Hey there everyone, I hope you have been having your own amazing adventures since last I wrote. For those of you who know me better, you are probably surprised to see that this latest entry is from Thailand, rather than from Vietnam. Basically, I am cheating. Yes, the northern Vietnam trip report has more than a week left, but I took a short trip to Chiang Mai the last few days, and wanted to get to that while it was fresh in my head. Besides, it sort of makes sense, as the second part of Vietnam was all in Hanoi, so I will just write about that separately as “the Hanoi trip”. Now I know that was way more information than most of you wanted, so I will just jump right into my trip to Chiang Mai.
Despite warnings about this budget airline being unreliable, I had booked a Thai Lion Air flight from Bengaluru, with a VERY early morning departure on March 14th. Fortunately, the flight left right on time, even arriving a bit early into Bangkok at 4:10 AM GMT+7:00 (Thailand time).
The Nomad Esim I had paid $9.00 USD for connected immediately, so I was all set with 50 GB of data for my 10 day trip. Incidentally, I had originally booked an Esim with Matrix esim, but that service is complete trash, at least when trying to do it online. So it is a good thing that the Nomad Esim was so great, because the 953 INR I had paid for the Matrix Esim a day earlier had been a complete waste. In summary, Nomad is good, and Matrix is a scam, at least when trying to buy online . . . if I had checked the reviews ahead of time I would have known that, but there you go. One time following the reviews would have been meaningless, and the other time it would have saved me a bit of money and some undue stress.
Once at the airport in Bangkok, Thai Lion Air’s “fly through” service for those who are connecting to domestic flights worked incredibly well. I had zero wait time, and was through immigration and into the domestic waiting zone in less than ten minutes!
I had not eaten since the previous evening, and didn’t want to get out cash, so at 7:15 AM I opted to buy a simple McDonald’s breakfast with a double sausage McMuffin, hashbrowns and a diet sprite for 759 INR ($8.00 USD), paying with my international credit card from India. Yes, I know . . . how could I possibly eat McDonald’s while in Thailand?! In short, because I like sausage McMuffins every once in a while, and you can’t get them in India.
I was happy with my meal, and just a short time later (at 7:55 AM) I was seated on the next plane, getting ready for takeoff. Once again, the flight was uneventful, with us touching down at 9:34 AM. My first impression was that it was greener than I had thought it would be, but I really don’t know why that surprised me. I also really hadn’t been expecting to see mountains there in the distance. We had a bit of excitement when the airport bus taking us from the plane almost hit a pickup truck. Fortunately the crisis was averted, but several people almost fell down when the driver slammed on the breaks.
I had entertained taking the RTC bus from the airport to the old Chiang Mai where I was staying. However, by the time we had got to the departure area, it looked like I had missed the 10:00 AM bus, and I really did not want to wait another hour. Thus, I booked a car using the GRAB app for 171 THB (automatically charges my international credit card), vs the 50 THB ($1.52 USD) I would have paid for the bus. The main issue with the bus is that you have to pay in cash, and small bills at that, and I had neither.
Regardless, a 10 minutes trip vs. the more than 45 minutes it could have taken me in the bus also seemed like a good trade off. Furthermore, at the end of the day, $5.29 USD is perfectly fine for a comfortable airport taxi which gets me to my hotel in such a short time. As we were approaching the hotel, we drove along some sort of a waterway. It didn’t exactly seem to be a river, appearing to be more like a rather long moat; judging by the remnants of old fortifications on the other side, that seemed to be a good guess.
Upon arrival to Chiangmun Boutique at 10:10 AM, which I had booked ahead of time on Agoda for 5,077 INR for three nights ($53.57 USD) I was warmly received, but they said that my room would unfortunately not be ready for another hour. Given that check-in time is actually 2:00 PM, this seemed fair, so I dropped off my one piece of luggage and went out in search of an AEON bank ATM.
All of the travel forums said that this was the best way to get Thai Baht in Chiang Mai, giving better rates and less service charge than other ATMs. Of course, I also had some USD and even euros with me if needed, but I preferred to keep that cash as an emergency reserve, especially since it can be a bit annoying to get foreign currency in India. However, things did not go quite as planned. Evidently, AEON banks is now mostly defunct, or at any rate they now have extremely few ATMs. I figured it couldn’t be that much of a difference, so I just went for another ATM. Learn from my mistakes!
At 10:40 AM, after having established that there were no longer AEON bank ATMs, I got 2600 THB (about $80.30 USD) from some random, yellow ATM. The actual amount deducted from my bank account in India was 9641 INR ($104 USD). Yep, you read it correctly . . . $24 USD in charges to get $80.30 USD. For those of you coming from the USA, I think you get a better deal, but for those coming from India or other countries which don’t use the USD, be prepared to get majorly burned if you use an ATM. To be fair, I suspect this may be more of an “India thing,” but given the number of visitors who come to Thailand from India, it is certainly useful information. In summary, if you are coming from India, bring crisp $100 USD bills and change them at an exchange house.
It was a brief walk back to the hotel, where I arrived at 10:55 AM and they immediately ushered me into my room. As I had planned, it was a simple room, but impeccably clean, with a well-working, quiet air-conditioner. I had not been able to sleep at all on the two flights from India, so I was running on empty as far as sleep credits were concerned. I took a quick shower and immediately got in bed for a nap before going out to explore in the early evening.
I woke up at 4:15 PM and immediately headed out to the temple which was right across the road from my hotel, Wat Chiang Mun, arriving there at 4:28 PM.
I was surprised to see that this temple was founded between 1296 and 1297 AC. Walking inside at 4:34 PM, I noted that it was much less “extravagant” than many Buddhist temples I’ve seen, but it was certainly elegant. There to the right of main altar, there were a lot of what I thought were probably some sort of air conditioning units, but I wondered how well they would work in such an open space. I had noticed that there were no signs about pictures or selfies being prohibited, so I figured it was safe. I comment on this, because in many countries it is definitely not permitted in Buddhist temples.
At 4:44 PM I went out of the main temple building and off to the left of the entrance. So far I had found it interesting that there were no obvious “offerings” nor incense anywhere. Maybe that’s not a big thing here? There were some very simple gardens, and as I explored around the grounds at 4:52 PM, I decided that the lesser areas of the temple complex were actually a bit more interesting than the main temple, at least from my “tourist” viewpoint. Finally at 4:58 PM I found an area with some incense at an outside altar of sorts. There were also nagas (mythological dragon/snake guardians) EVERYWHERE. While note historical, I also thought it noteworthy that they had a a very clearly marked public washroom.
As I walked out of the temple complex at 5:03 PM, I saw that I had evidently stayed in the wrong place; right next to my hotel was Jay Guest House! At the same time, I noticed that there were some mosquitos, so I quickly returned to the room to get some natural mosquito repellant to put on my clothes. That whole maneuver only took a moment, and at 5:08 PM I was off on my way towards Wat Phra Singh. The temperature at this time of the early evening was very pleasant, and the streets, at least in this area, were very clean and uncrowded.
I arrived to Wat Phra Singh at 5:31 PM. This was clearly a larger temple complex than where I had been earlier, but it wasn’t crazy huge. Unlike the first temple I had visited, this one had a sign indicating a mandatory “donation” of 50 THB for foreign visitors. I decided to walk around outside first. The sound of the birds was very peaceful, and the walkways themselves were also calming. There was a very large structure here covered in what I thought might be some sort of shiny gold paint. However, upon closer inspection, I decided that it was actually some sort of polished, gold colored metal. Whatever it was, it was very well-maintained.
The area with wise sayings placed on trees was unattended but interesting. I guess these are the Buddhist equivalent of Christian proverbs. It seems like most well-established religions have something like this?
Tucked off to the side, at 5:51 PM I noticed a white building that sort of looks like apartments. Perhaps that is where the monks live, but I don’t know.
Soon thereafter I noticed a little offering of some sort which had been set out on top of a bush. I wondered what the tray was made of. I assume that the offering itself has a similar system to what I saw/heard about in Vietnam, with it being left out for awhile, and then picked up by the person who offered it later on. In this scenario, the offering is considered blessed. I thought this made sense, since the offering plate appeared to have clothes for a little kid, so I assumed that it would not be used by the monks. Again though, I could be completely wrong about this. These are all just my personal musings.
At 6:04 PM I decided to leave without having actually entered any of the buildings. It was all very pretty, but I just didn´t see a need to go inside.
I set off in the direction of Wat Chedi Lhuang, where I arrived at 18:24 PM.
Like the last temple complex, there was a required “donation” from foreign visitors, but this one had a sort of ticket station right there at the entrance. This can only be given in cash, which I did, receiving a printed official receipt which I kept in my pocket just in case. Near the entrance, I noticed some people selling offering candles and incense. This especially drew my attention because the breeze was not cooperating with the area where people were supposed to burn their offerings, and there was a lady standing there who had to constantly relight her candle. Fortunately the wind didn’t seem to have the same effect on the incense, so not everyone was required to do this constant dance.
Walking around at 6:33 PM, I saw there was a sign indicating that only men were allowed to enter the temple under which the main pillar of the city is said to be buried. Except for people trying to keep candles lit, the breeze was most welcome, with the constant, pleasant sound of windchimes.
Interestingly enough, the unassuming “little southern stupa” is evidently as old as the now ruined massive main stupa, but it is in far, far better condition. Maybe being the biggest isn’t always the best.
Similar to what I had observed about an earlier temple complex, the grounds/gardens were perhaps the best part of the temple complex. Especially at dusk, they were incredibly calming. I also really appreciate the benches they have throughout. That shows that they have really thought about the needs of visitors, especially those who are older or infirm.
Thinking back on the massive size of the silver colored donation vessels, I wondered. Was that just wishful thinking, or did they really need donation containers that were that huge? At 6:41 PM I had seen at least two of these massive things, and that isn’t counting the smaller ones located throughout the complex.
Continuing on my walk at 6:45 PM I really wanted to whack one of those gongs, but it seemed ill-advised. However, there were no signs of prohibition, so maybe it’s okay? Or maybe it is just common sense to not bang on the massive gongs for no special reason? Regardless, nobody else seemed inclined to hit them, so I decided to stick with my original inclination to avoid it, despite the great temptation.
Behind the main temple, there is a smaller one which evidently used to serve as the ordination hall, but now appears to mostly just be for decoration. As I was looking around there at 6:56 PM, I wondered about the pictures on the interior garden wall. Were those perhaps important donors or maybe their ashes were actually located within niches in the wall? Maybe both? I hoped that at least some people who actually know who they were/are come here to visit, not just tourists like me who don’t even know what the signs say.
Walking along the path from there back towards the main temple at 7:03 PM, I saw a sign indicating that it was free to chat with a monk. I suppose that I appreciated being told, but it was sort of sad that clarification was needed. Isn’t the whole point of religious scholars/guides supposed to be that they are there to guide all people who are seeking help? The notion of having to pay for that just seems crazy to me, but maybe it is normal in this part of the world? Regardless, just so you know, no payment required at least at this particular temple.
Having already seen most of the rest of the grounds, I decided to go ahead and enter the main temple structure at 7:21 PM. Shoes of course had to come off, and then I went in. It wasn’t an issue for me as I always tend to dress quite modestly (and simply) when travelling, but most of these temples also have signs up about keeping shoulders and legs covered.
Once inside looking around, I was intrigued by the whole gold leafing thing on the statues, but I couldn’t help wondering if that was the best use for the money. However, I may have a mistaken idea about the cost. Perhaps it doesn’t really cost that much? I mean it is basically just gold tissue paper. Still, let us suppose that the Buddha’s spirit were somehow connected to one of these statues or perhaps even all of them . . . is this really what the Buddha’s spirit would want? Wouldn’t the Buddha (or any other benevolent spirit or deity) want devotees to use their funds to help those in need or perhaps to simply improve life for the entire community? I realize there is a fine line of sorts here. I don’t think there is anything the matter with wanting a clean, attractive, comfortable place of worship, but are we really doing what is correct when we put too much emphasis on obviously luxurious ornamentation? I need to think about this more, as there are clearly greater implications than just this single Buddhist temple.
So as you could see, the temple was certainly very pretty, but at 7:33 PM I had seen about everything I needed to see. I didn’t really have a particular idea of what I wanted to eat, but after wandering around a bit, at 7:52 PM I saw a place that looked decent enough, with what appeared to be several Thai clients: Uncle Lam Thai Syle Fusion Food. Guessing from the “fusion food” moniker it is perhaps not “authentic” northern Thai food, but I was pleased with the dishes which I had selected by pointing at pictures. The broth that came with the pork in oyster sauce was particularly divine.
When I finished at 8:56 PM, I paid my 340 THB ($10.35 USD) bill using my Moreta app, noting that the food was perhaps a bit more expensive than what I had generally paid three months earlier in northern Vietnam, but certainly not prohibitively so for a tourist. Of course, based on the proliferation of fancy temples, it might just be that I was staying in a more expensive area of Chiang Mai. Still, I was fine with the expense and decided to briefly walk along the moat for a bit as I more or less headed in the general direction of my hotel.
Next to where I was staying, there was a 7-Elven where at 9:38 PM I bought some snacks for 100 THB ($3.04 USD) in cash, and then headed directly into my room which was just next door.
I showered, watched a bit of streaming video, and then went to be at 10:30 PM. It had been a bit of odyssey to get here, but the room was comfortable, the sights interesting, and the food delicious. What was your favorite part so far? Is there anything more you would like to know? Do you think you would have done anything differently? I look forward to reading your comments and questions in the space which is indicated below.
Travels with Jay 