We took a 3 hour bus ride for a 3 day stay in Chiang Rai, primarily to see "The White Temple" (Wat Rong Khun), which you can see featured in the Thailand photo album. Fantastically unique compared to many of the other temples we have seen in Thailand, its glittery facade shines in the sun while the reflection shimmers in the pond. Lovely! In addition to the White Temple, we also visited "The Black Temple" (actually known as the Baandam Musem), and Rong Sear Tean Temple, "The Blue Temple" - which is actually so new, part of it was still being painted when we were there. The blue hues of this temple set against the white Buddha are absolutely stunning.

We spent quite a bit of time in Chiang Rai's markets as they were very friendly with lots of local musicians and dancing. We made some purchases, and had long deliberations about what we should and should not be ethically buying in southeast Asia. Does one buy the baggy elephant pants for the equivalent of $4.00 because they are fun and you always pictured yourself lazying around Thailand in them? Where do these pants come from and how were they made? Does this even matter, because people in the markets need to sell them to make a living? We don't really know the answer to this question. But we have been trying hard to purchase products that we *think* were made locally, and truly represent the areas we are travelling in. As we realized that we were leaving for good the areas of the Hmong people (after meeting them in Vietnam, Laos, and now Thailand), we bought some souvenirs that we hope are benefitting the hardworking artists of these areas. Know that if you get a souvenir from us at home, we have been trying very hard to shop mindfully!