It's hard not to compare the White Temple to the Black House. It's almost as if they were deliberately created as opposites - opposite colors and locations - white is south of Chiang Rai, black is north; white is surreal, black is naturalistic; white is enlightenment...

There are basically two things to see in Chiang Rai, the white temple and the black temple (well, black house, but whatever). Today, we did the white temple. We walked over to the old bus station in the center of town and asked around for Wat Rong Khun. They pointed...