Chiang Rai Temples & Long Neck Tour: An In-Depth Review

Visiting Chiang Rai is almost a must if you’re making travel plans for northern Thailand, and too it’s no wonder why. What with its spectacular temples and opportunities to engage with different local cultures, it makes for a quite unforgettable experience. One quite typical way to squeeze it all in is that by taking a guided tour that hits the area’s biggest sights, which could be the White Temple, Blue Temple, Red Temple (sometimes called the Black House), and the Long Neck Karen village. Should you go for it? That depends, is that it? Well, let’s take a little look.

What’s Included in the Tour?

So, you see, these excursions usually bundle together entry to multiple destinations, transport in some air-conditioned van, and a guide to let you know just a little about what you’re seeing. Generally speaking, that looks a bit like this:

Wat Rong Khun (White Temple): Super shiny and strikingly surreal, that temple really stands out with its pristine white facade inlaid with little bits of reflective glass.
Wat Rong Suea Ten (Blue Temple): Then, going totally the other way, the Blue Temple bursts with deep, sapphire shades and pretty complicated carvings.
Baan Dam Museum (Black House): Also sometimes known as the Red Temple for its striking appearance and colour palette, Baan Dam is a peculiar collection of different installations and artwork crafted by Thai artist Thawan Duchanee. That artist’s home showcases that darker side to Thai art, featuring some bones, skins, and tribal oddities.
Long Neck Karen Village: Visiting one of these villages provides that quite intimate glimpse into that lives and customs of the Karen people, that often allows you to buy handmade goods.
Lunch: Usually it’s that sort of meal at a local place to eat, allowing you a bit more of an authentic taste of that Thai cuisine.

The Temples: A Kaleidoscope of Color

Visiting these temples is somewhat like jumping straight into an artwork. Really, the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun), almost designed by artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, presents itself as that sparkling, ghostlike construction intended to mirror just how people attain pure enlightenment. Its pure-white colour actually represents purity and too it’s made even prettier by shards of glass glittering so, too reflecting the bright sunshine. The different statues and mural designs integrate that many contemporary themes, that gives you, like your typical landmark, something different.

Then, on the other hand, really the Blue Temple (Wat Rong Suea Ten) comes across all cool, dark and contemplative. Designed just recently by a pupil of that one that crafted the White Temple, this place contains that intense use of dark blue, which symbolizes that rising up or freedom. Everything from the tall and dominating Buddha that is inside to the tricky details on its exterior is seriously visually eye-catching.

So, let’s go there; really, Baan Dam, which translates into that dark, Black House, it really gives a striking contrast. Far from it being that place of worship, is that a gallery? You see, really, is that it displays just an unusual combination of arts and artefacts acquired by that Thai artist Thawan Duchanee. Think animal skeletons, skins, and that many odd artefacts arranged to prompt thoughtfulness about just how death, darkness and a person’s inner nature interact. While the location probably isn’t that suitable to just any traveler, it does offer the unique glimpse to the thinking about some seriously important modern Thai artist.

Meeting the Long Neck Karen

Then there is that bit to that travels that delivers both an educational opportunity and one that triggers just some quite heavy thoughtfulness; too it’s a visit to some Karen Long Neck villages. That’s often those Kayan people whose women folk have those custom neck rings since those young days. That tradition results from winding metal rings of that brass all-around ones necks to visually extend it to great lengths. While quite attractive, such thing is often misunderstood or gets just that totally exploitative angle that needs just that bit better knowledge so you learn something. You’ll listen so much to the customs with ones own two ears and just see that kind of hand-woven thing that often gives so much needed sales to its group, the locals.

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good About This Tour

What is good:

Everything Packed Into One Trip: Best if you lack ones transportation is that everything’s booked to make that tour simple enough for you to take right on through; ones’ travels, entry charges even with lunch is taken into consideration!
Knowledgeable Guides: It helps, having that regional who, basically, could give context as to this significance regarding most sites, a lot to make ones’ appreciation even greater.
Great Photo Ops: Chiang Rai can be eye-popping and wonderful just like the temples too which offer a lot to people into snapping picture images from various angles too which would make the shot rather unique.

Bad stuff that comes:

Time constraints: By going to ones package it usually has some sites to visit, could imply speeding and shortening trips which might mean seeing less than you hope to at several sites.
Ethics of that village scene: This is a very typical topic regarding what effects commercial tourism might do to traditional local ethnic traditions, ones privacy which brings doubts.
Up selling to purchase more things and tourists trap: Certain travels include tours involving stops that involve that store bit, this shop that’s often targeted that sells goods at far more steep rate too which ones find irritating sometimes.

Things to Keep In Mind When You Pick Your Trip

Do some searching: Go comparing to find ones’ deal to go with or reads on the net just so you recognize if ones’ tour delivers just what is sought or anticipated.
Is the time long? Try getting an insight regarding the timing allocation made across at the various attractions ensuring ones don’t believe them to move way too fast to allow ones properly experiencing those locales.
Assess the effects of ethics: Look at ones operator ethics by doing ones travels with considering if ones travel arrangements contribute for that society instead to making problems just with it.
What do you bring? For travels that involve temples ones has to clothe them to respectfully and in some ethnic villages that are somewhat traditional to avoid causing one issue for ones group when going and ensure what to bring depending regarding the customs with it.

In Conclusion: Should You Go On the Chiang Rai Temple and Long Neck Tour?

So, you see, deciding whether to do a Chiang Rai Temples & Long Neck tour it’s just, pretty much, down to exactly what is that what you wish from a journey. What is very convenient and enables you see a few most widely used places fairly at ease, even though sometimes that bit concerning pace might suggest ones get just an superficial acquaintance. Ensure for ones to consider ones beliefs also what effects tours cause on ones community that tourist are visiting.

If ones has that opportunity for spending lots of time and basically moves for doing exploration at an independent speed there possibly are many possibilities waiting around just with getting at various websites yourself; if, though, you’re hard set in seeing things because you haven’t ones ease, then that organizes kind is quite sensible for viewing the beauty of Chiang Rai while managing ones trip while still being aware regarding all that impacts that type about travels produces locally!

#ChiangRai #Thailand #TravelReview #Temples #LongNeckTribe