.png)
RTW Trip Day #50: Exploring Chiang Rai’s White Temple and Blue Temples
- andrewsco3
- Nov 18
- 3 min read
17 November 2025
Steps: 6,448
We started our day with a lovely breakfast at our hotel, the Le Méridien Resort. One thing I really appreciate in Asia is that many hotels have a kids eat free policy, which makes the breakfast buffets great value for families. After we’d eaten we headed out to explore some of Chiang Rai’s famous temples.
Chiang Rai's Blue Temple (Wat Rong Suea Ten)
Our first stop was Wat Rong Suea Ten, or the Blue Temple, as it is more commonly known. After visiting so many temples in Japan, Cambodia and Laos, this one felt completely different from anything we had seen before.
As soon as you reach Wat Rong Suea Ten it stands out with its deep blue colour with beautiful gold detailing, and the entrance is guarded by elaborate serpent sculptures. Inside there is a large Buddha and the walls are bright blue, and covered in gold murals.
The whole temple feels very artistic, which makes sense given that it was designed in 2005 by an artist who studied under the creator of the White Temple. Even though it was built relatively recently, it feels quite old, especially compared to the White Temple.
Along the side of the temple there are a few small market stalls. We grabbed some coconut ice cream served with blue sticky rice, which is a local speciality and it was really good!
Chiang Rai's White Temple (Wat Rong Khun)
We caught a Grab taxi to the other famous temple in Chiang Rai, the White Temple, or Wat Rong Khun as it’s officially called. The girls were excited for this one because it really does look like something out of the Frozen movie.
Entry into the temple was 100 baht each, but Evelyn was just small enough to get in for free. They did mention that her shorts were too short, so she had to wear a white scarf around her legs like a skirt, which she wasn’t thrilled about. This is also why we don’t have many photos with her in them (she took it off for the photo above).
The architecture is incredible when viewed from the outside, although the inside isn’t quite as impressive, when compared to the Blue Temple. It’s also quite busy, and we came across plenty of the TikTok and Instagram crew, trying to capture the perfect selfie, which gets a bit tiring after a while. We all agreed, the blue temple was all of our favourite.
Dinner at Khao Soi Restaurant
In the afternoon we spent some time at the hotel pool before heading out for an early dinner at Khao Soi Restaurant, which had great reviews and was only a short walk from the cat cafe.
The food was excellent. I tried a local specialty called Nam Ngiao, which is a spicy noodle soup made with pork, curdled blood cake and fermented soy beans. As strange as it sounds, it ended up being one of my favourite soups of the whole trip.
CAT 'n' A CUP Cat Cafe
We decided the girls deserved a treat after visiting two temples in the morning with minimal fuss, even though they declared that they are well and truly 'done with temples' by this point.
The cat cafe was really well done and they clearly cared for the cats there. You do have to buy one drink per person to enter and the drinks are on the pricey side, but there’s no additional entry fee and no time limit.
Jess ordered the s’mores hot chocolate and said it reminded her of being around the campfire at home.
It was a lot of fun spending time with the cats, although Evelyn is now convinced we’re getting a cat when we get home. We’ll see about that....
It was a relaxed way to end our only full day in Chiang Rai, as we get the bus to Chiang Mai tomorrow. We’re staying there five nights, so it will be nice to settle in for a bit.
Comments