Sunday was spent at two of the well known places of Chiang Rai - the White Temple and the Black house. Dubbed the heaven and hell of architecture, the Black House was built by the student of the architect who built the White Temple. Although the connections between them are strong in terms of the people responsible for them, the places themselves are complete opposites.
The White Temple is completely white and covered in tiny mirrors, adding to the glow of the structure. It was a beautiful blue sky day, and the whole building sparkled bright. The attention to detail was exquisite, and it truly was like no temple I had seen before.
The black house is across the other side of town, and from the White temple we were having a hard time finding a ride. Luckily, Joe was there with other hostel guests and found a tuk-tuk who agreed to take us there, wait for us and then take us back to the hostel. Arriving at the black house, it instantly felt worlds apart from the White Temple. Interiors were filled with phallic symbols, dead animal skins lined the floors and taxidermy heads lined the walls. It was a series of houses, with each feeling as dark as the others, despite the whole place being open and airy.
The two temples were definitely worth the trip, and doing both on the same day is advised, as you can see the stark contrast between both places.
Arriving back at the hostel, we decided to rest our eyes for just 10 minutes. Hours later we awoke, and realized we had over slept slightly and it was eight at night. We showered and found Joe downstairs, deciding we would all go and get ice cream.
Afterwards, Jakob and I went on to Face Bar, the local place where everyone gathers to drink and see live music. We spent the night drinking Chang and watching music, before walking home in the humid night.
