MJ arranged for a friend to drive us around Chiang Rai for the day and hit all of the things I wanted to see that were outside of the city or difficult to walk to.
Chai, our driver had a great van. Pure luxury compared to other transportation I have experienced on this side of the world. So much so I wanted to keep him for the entire time in Thailand. I was willing to pay, but sadly, Chai has a life outside of my needs. Neon lights, Wi-Fi, power, free water – cold, no less. Oh, and suspension, shocks, and tires with air in them. Those have been lacking on other vehicles.
Sorry, not sorry, dear husband, but I almost married Chai on the spot.
He rejected me. It was hard, but I will power through.
I will be honest, I gave MJ a list when I was researching things to do in the area, and in the few weeks that passed between that point and my arrival, I completely forgot what I wanted to see. But we started off on my mission at the Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park.
Located on what were once rice fields west of Chaing Rai, the Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Park has the region’s largest collection of folk art and teak artifacts from the Lan Na (Lanna) Kingdom.
Haw Kham (The Golden Pavillion) was built and presented by the people of Chiang Rai as a gift to Her Royal Highness Princess Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother in honor of her 84th birthday.
Haw Kham displays a large collection of notable religious and secular art objects from Lanna and Burmese-styles. The collection includes exquisitely carved candelabras, alters and other objects saved from area temples and shrines. The highlight of the collection is a wooden Buddha image called “Pra Pratoh” which was created in 1693 by local villagers who had located to the area.
Sadly, they do not allow pictures in the Haw Kham, so I will entertain you with some of the stuff they left outside.
The grounds also include extensive gardens which highlight indigenous and rare plants from the area.
I have no idea what is rare and exotic, or common and bland, so I just took pictures of colorful things.
Haw Kham Noi is another building on the property that features mural paintings from various sources, but the most interesting are mural paintings in tempera on teak panels believed to be created by Thai-Lue artists in the early 19th century. I don’t think I took any pictures of those, but they were interesting.
Haw Kaew is a permanent exhibition based on artifacts and religious items made from Teak. Teak was a vital part of everyday life for the area tribes, and recent artists have continued the art. The pieces were very well carved, or at least miles past my skills. They were very… exotic.
And of course there were statues of lion dragon things. those are my favorite. I cannot figure out how to get them home. Not that anyone at home would appreciate the sculpture garden I want to bring home, but they really have a lot of neat dog lion dragon things here.
Yes, that is a warning to the husband. I know he’s not reading this, but I warned him. Don’t tell him. I like to be surprising.
