Quirky, charming, and creative are the words used to describe Chiang Rai by travellers and locals alike. The sights to be found here are by no means anything like the ones you’ll see in Chiang Mai, the city’s more popular sister.

Before we begin temple sightseeing, we’ll break up the long drive at the Mae Khachan Hot Spring to relax, dip our feet in the steaming mineral water, maybe eat a snack, or walk around the surrounding gardens.

We’ll then move on to the main attraction: the White Temple. If you’re looking for ancient ruins, you might be surprised to find a modern architectural masterpiece designed and built by local artist Chaloemchai Khositphiphat. He was rumoured to have spent over THB 40 million of his own money to create this unconventional art exhibit to gain immortal life! After exploring this local wonder, we’ll have a quick lunch before heading to our next stop…

The Blue Temple or Wat Rong Seua Ten literally translates to ‘temple of the dancing tiger.’ It was built on a site where tigers were said to have jumped over the river.

If the White Temple was meant to be a stairway to heaven, the Black House has been called a “dark, mysterious, and almost sadistic” representation of hell, complete with preserved animals and a collection of bones.

Built by Thailand national artist Thawan Duchanee (who incidentally was the mentor of Chaloemchai, the White Temple guy), the Baan dam Museum (Black House) is a cluster of nearly 40 small shadowy structures exhibiting art dating back to the Ayutthaya period. This is truly something the likes of which we’ll never see anywhere else!