Flowery Notes

Chiang Rai Flower Show, Thailand

All the Pretty Ladies!

I don't think anyone does aesthetics better than the Thais. From their fruit carvings to their flower decorations and traditional architecture, they've got it all down to an art form. We were at the relatively small town of Chiang Rai in northern Thailand in January last year and decided to drop in to see the flower show. And what a show! It was full of the most amazing orchids, giant begonias, lillies and numerous other exotic flowers which any botanist would drool over. My mom certainly did! But the really unique and amazing sights were the man-made creations of flower art. They were truly remarkable, with mannequins dressed up in flowers to instruments covered in them, and if you scroll down, you'll see some for yourself. 

Anyone Planning to Sing Flowery Songs? 

Fragrant Fairy

Haute Couture!

Dancing Girls

Giant Begonias

Orchids

Bones and the Black House

Baandam, Chiang Rai, Thailand

Black House

About half an hour from Chiang Rai, you get to see Baandam, or the Black House, built by the Thai artist Thawan Duchanee. This work is the polar opposite of the White Temple, which I covered in my earlier post. The artist himself was a student of the Chalermchai Kositpipat, who built the White Temple, but whereas Chalermchai went towards the ethereal and the spiritual, Thawan seems to have gone down the dark route. The two works of art are actually referred to as Heaven and Hell. 

The Main Hall

The Black house is built on a sprawling acreage which has about 40 structures including the late artist's home (he died in September last year) and art works inside comprise structures and furniture shaped like or made from skeletal remains of animals. Quite morbid if you ask me but also a weirdly fascinating peek into the artist's mind.

Funky Table  Runner

They have these long tables running the length of the hall with snake skins of all snake varieties running down the length of them. You need to spend some time here as well as at the White Temple so keep a day in hand to stroll at your leisure. You can couple the two works of art with a trip to Doi Tung, a small hillside village which houses the royal palace for Thailand's Princess Mother. The lawns are supposed to be quite spectacular but we missed it as we combined too many things that day. White Temple, Black House, Doi Tung for lunch as well as the Golden Triangle where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet. Its better to split it up into two days and keep a whole day just for the Golden Triangle otherwise you'll end up missing a lot (as we did). 

Bony chair

The chair was just a piece of the vast array of art work featuring skeletal remains. God I need a better camera than my two year old Samsung S3! It's just so handy though, and light!

Didn't spot my uncle taking pictures until I downloaded the pic! He seemed to blend in from afar.

Front View

God in the Midst of His Basic Creation

Python on the Lawns

Wonder if this one is going to end up on a table too.

White Wonder

Wat Rong Khun, Thailand 

Wat Rong Khun, or White Temple, Chiang Rai Province

On our way from the lesser traveled city of Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand to the Golden Triangle, where the three countries of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand meet, we stopped at the Wat Rong Khun, or the White Temple. Built by the artist Chalermchai Kositpipat the outside of the temple is embedded with millions of shards of mirrors giving it an ethereal look.

The artist portrays the unlimited desires of humans and the walls of the temple are painted with modern characters that have made an impact on people from Superman and Michael Jackson to the burning twin towers in New York on 9/11 and Doraemon. Since there have been reams written on the structure by fellow travelers I'm going to save myself the long story and direct you to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Rong_Khun for detailed information.

Apparently an earthquake in May last year damaged the temple. Hope it gets restored soon as it truly is one of the most unique temples I have ever visited. If anyone is going to those parts of Thailand, be sure to not give this a miss.

Entrance to the temple

There were quite a few tourists that day so it was impossible to get a clear shot of just the walkway!

Gaggle of humanity

These sculptures of outstretched arms along the sides of the walkway to the entrance depict unlimited human want.

The backside!

Golden Loos!

Even the loos were in an ornate shell! Guess one has to give adequate respect to important bodily functions!

Wishing Well

Ask and thou shall receive!