just so mesmerized! Thanks 🙂

      Reply
  3. Jo (The Blond) says

    12/21/2012 at 1:54 am

    wow! it looks amazing!!! What an experience this must have been!

    Reply
    • Kristin Addis says

      12/22/2012 at 7:05 am

      was very cool to see, but annoying to get to! 🙂

      Reply
  4. JustChuckinIt says

    12/22/2012 at 12:43 pm

    Kristin, I don’t know if I’ve seen a building more beautiful than this. Just simple mind boggling how mystifying it appears and the intricate detail. Will definitely be adding this to my list!

    Reply
    • Kristin Addis says

      12/22/2012 at 8:31 pm

      I thought the same when I saw photos, and just knew I had to get there. It was quite impressive!

      Reply
  5. eriksmithdotcom says

    12/22/2012 at 5:57 pm

    This place does look pretty remarkable. I’ve seen quite a number of posts done on it, and your pictures do as nice a job of catpturing it as any I’ve seen.

    Reply
    • Kristin Addis says

      12/22/2012 at 8:31 pm

      It is pretty remarkable. I saw a lot as well and tried to capture it a little differently than I’ve seen before.

      Reply
  6. Way Out Far says

    12/28/2012 at 1:46 am

    Brilliant! I read somewhere once that you can see the Alien from the films somewhere in all this artwork too! Heading to northern Thailand next week and definitely going to look The White Temple up – thanks!

    Reply
    • Kristin Addis says

      12/28/2012 at 2:05 am

      There is a pretty awesome mural inside the temple that you’re not allowed to take pics of (I snuck one anyways with my iPhone) http://instagram.com/p/S-CYzeux9D/

      Reply
  7. Anglo Italian says

    12/30/2012 at 1:46 am

    Truly, there really aren’t enough words to describe the awesomeness. Thank heavens you had your camera & the guile to get onto ‘Photos Round 2’

    Reply
    • Kristin Addis says

      03/20/2013 at 5:18 am

      Haha, the “guile” love it.

      Reply
  8. Penny Sadler says

    01/22/2013 at 4:59 pm

    You’re right! No words for that. Awesome!

    Reply
    • Kristin Addis says

      03/20/2013 at 5:18 am

      I was blown away!

      Reply
  9. Kristin says

    09/22/2014 at 10:20 am

    These are all DSLR pics. I wrote about the cameras I use in this post: https://www.bemytravelmuse.com/backpacking-asia-packing-list/

    Reply
  10. Stepheny says

    12/02/2018 at 1:12 pm

    Can you recommend a tour from Chiang Mai to Rai?

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      12/03/2018 at 3:08 am

      Just take a bus honestly. Cheaper and easier.

      Reply

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