Lots of Wats: Chiang Mai, Thailand June 2018

I was waiting to meet a boat on July 3, with two weeks on my hands between now and then.   After flying into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to rest and explore for a few days, I decided to come to Thailand where waiting was most affordable....and interesting.

A map of Thailand, showing Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai in the north.
You can enlarge any photo by clicking on it.

I didn't have an agenda when I came here, and I needed to become acquainted with Southeast Asia since I would be traveling in this region for a while.  So I booked a hotel in a relatively quiet corner of the city and arrived with few expectations and full of curiosity.

I spent several days exploring the old city of Chiang Mai, built in the 13th century and surrounded by a 2 km square moat, with segments of the old brick and earthen ramparts still standing at the central gates on each side. I walked between five and nine miles almost every day. I'm not sure what I expected of Thailand, but this was all new and different.

Looking down the canal on one of the bridges through the central gates.

Traffic moves along apace, with few apparent rules, but a certain gentleness prevails and there is no honking and jockeying. Cars flow smoothly around tuktuks, motor scooters and pedestrians as they come. I walked all over town, taking in the businesses and goods for sale, the savory smells of food,  fragrant flowers, the musty stink of waste water,  vehicle exhaust and road dust, and chatting with whomever came my way. 

On the way to town I passed a large fresh market and walked through it each day to see the fresh fruits and vegetables both familiar and exotic, raw meats and seafood and a huge variety of ready to eat foods as well.  It's fun to watch the bustle of street life going at the market.

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A mountain of freshly fried pork rinds. Yum.

Lunch is ready.

I have no idea what most of this is.

Fresh dragon fruit. 

On the street just down from my hotel, street food vendors sold me the best fried chicken of my life. There was also delicious red curry- coconut TomKa soup, crunchy Thai green papaya salad and a taste of stinky-sweet durian fruit.  While waiting for a papaya salad (made from grated green papaya, tomatoes and green beans, fish sauce, lime juice,sugar, salt and spicy fresh bird peppers), I met a new friend, a pretty young local tour guide named Mint. We had a fun getting to know each other a bit  and she turned me on to boiled jackfruit seeds, which taste a little like European chestnuts.

My neighborhood papaya salad guy macerating my salad in a wooden mortar.
I never had any gastro-intestinal complaints on this trip, and ate whatever I fancied.

There are over a hundred Buddhist temples, called wats, in the old city and it was a delight to step inside the shadowy coolness and appreciate the tranquility, the lustrous golden images and rich colors. The exterior and grounds of the wats are also handsomely decorated.

I was challenged by an aggressive watch dog in this one.  

Elephants are everywhere in Thai art.  "Chiang" means elephant in Thai language.

Elephants guarding the stupa in a 500 year old wat.

A temple guardian.

A ruined stupa showing it's brick foundation.
 Originially it would have been stuccoed over and gilded.

Modern touches, such as an ever-changing light show
shining on the golden buddhas, add a bit of whimsy.

At Wat Pha Kao, one of my favorites.

Beautiful golden Buddhas.  I meditated a lot on this visit. 

During my walks around town I found a pretty temple, Wat Pha Kao, where Thai massage is conveniently offered on the grounds in an outdoor pavilion.  So I met my new best friend La, who worked on my aching back and loosened up the kinks from my 36 hour flight from the US, 

and the car crash which preceded it.  Brilliant!

La. What a lovely person. An hour massage costs $8 USD.

Eat, Pray, Shovel.  Young monks at work on a a building project.

While walking through town and visiting wats, I sat for quite a while talking with a Thai man named Vee, who is a gong master.

 Gong Master Vee.

He invited me to join a free day-long meditation "seminar" at Wat Suan Dok, where he would be leading a gong mediation session.  So I went.  It was an interesting intro to Buddhist meditation, led by Monk Phra KK, who was humorous and knowledgeable.

Monk Phra KK.  I'm honored to have met him.

The days flew by and I decided to go on a couple of tours. The first was to the town of Chang Rai, famous for the White Temple. This one is only a few decades old, and while the building is faithful to traditional Wat architecture, the artistry is contemporary.  Paintings inside include images of Spiderman, Michael Jackson, and Buddhist demons sipping from a gasoline hose; visual social and political commentary. Alas, no photos were permitted inside.

The sensational White Temple at Chiang Rai.

Look closely.

A temple guardian who looks a lot like Tim Curry.

The only building which is not white is the Comfort Facility, which is gold!

 We went on to visit the Golden Triangle, a confluence on the Mekong River where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (Burma) meet, and where in the past opium was grown and traded for gold, ounce for ounce.  The mighty Mekong River was flowing fast from the onset of the rainy season, and massive logs and debris were swept along at a speed of about four knots.

A huge golden Buddha on a boat shaped plinth overlooks the river and Laos on the other side.

A longboat like ours cruises past downstream.

Another longboat overtakes us.

Me and the rest of the fudgies. I was the only American around.

We went ashore in Laos, where the big market draw was cheap cigarettes and local whiskey infused with opium poppy pods (no illegal residue remaining!), whole cobra, tiger penis, black scorpion, and ginseng roots.  I tried four of the five....you guess which ones!

Cobra, tiger penis, poppy, scorpion and ginseng infused Lao Whiskey.  Yum ?

A little scorpion brew to take home.  Not my manicure!

A tourist memento I couldn't pass up.

We visited a traditional village of the "Longneck"  Karen hill tribe, admiring their traditional handicrafts and tribal clothing, including the unique bronze neck rings the ladies wear from an early age.  This tradition has become an important income source for the village, though it felt to me a little like a human zoo the way the women had to pose for photo after photo, day after day.  They did it with good grace, so who am I to judge?

A beautiful young woman of the Karen tribe.

They sell exquisite hand woven and embroidered items along with some kitsch.

Traditional tribal huts.

We stopped by a Hmong village, where more fabulous fabrics and  handiworks were on display. 

Bright embroidered Hmong garments.

The older man made crossbows to sell, which were pretty accurate at short range.

The next day I visited Wat Doi Suthep, high on a mountain overlooking Chiang Mai. For centuries it has been Chiang Mai's holiest place, which is literally reflected in the gold glittering on almost every surface. Legend tells that a venerated white elephant bearing a bone of the Buddha wandered the forests until at last he stopped this place, where the wat was established. 

Hmong children in traditional costume.

Ninety nine steps with ornate glazed tile Naga dragons on each side.

The golden stupa at Doi Suthep.

Buddhist monks and nuns gave out blessings and lotus flowers, and visitors wandered among the faithful at prayer.  I lingered under the ancient bodhi tree and chatted with fellow travelers while overlooking the valley.

Leaving incense sticks, bees wax candles and lotus flowers after prayer.

Lotus flowers.

Another fabulous artwork...gold and marble.

Carved wooden pillars. When entering Buddhist temples it is considered respectful for ladies to wear a top
with sleeves covering the shoulders, and skirt or pants covering the legs.
We remove our shoes when entering the wat sanctuary. 

At last I visited the famous Night Market on Walking Street in the old city, though "night" and "I" are not often used in same sentence.  Vendors offering all sorts of food, clothing and handicrafts lined the streets.  I witnessed a street performance of traditional Thai drum and gong, which included a stylized war dance. Definitely the high point of the evening. Eventually I was overwhelmed by the press of the thronging crowd. I used my knowledge of the town to flee the crowd through a hidden byway and caught a ride home in a tuktuk.

Fun ride in the tuktuk!

The next morning I boarded my flight for Cairns, Australia, where I would join SY Samara II on a four month, 4000 mile  voyage through the Indonesian archipelago.  But that is another story...