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018 - Thailand - Chiang Mai
05/12/08 - 05/16/08
Wat Central
Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand but has more Wats per square mile than we could have imagined. These Bhuddist temples, along with the monks that run them, are deeply entwined with the culture of Chiang Mai.
The old city of Chiang Mai is surrounded by a square moat still filled with water and an ancient wall initially built to ward off Burmese invaders. Each side is about a mile long and there are at least a couple of gates (entrances) at each one. Most of the Wats are located within this boundary. Many people come to Chiang Mai and sign up for trekking tours through the jungle. They have excursions that take you to traditional Thai villages, have you ride elephants, or go white water rafting. Unfortunately, we didn't really have the time (or money) to sign up for one of these. On a side note, many of these traditional villages (like the Karen people, with the 'long necks') are being unjustly exploited by companies more focused on profit margins than maintaining an eco-sustainable tourist industry. One couple said of their experience
with the Karen people: their tour consisted of being driven to the village, after which the women with the long necks would try and sell them crafts they had made while the tourists would stare at them. Not quite our idea of doing it like the locals!
The Wat Chang Man is the oldest temple in the city and its buildings are lined with gold covered dragons and enormous stone elephants. It also houses two famous Bhudda images: Bhudda sila and the crystal Bhudda. As we were touring the grounds we stumbled upon a cordoned off area of tables set aside for Monk Chat. Monk Chat is a program where actual monks speak and interact with the tourists visiting the grounds. After recently having read a couple of books on Bhuddism and listening to a podcast on the subject, I was keen on the idea. The monk we spoke with was Phra, a 25 year old that has been in the monkhood for 14 years. His English was good and we spoke for about an hour and a half on various topics such as the five principles of Bhuddism, what it's like being in the monk hood, and his
future plans (which include pursing a masters degree in the States). This was a very enlightening (pun intended) experience!
We also went to Wat Phra Singh which is probably the most popular temple in Chiang Mai. There is at least one school on the grounds and we saw tons of children, most of them wearing the bright orange monk robes, walking around and conversing since class had just gotten out. A couple of young boys came up to me and tried to practice their English while Hannah was looking inside the temples. They were very friendly, albeit shy, and although they reminded me of the kids on Koh Tao who I now realize I've started to miss, it was great conversing with them.
As with any travels to exotic locations, the food can wreak havoc on your system, and Hannah got a good case of tourista on one of the nights. Interestingly enough, it wasn't from a shady Thai street stall, but from a sit-down Mexican restaurant (I know I know, but in case you haven't noticed we really do miss the Mexican food back home!) that got her sick. I caught a little of it as well
and we ended up spending an extra day in Chiang Mai and nearly overstaying our 30 day Thai visa (we left Thailand on our final visa day).
Time for a new country as we bus it up to Thailand's northeastern neghbor, Laos. Next stop, Luang Prabang, Laos.
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DBrooks
non-member comment
Watch out for monks!
Watch out for monks, they have been known to bite when aggitated. Oh . . . wait a minute, you mean Buddist monks, not monk-ees, OK . . . well, nevermind. Just trying to be helpful . . . ; )