We do love our rest days, although they always seem to have some measure of exertion in them anyway. After a lazy breakfast we donned our walking shoes to go in search of Chiang Rai's "beach". After walking for some time in the steamy heat we weren't able to locate & headed for the main road to take us back to our room for some refreshment before heading out again...this time for our chanting monks temple across the rice fields. The walk took us towards and along the Mae Kok River. Very quiet and lots of lovely shady trees. The temple is in a very peaceful spot just back from the river a little set at the base of a steep treed mountain where a monk lives in seclusion. Other monks are also accommodated within the compound in small huts beside ponds filled with big fat fish. The hill also has a dark cave tucked in behind the temple which houses buddha images reached by a number of steep steps. The temple is very beautiful dark timber with the usual gold trimmings.
On our return to our room it was definitely time for a swim in that beautiful pool to cool off & relax for a few hours. Once refreshed it was a great opportunity to catch up on blog photos and put the feet up before the next excursion. Not a big one, but this evening we hitched a ride with our host Toony to downtown Chiang Rai to explore the Night Bazaar. Not as interesting as we had thought it might have been but a reasonable way to pass a couple of hours. The highlight of night time Chiang Rai for us was the clock tower on the main road through town. At 7, 8 & 9 o'clock it plays a music and light show for about 5 minutes or so...very pretty.
A tuk tuk driver was then fairly happy to bring us back to our accommodation for just 150B (that's about $4.50 - not bad...we're quite a distance from town).
Early to bed ready for a huge day tomorrow!
