Tours in Chiang Rai

Start in the evening, at the night bazaar near the clock tower, where the food stalls fill up and people sit on low stools with a plate of khao soi. Chiang Rai is a small northern Thai city, and it works at a slower pace than Chiang Mai. You can walk the centre in an afternoon and still have energy left for noodles.

What brings most people here is temples, but not the gold-and-incense kind you may have seen elsewhere. The White Temple, Wat Rong Khun, is dazzling in strong sun, covered in mirrored glass that throws light in every direction. Go inside and the paintings surprise you. They are stranger and more modern than you expect from a Thai temple. The Blue Temple, Wat Rong Suea Ten, is the opposite mood. The colour is deep and the interior glows, and it feels more like stepping into a painting than a place of worship.

Wat Phra Kaew is the quieter stop, a calm temple that locals still use, with a link to the Emerald Buddha that gives it its name. The Black House, Baandum, is worth adding if you like your art dark. It is a scatter of wooden buildings filled with horns, skins and carved furniture, and it is the perfect counterweight to all that white.

These sights sit spread out around the city, which is why a half day with a local guide and a car makes sense. You see more and hear what the carvings and murals mean. Beyond the temples, people head north to the hills, the tea country and the Mekong edge, and the Golden Triangle is a common ask. If something on that list interests you and is not yet a tour, ask. A local guide can usually shape it for you.