Blue temple, free food and Huai Kaeo Waterfall

My trip to Chiang Rai is really starting to unfold. I made some amazing friends here by now. Today we are planning to do some temples and the Huai Kaeo Waterfall. It's a great afternoon trip. We are with 4 people and we have 2 scooters so this is perfect.

We are also planning to do an amazing trip tomorrow. I have rented a car for 1,000 baht (28 euro). We will split the price by 4 people. I found the best view of northern Thailand and we will head there tomorrow morning before sunrise! This means that we will have to wake up at 3 am!

The Blue Temple

We hop on our scooters and drive towards the blue temple. When we arrive there, we get treated with an amazing view. This temple is absolutely beautiful.

In front of the temple is a blue fountain. The detail in this is absolutely crazy.

The temple itself is packed with people. It's a hot tourist attraction and many people come to check it out. The entrance to the temple is free.

The inside of the temple is so beautiful. Try to imagine this without all the people. It is just stunning. The blue light behind the buddha really adds to it.

IMG_3438 2.jpg

Here is my friend Eric saying his prayer. I also have 1 more picture of the blue temple.

I think the blue temple, together with the white is worth a visit. If you really want to enjoy it you will have to come on an off day and early in the morning. The best time for visiting a temple is just after sunrise, when the monks are returning.

Free food at Wat Huai Pla Kang

Next we decide to visit another temple which is on the way to the waterfalls. We are doing a little loop in Chiang Rai. It's children's day today. That's the main reason why everything is so busy.

This temple has a huge lady buddha which you can see from far away. We saw it on the way here. It's really breathtaking. On the hill are a lot of kids playing. They have cardboard and slide down the hill. Off course, my friend Eric has to try it for himself 😂

We make it to the front of the lady buddha and then go up by all the steps. There are so many stairs!

On the top of the stairs is an amazing view! At one side you can look over the temple. The other sides have views over the mountains.

The best part of this temple has still to come. This temple serves free food! Yes, free food. It's noodle soup with vegetables and a little bit of meat. It's stunning to see that they can do this for free. I was really surprised by this. The dish is really delicious too!

After having food, we go inside the temple. It is absolutely beautiful. Everything is white. There is also music playing. The whole atmosphere is so nice.

The Huai Kaeo Waterfall

We filled up our tummies with delicious free food and saw some gorgeous temples. But now it is time to head into the national park and see some nature. It has been a really crowded day so far. So we hop on our scooters again and drive to the park.

The whole road was absolutely stunning. We were driving in the mountain area. There were gorgeous views everywhere. But then we had to stop upon seeing the next view. It was so gorgeous we cannot let it pass. We just have to stop to admire it.

First we stop at the 'Huai Mak Liam Hot Spring'. There's a place where you can get your feet in the hot springs. The water is so hot! They mix it with cold water the whole time so that it is possible to keep your feet in.

There is also another spot where you can boil your eggs! Yes the water is that hot!

But we have to get going. It's already in the afternoon and sunset is at 6 pm. We do not want to be in the curvy mountain roads in the middle of nowhere in the dark. So we drive towards the waterfall.

There are really good parts of road to drive on. But some parts have a lot of potholes. There are also really steep parts where our scooters are having trouble to get up to. Specially with 2 people on it. We go full throttle, but we barely get to 20 km/h. It's really funny to see! On the back of my bike is Martyna (a girl), so we weigh a lot less than the other 2 dudes. We can go uphill just a bit faster than them.

We also pass by a village in the mountains. The people here are so friendly. They show us the way to the waterfall. There are some small coffeeshops here. I wish we had some time to explore this area. It's really relaxing.

Eventually we find the parking spot for our bikes and then we hike up to the falls. The hike is really short. It's a bit steep but well worth it! Once you see the falls, OMG it's so amazing!

These are so beautiful! It's unbelievable. We decide to climb down and stand in the water in front of the falls. We are so close to it. We touch the falls. This feeling. I really love waterfalls. There is nothing else that gives this energy and calmness like waterfalls.

Here we all are standing in front of the falls. This day was absolutely amazing!

This is me standing in front of these falls.

It is possible to hike up further and get higher. Eric being Eric immediately starts climbing up there. I'm curious so I go too. The hike is a lot harder and more steep. But it is absolutely worth it! There's a whole other part of waterfalls. Here's Eric in front of the falls.

IMG_0922 2.JPG

It is time to drive back now. The drive back goes all the way through the national park. We pass by some more small villages. The roads are curvy and very fun. We really enjoy it. We stop for 1 more viewpoint. And then get going so we get back before sunset.

This day was absolutely amazing. I have met really amazing people. They love hiking and adventure. It was so much fun spending this day together. Tomorrow we will all wake up at 3 am to get to the most amazing spot before sunrise. You will have to stick around and read my next post to know what it is. I can tell you now that this view ranks number 1 in my list of amazing views! I have never seen something so magical before. It's so breathtaking it's impossible to write down in words. Stay tuned for that post :)