Black and White

After spending another day in Chiang Mai exploring "shopping opportunities" and restaurants, we headed further north to Chiang Rai, which is near the northern Thai border with Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. We made a special effort to book tickets on the "VIP" bus to be sure that we had comfortable seats, AC and a bathroom for the three-hour trip. Of course part of what makes traveling interesting is the unexpected. On this trip the AC broke down. Then the conductor opened the roof vents to cool things down. But it was raining. As we sped down the road the rain began blowing through the vent and down onto Phil's head. Fortunately, just as he was reaching for a hat, the vent was closed. — Sometimes all you can do is laugh about the difference between your plans and reality!

After a wonderful, simple lunch of noodles with chicken at the family-owned hotel we had booked, we headed out to explore two different artists' work: the Black House and the White Wat (temple).

Baan Si Dum, the Black House, is the creation of Thawan Duchanee. It wasn't in our guidebook but the hotel owner strongly recommended it. We were glad she did. Duchanee's web site (http://www.thawanduchanee.com/) describes his work as an exploration of "the insanity, degeneration, violence, eroticism, and death lurking in the heart of modern man as they are involved with religion. Mr. Thawan expressed these concepts with a startling technique utilizing a black tone, drawing from the wellspring of traditional Thai Buddhist art and Buddhist thought."

One of our felt experiences with these works brought up memories of the darkest scenes of evil from The Lord of the Rings. We'll share a few photos without further comment:















As with most art, being in the presence of these works was much more powerful than the photos can convey. You can see more photos of the Black House at http://www.chiang-rai.biz/activities/baan-si-dum-the-black-house .

Leaving the black world, we headed to the White Wat, the creation of Chalermchai Kositpipat.



The wat glowed and sparkled in the afternoon sun due to the combination of totally white paint and mirror-chips embedded in the building decorations.







The interior of the main temple, which we were not allowed to photograph was equally unconventional. Although it had a Buddha on the altar emphasizing the possibility of freedom from the stress and suffering of life, the interior walls were being painted by Kositpipat, as we visited, with scenes depicting our hopes, struggles and fears, including images of Superman, Spiderman and the Neo character from the movie The Matrix. Rather bizarre! More exterior photos are available at http://www.chiang-rai.biz/activities/chiang-rai-temples/wat-rong-khun .

We ended the day with dinner at the night market. Two plates of shrimp and vegetable tempura for less than $1.50 US.



It was a really interesting day.