Chiang Rai and the Mighty Mekong River

Chiang Rai and the Mighty Mekong River

Day one: Exploring the diversity of Chiang Rai

Total distance today appr. 30 km, driving time about 1 hour

Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple

Your guide and driver will meet you at your hotel at 0800 for your tour “Chiang Rai and the Mighty Mekong River“. Our first visit will be to the Wat Rong Khun, the famous White Temple, about 10kms from Chiang Rai. Local artist Chalermchai Kositpipat created Wat Rong Khun, which has become the most popular attraction of Chiang Rai. We will spend some time admiring this remarkable structure. Chalermchai is also an amazing painter. His works are exhibited in a museum on the compound. After this visit, we will return to Chiang Rai and head for the statue of King Mangrai, the founder of Chiang Rai.

Explore Chiang Rai by Samlor

At the monument of King Mangrai, the founder of Chiang Rai, our samlors (bicycle taxi) are waiting for us. We will make a relaxing ride by bicycle taxi through the streets of Chiang Rai. We pass the beautiful old City Hall, which dates back to 1899. Almost next is the Wat Phra Singh, one of the oldest temples of Chiang Rai. We continue our samlor tour, passing through a street with magnificent rain trees.

Next is the Wat Phra Kaew, which is, without a doubt, Chiang Rai’s most famous temple. It once housed the famous Emerald Buddha image, which is now in Bangkok. We visit the museum and the main temple before continuing to the Kad Luang, Thai for the “big market.” We take our time to chat with the vendors and taste some of the local delicacies made in front of us. Our tour ends at one of our favorite Khao Soi restaurants, close to the spectacular clock tower.

The Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park

After our lunch, we continue is the Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park. This Park houses the largest collection of art items and teak artifacts from the Lanna and the Tai culture. The Tai culture also includes the Tai ethnic minorities in North Thailand, such as the Tai Lue people, who also live in China’s southwestern region of Yunnan, eastern Myanmar or the Shan States, northwestern Vietnam, and western Laos. The Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park is part of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Royal Patronage. This extensive park houses beautiful, traditional Lanna-style buildings like the Haw Kham (The Golden Pavillion) and Haw Kaew.

Wat Rong Suea Ten, the Blue Temple

We started with the White Temple and end with Wat Rong Suea Ten aka the Blue Temple. The Blue Temple is stunning and attracts a growing number of visitors. Please note the beautiful statue of one of the most revered monks in North Thailand: Phra Upakhut. Not far from the Blue temple is the imposing Wat Huay Pla Kang. The statue is not a Buddha statue but an image of Kuan Im, aka Guan Yin, the goddess of compassion. An elevator in the statue will take you to a floor with a nice view of Chiang Rai and the surroundings. It is time to return to the hotel. Your guide and driver will drop you off at the hotel.

Overnight will be at the Sooknirund Hotel. The hotel is within walking distance of the Chiang Rai Night Bazar and a variety of restaurants.

Day 2: From Chiang Rai to the Mekong River

Total distance today appr. 80 km, driving time about 2 hours

Wiang Preuksa aka Little Chiang Saen

Your guide and driver will meet you at the hotel after breakfast. Our destination is Chiang Saen, which should be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the oldest settlements in North Thailand, right on the Mekong River. We will drive along a beautiful road with rice fields. Our first stop will be Wat That Khong, the first monument of Chiang Saen Noi (“Little Chiang Saen”). This settlement predates the walled city of Chiang Saen, but most ruins are from the 14th century or later.

A bit further is a more extensive ruined complex called Wat That Kieo. It has a beautiful, quite well-preserved brick temple tower (chedi). Not far from here is the Wat Song Pee Nong, the temple of two brothers. This is the most impressive remains of Chiang Saen Noi (Wiang Preuksa), located beautifully right on the Mighty Mekong River. On the other side of the river is Laos.

Wonderful Wat Phra That Pha Ngao

After Wiang Preuksa, we will visit Wat Phra That Pha Ngao, one of the most interesting temples in North Thailand. There are some unique buildings on this temple compound. The temple houses two small museums, a local and a textile museum, a building that houses containers of Buddha scriptures, an ancient broken Buddha statue with an interesting story, and a recently built temple tower on a hill. You have an amazing of the Mekong River, the Golden Triangle, and Laos. We take our time at Wat Phra That Pha Ngao. Please note that they have constructed a Sky Walk at Wat Phra That Pha Ngao. This is an iron and glass construction to enable visitors to enjoy the panorama.

Lunch on the Mekong River

From Wat Pha That Pha Ngao, it is only a short drive to Chiang Saen. We will have lunch on the Mekong River at one of our favorite restaurants. After lunch, we will drive to the “geographical” Golden Triangle, the spot where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet. Here we will stop briefly before we continue to the Hall of Opium*, an excellent museum that informs about the history of the use of opiates and the drug trade in this region. Most people spend considerable time in this museum, sometimes up to two hours. We have reserved most of the afternoon reserved for the visit to one of the best museums in Thailand. After this visit, we will return to the Golden Triangle.

*The Hall of Opium is closed on Monday. In that case we visit the small House of Opium Museum, a good alternative.

Wat Phra That Phu Khao offers the best view of the Golden Triangle

Next is another temple that offers great views of the Golden Triangle and the Mekong River. You can either walk the Naga staircase up the temple or we can drive you up. At the viewpoint, there is a recently constructed walking Buddha statue. We can walk down to a lower level where one of the oldest temple ruins of Chiang Rai province is located. After this, we descend to the main assembly hall, constructed from sandstone, and an ancient Buddha statue. In the twilight, we board a small local speedboat, that will take us to Chiang Saen. We disembark at our accommodation for tonight. Overnight will be at the Siam Triangle Hotel

Day 3: Chiang Saen, the Forgotten World Heritage Site

Total distance today appr. 20 km, driving time about 30 minutes

An abandoned “mini Angkor”

It is the third day of your tour “From Chiang Rai to the Mekong River“. Chiang Saen is one of the best-preserved walled cities in Thailand. Phaya (King) Saenphu founded Chiang Saen around the year 1328. It became one of the most important political and religious cities in North Thailand. In the second half of the 16th century, Chiang Saen became part of a Burmese kingdom and was a Burmese outpost for centuries. Siamese forces conquered Chiang Saen in 1804, drove the Burmese out, and resettled the population in Chiang Mai, Lampang, and other towns in the north. Chiang Saen became an abandoned ruined city, that was taken over by the jungle where tigers roamed at will.

Highlights of an ancient city

After breakfast we start our exploration of Chiang Saen, a site that should be on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The ideal place to start is the Chiang Saen National Museum and Wat Chedi Luang. The museum is closed on Monday and Tuesday unfortunately but on other days this small museum is our first stop. Next to the museum is the “big stupa“: Wat Chedi Luang. It is the most imposing temple of Chiang Saen. From there we follow the old city walls, which have been restored by the Fine Arts Department. Chiang Saen was not an easy place to conquer: the wall and the moat were formidable barriers for armies a couple of centuries ago.

The ruins of Chiang Saen within the city walls

There are about 70 structures and remains of temples in the walled city. We will visit the most interesting of them. Wat Sao Khian, Wat Phra Non, Wat Mung Muang and Wat Chetawan are some of them. Until about 100 years ago very few people lived in the old walled city. Ruins and scattered Buddha statues under lush jungle vegetation. We will make our way to Wat Pa Sak which is outside the city walls. It is a beautiful ride along the deep moat and city walls with giant fig trees on top. Chiang Saen has the best-preserved old city walls in Thailand. Wat Pa Sak, the temple in the teak forest, is another magnificent temple ruin.

Temples outside the city walls

There are some significant and very interesting ancient sites outside the city walls, all west of Chiang Saen. Wat Jorm Mork is a ruined temple on a small hill, just outside the walled city. It is the only bell-shaped pagoda in Chiang Saen. Next is a highly revered and most interesting temple: Wat Phra That Chom Kitti. We walk up the moss-covered staircase and spend some time enjoying the view over Chiang Saen and admiring the ancient structures. Wat Pa Daeng is the temple of the red forest. It was the temple of a sect of forest monks and it once was located in the middle of the jungle. It has the largest Buddha statue of Chiang Saen.

Chiang Saen’s “leaning tower”

Another rather hidden gem of Chiang Saen is the Wat Ku Tao, the “leaning tower”. British explorer Holt Samuel Hallett (late 1870s) and British consul Reginald LeMay (1914) wrote about this unusual structure. Earthquakes and flooding probably caused the temple tower to be damaged and leaning to one side. It is our last sight of the day. We drive back to Chiang Saen to enjoy a dip in the pool. Overnight will be again in the Siam Triangle Hotel

Day 4: Chiang Saen to Chiang Rai

Total distance today appr. 75 km, driving time about 1,5 hours

Mae Sai, the Thai-Myanmar border

After breakfast, we will transfer the drive to Mae Sai, the bustling border town. It is the last day of your trip “Chiang Rai and the Mighty Mekong River‘. Along the way we will stop briefly to admire the biggest bamboo-woven Buddha image in the world at Wat Hiranywat. At Mae Sai thousands of Thai and Burmese cross the border back and forth every day. There is a typical border town atmosphere which is a lot of fun to observe.

We will take a shuttle vehicle to Wat Phra That Doi Wao aka the Purple Temple or the Scorpion Temple . A couple of years ago they constructed a “Sky Walk” at this temple. From this glass and iron construction you have a great view of the border crossing and Tachileik, the bordertown on the Myanmar side. Before we drive back to Chiang Rai, there will be time to visit the border market, a favorite destination for Thai visitors. First we will have a delicious lunch in a local restaurant.

Wat Tham Pla, a rather bizarre but surprising place!

After lunch, we will drive back to Chiang Rai. Along the way, we will stop at the Tham Luang, the location of the miraculous rescue operation of a teenage football team, who were stuck in a cave. It will depend on the season if we can enter the cave. If not, we will visit the museum. Not far from Tham Luang is an interesting cave temple, called Wat Tham Pla. It is a peculiar place with a fish cave, lots of monkeys, monks, and strange statues and buildings. Then it is time to return to Chiang Rai where we will drop you off at the airport for your flight. We hope you enjoyed our trip “Chiang Rai and the Mighty Mekong River“.

This is just a sample program. We also have a Chiang Rai day tour and a Golden Triangle day tour.