Vlog #3: Contiki Big Indochina Adventure: Chiang Rai, Thailand

httpvh://youtu.be/kMu9cAK2pwo

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep Temple

I genuinely enjoy architecture and temples, hence why you’ll see lots of photos and videos from them. It’s just crazy to think of all the time and dedication it took to create these beautiful places of worship. There is just so much variety out there and it’s awesome to be able to see the differences.

Friday Buddha: the day I was born on.

Cabbages and Condoms

For lunch we stopped at a wonderfully quirky rest stop called Cabbages and Condoms. Can we just pause for a moment and examine the hilarity that is this sign – brilliance.

While the food wasn’t the best I have ever had, it was indeed satisfying and definitely did not cause any pregnancy.

Hill Tribes

I have mixed feelings about this visit. There are plenty of National Geographic and Discovery Channel episodes about these tribes, the Long Neck one in particular, so I have heard about them before. However, the whole experience of visiting them was very cold and uncomfortable.

For one, it’s all a money grab.  Most of the “village” is little shops to buy items from and about 70% of the items looks like they come from China. Second, visiting the tribes people felt a lot like visiting a human zoo.  It is clear as day that they do not wish to be there and they would rather dress western and be living in the city. But, they don’t because us tourists are their source of income.

The village itself wasn’t anything special either, and the ritual dances they put on were done half heart-ed with little pride for their culture.  It’s just sad to see something that could be such a great cultural experience be sucked dry and turned into a tourist cash draw.

On a lighter note, although I didn’t show any of it in the video, that evening our group ended up having a dress up party with an 80’s theme. As you can tell, I love dress up parties and I generally go all out. Heck, I think neon suits me :)