I think it was around 5pm when we first met Russell. Although he was surrounded by Thai women, the man looked lost. He dragged a suitcase behind him and could be heard before he could be seen. He seemed to be searching for a hostel of which Daniel suggested ours starting a relationship that would cross borders, ruining however, his chances with the Thai ladies. Russell is as ‘true blue’ as they come. He recites Banjo Patterson passionately, is engaged in a campaign to save Australian slang from extinction, drinks beer like water, spends his weekend fishing the western coast of Australia and follows his ‘number one’ and ‘number two’ sons across the globe. That night, we shared several rounds of Chang at a table in the night market, feasting on tofu pad Thai, much to Russell's disappointment.

The next day we hired another scooter to take us to the two places which are reason enough to travel this far north. The first is Wat Rong Khun, the White temple. This privately owned Buddhist temple is more like an experimental art piece than a place of worship. The severed heads of Wolverine and Terminator hang from trees as you enter a complex which has Buddha sitting opposite Osama bin laden and Kung Fu Panda. The shimmering edifice is the work of local Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat who began its construction in 1997. It's still not finished, murals and structures slowly coming into existence in every corner of the site. We spent a good deal of time just staring at the building, thankful for the overcast day easing the glare. As well as the temple, there in a full scale gallery within the grounds, which was equally as inspiring and fascinating. Completing its new age feel, there is also a small shopping complex complete with food hall where we stopped for lunch. As we left, a red demon holding a bottle of jack Daniels, cigarette perched between his lips, left us with a lasting message of the evils of the material world.

Back on the bike, we headed in the opposite direction along the highway and over the Kok river towards Baan Dam, or, The Black House. This museum is the bizarre estate of another visionary Thai artist - Thawan Duchanee. It is a weird place. And full of taxidermy, much to my displeasure. I couldn't help but compare it to its polar opposite, the White temple. One a gleaming vision of heaven, the other, dark, mysterious and full of earthly pleasures. There are no plaques to describe what you are looking at, only your imagination to make sense of the collections of elephant bones, horns, alligator skins, tribal thrones and charcoal buildings.

There were buildings shaped like temples, domes and open air galleries, the ground covered in circular stones, chickens and thin pathways. The main building could easily be mistaken for a temple, but inside it is set up like a medieval dining hall, a 10 metre table lined with snakeskin and cash. This is what I assume the Game of Thrones prop room to look like. After a couple of hours exploring, drawing and being genuinely lost for words, we walked back to the car park, stopping off for ice cream on the way.

Another night at the market with Russell ended our time in Chiang Rai. Instead of being the ‘shit hole’ we were expecting, we discovered a place full of cutting edge artistic endeavours, with more life and expression than cities more frequently visited down south. I'm so glad we came and saw.