One distinct thing about our travels that we have noticed is that one almost immediately likes or dislikes a place. Each city or town displays its own unique personality, born from the people that create a living there, the history that has shaped it, and the leaders that now govern it. Chiang Rai proved to our liking upon arrival, and did not disappoint us in the end.

We arrived in the city just after lunch time, and checked into a highly recommended hostel. It was and still is one of the best places we’ve stayed. With a theme of smiling, extremely happy-looking sheep, the hostel was full of pretty little things and spacious living areas. WE were so thankful for a place that offered some form of comfort and luxury, at such a good rate!

That afternoon we explored the centre of the city, which it turns out has many Western-style cafes and restaurants, amongst the many street stalls. One in particular made us laugh: Cabbages &B Condoms, a restaurant that is dedicated to raising finances for the family planning clinic of the city. Its aim is to “make condoms as easily accessible as cabbages”. After exploring the town, we headed home for a much needed rest and shower. There is a restaurant under the same owners as the hostel, and right on the premises. It has a very fun retro look, and only plays old gramophone plates! The beers were quite cheap for the area, so we were delighted to find our new watering hole.

We decided to hunt out the street in Chiang Rai known for all its bars. The city itself doesn’t have much of nightlife, so bars are a quiet but pleasant outing. We found a small one, run by the sweetest Thai lady, and filled with old expats and young travelling men. We played a few card games, and then treated ourselves to some pizza (bad, I know). When we got to our rooms, our neighbours from Romania were also home; and so we spent the night chatting to them.

Saturday morning we awoke early and went for a run; and then we enjoyed the breakfast provided by the hostel. Now I must mention that by the time we had reached Chiang Rai, the effects of having a sugar-filled diet was evident. More often than not, william and I would be exhausted from just a few activities; or we'd feel slightly ill after having a coffee. But as we've discussed before, the Thai's (literally) pour sugar into their foods - every curry must have a heaped spoon of sugar per person; every coffee must have condensemilk unless stated otherwise; every sauce must have some sugar in too. They adore their sugary goodness. For South Africans who normally only get pure cane sugar in by choosing a treat here and there, it reeks havoc on our blood sugar levels.

After breakfast we did the very long walk to the Central Plaza, Chiang Rai's main mall. We really wanted to see what their take is on Western malls; and also on cinemas. It was a really pleasant mall, with the most enticing food courts, a very well run cinema (unfortunately too expensive for budget travelers!), and lovely international shops. The walk back home was dreadful; for after a morning run and the long walk to the mall, our poor leggies were aching! We had covered about 10km by the time we reached our hotel again.

Chiang Rai has two famous walking streets every weekend, one on Saturdays and one on Sundays. A walking street is actually a common thing in Thailand: a certain street is selected, and then hundreds of little stalls are set up by locals along both sides of the street. It really is a great outing, for one sees the most interesting local cuisine, crafts and arts, clothing and toys. We thoroughly explored the Saturday walking street, and even tried some fried crickets (a big mental battle!). The rain unfortunately cut our trip short, and so we bought some last things for supper before heading back to the hostel. That evening we watched an old movie in the chillout room, before having a few beers at the restaurant. It was actually a calm day for the two of us.

Sunday morning we rented an automatic motorbike: we were going to visit all the highlights of Chiang Rai. Our first stop was the White Temple, which is a really bizarre but amazing piece of architecture and art. It is supposed to depict the evil and the holy of this world. The temple complex houses white buildings, of which the main one is the most breath-taking. Imagine millions of hands, bird claws, and odd demonic hands reaching out from under a walkway that crosses ponds filled with giant Khoi fish, whilst ahead a beautiful white temple is just ahead. A very impressive sight.

After the temple we made our way to a much raved about waterfall. It is probably one of the most beautiful natural sights we have ever seen. A walk through dense jungle suddenly stops at a 70 meter waterfall, whose pounding waters create a wind of water droplets that cool and refresh. The swim was actually a difficult one, as the force of the falling waters pushed one back. it was exhilarating.

We stopped at a lovely little riverside cafe to enjoy some lunch, before heading out to the Black House, which was created by the student of the White Temple artist. We unfortunately hit rain cloud upon rain cloud, and by the time we had reached the black house complex, we were thoroughly drenched and giggling like idiots. Our rain coats were dripping with the aftershock; our hairs were clumped together; and our noses were red. The Black House was interesting, as it wad to be in stark contrast with the White temple, depicting hell and death. There were animal skeletons everywhere, large wooden benches and dark wooden houses all about. There were even cages with pythons and owls in!

We drove home in the pouring rain again (hitting every single red robot of course), and then spent the afternoon resting and having a few beers. We eventually made our way to the Night Bazaar and then the Sunday walking street, but both were rather subdued owing to the rainy weather. We enjoyed a delicious hot pot at the Night Bazaar, before going home.

The next morning we packed up our goods, did the very long walk to the Chiang Rai beach, was disappointed by the lack of a beach, and then went back to the hostel to wait for our bus. That evening we were to make the long overnight journey to Bangkok.