Hey there readers, I hope you have been doing well since the last time I prepared an update. Looking back at my past posts, I see that I actually passed a personal milestone for my travel blog. It perhaps sounds a bit anticlimactic, but this is my hundred and first entry! I can’t say that I ever had a particular goal in mind, but despite the arbitrary nature of the number, I still feel quite good about having kept writing for this long. But enough about my personal records; let’s jump straight into day 3 of the Chiang Mai trip.
A big part of coming to Chiang Mai before heading to a teachers’ conference in Bangkok was to make sure that I had some authentic rest time. As such, I allowed myself to sleep in, then headed out at 9:47 AM to the nearby branch of Jok Somphet for breakfast. I ordered boiled rice with pig stomach and an extra soft boiled egg.
I realize that it doesn’t actually look that appealing, but it was very tasty. Furthermore, at only 45 THB ($1.35 USD), which I paid in cash, it was an incredible bargain. For a simple, budget breakfast, I would definitely recommend this eatery to anyone who is in Chiang Mai. Hopefully, I will have a chance to come back later on.
It was a pleasant nineteen-minute walk to Wat Phan Tao, where I arrived at 10:32 AM. As far as I can tell, the most distinguishing thing about this temple complex is that the walls and ceilings of the structures that you can enter seem to be mostly made of Teak. Thinking about it more, I think I may have been even more impressed by the crazy number of places and ways that they had established to make donations. They might not actually be raking in as much as the place I had seen earlier with the huge silver-colored recipients, but they are definitely making an effort. However, it is important to note that nobody harassed me nor directly solicited any sort of payment/donation.
It was not a central installation, but I particularly appreciated this recreation of the Buddha under the Banyan tree.
As with the other temples I had visited in Chiang Mai, the gardens/grounds had plenty of benches and a clearly indicated public toilet. However, most of the benches were located in direct sunlight, so that’s something to consider when planning a visit. Regardless, the entire place was well-maintained and very peaceful.
I finished up there at 10:56 AM and decided to walk towards the interesting looking temple which I had seen the day before on my way to the cultural show. As I was not in a big hurry, at 11:04 AM I stopped in at the god of fortune temple which was along the way.
Otherwise, the walk was fine, but uneventful.
I arrived to Wat Sri Suphan (The silver temple) at 11:22 AM. There was a 50 THB ($1.50 USD) obligatory “donation” for foreign tourists, which I paid for with cash. As I understand it, most of the metallic items seen here are not silver, but rather hammered aluminum or other silver-colored metals. Unsurprisingly, as I was starting to understand, there were donation bowls pretty much everywhere. Separately, there were also various shops selling nominally religious/spiritual items.
The print was absurdly small, but inside this one little gift shop, there were signs up about different Lanna artisans and their villages. Oddly enough, the shop itself seemed to be unattended, but I am sure that I could have found someone to sell me stuff had I wanted.
At 11:40 AM, I marveled at the way this technique of hammered metal allows for an astonishing amount of three-dimensional detail on both the central temple structure and various other statues located in the immediate vicinity.
Like many religious sites in this part of the world, only males are allowed to enter the main temple. As it had been explained to me earlier at a different temple, only men can become monks, so only men can enter. Or at any rate, that seems to be the popular justification. I briefly wondered how this would apply to people who were transgender or non-binary, but that seemed like a bit too much thought for the moment.
In a word, the carvings and paintings inside the temple were eclectic. Here they seemed to be leaning more into general artistic expression rather than keeping the focus on well-known religious symbols. Of course, it might just be that I am not all that aware of popular Buddhist imagery. Nevertheless, I was happy that I had been able to enter, and I felt a bit sad about all of the women who were not permitted to do so. Finishing up with the main temple structure at 12:05 PM, I decided to check out the rest of the grounds, including some of the associated stalls and workshops.
Doubtless if I had been with someone else, I would have gone ahead and paid the 50 THB to make my own ring/keychain/bracelet. However, as I was on my own, I really wasn’t all that interested. Thus, I finished up with the temple area at 12:22 PM and decided to walk over towards John Gallery. Along the way at 12:41 PM I saw The Lost Book Shop. Photos inside were prohibited, which of course made me more determined to take some.
I like to imagine that if I were living in Chiang Mai, I would regularly buy books there, but I don’t, so I didn’t. It was fairly well-organized, but otherwise rather unremarkable. So, I am not sure what the thing was with prohibited pictures. Thus, after just ten minutes, I was once more out on the street walking.
Finally at 1:01 PM I arrived to John Gallery. This was one time when recommendations from previous travelers seemed to have steered me wrong. I wasn’t upset that I had seen it, but I just didn’t think it was really all that amazing. No doubt if I had been looking to buy some reasonably modern original art from Chiang Mai, my experience would have been different. But as it was, I just found it to be very cramped and quirky. Still, if you are in the area, you may as well stop in for five minutes. Who knows, maybe you will find your next treasure…
As the gallery visit had gone much faster than anticipated (only four minutes), I decided to also check out the temple which was right next door (Chetawan Temple), and also the big white one which was across the street. These were interesting in that they were both clearly simple neighborhood temples rather than “tourist attractions”. The white one didn’t even have a clearly identifiable name placard. Despite, their relative simplicity, I still enjoyed my twenty-five minute exploration of these two temples and their grounds.
So, it was 1:31 PM, and what to do next? I wasn’t incredibly hungry, but eating is always good. I figured that as long as I were to keep walking, I would see something interesting.
Don’t hit me, but feel free to think less of me. As I have several times mentioned, whenever I am outside of India, if it’s available, I like to get a couple of simple McDonald’s cheeseburgers, and that’s exactly what I did at 1:52 PM. Putting things in perspective, compared to my breakfast, the 285 THB ($8.80 USD) was a bit expensive for two simple cheeseburgers and a 22 ounce sugar free Sprite. Still, the place was very clean, the seating was comfortable, the air-conditioning was perfect, and I was able to easily pay with my Indian credit card. You are welcome to yuck on my yum, but I knew what I wanted and was satisfied with the experience.
Feeling fully refreshed, I finished up at 2:33 PM and continued along my way.
Admittedly, I had not been blindly meandering. At 3:17 PM I arrived at Wat Suon Dok. The main temple structure here was built in 1371, and today it is the main burial site for members of the Lanna royal family.
At 3:37 PM I noticed that there were a couple of workers repainting one of the chedis (structures which hold relics of Buddha and some of the deceased royals). I wondered if there was some sort of a schedule for repainting the tombs. Furthermore, who pays for it? Is it the municipality, general temple funds, close family members of particular tombs? Many of the structures were glistening white, but others were clearly in need of a bit of attention. The largest pagodas of course are where the Buddha relics are located, with the smaller structures holding the remains of royal family members.
I wondered, do members of the Lanna royal family visit here frequently? Do they feel any meaningful connection to all of the extended family members with their enshrined remains? What about the local people of the area? I suppose this is true of burial sites everywhere… After perhaps 100 years, certainly 200, what connection can one feel with those who have passed on? What is the point of such burial sites? Do people really feel that strong of a connection to ancestors who were buried hundreds of years ago? Taking it a step further, what about the ancestors of one’s neighbors or simply just people from the same general ethnic/cultural group?
Fortunately, five minutes later there was a downpour which pushed me to seek shelter under one of the large archways, so deep thoughts were put aside in the rush to not get soaking wet.
As luck would have it, the rain dropped off after just 15 minutes. Given that I was already in the area, I decided to go into main temple structure. This had another required “donation” of 20 THB ($0.60 USD).
As the photos indicate, there were the now familiar MANY places to deposit donations. I somehow forgot to take a picture, but there were also these little glass baubles that supposedly had reliquaries (pieces of) important deceased monks. Of course, the most important ones are those attributed to the Buddha. I suppose it is all about belief, but it seemed a bit weird to me to take little pieces of someone dead that you admire and then distribute them. Perhaps it is like how people take keepsakes from a dead relative’s house? Regardless, it wasn’t really my thing, so I exited at 4:15 PM.
Fairly close by, at 4:27 PM I came across what appeared to be a branch of a local café chain called Yummy. Once inside, from what I could make out, it appears that they sell pre-packaged pastries and simple drinks at reasonably affordable prices. I got a small croissant and a Taro milk tea for 58 THB ($1.79 USD). The croissant was about what you would expect of a pre-packaged pastry, and the tea was basically sugar water. Still, I was on vacation, so new experiences were welcome. I was the only customer, and I hung out there until 5:05 PM.
The temperature at 5:15 PM was actually just perfect, and the path along this part of the moat seemed much nicer than the other areas I had explored. Certainly I was enjoying myself, but I also had no intention of simply walking along the full circle of the moat. Thus, despite how pretty it was, at 5:43 PM I stopped in at some random restaurant called Maepasri. Yes, I know that I had just had a pastry an hour earlier, but I had also been walking quite a bit, and there was nothing else pending on my agenda.
I was very happy with my Khao Soi with pork, large Chang beer, and the artfully presented mango rice. As I was finishing up at 7:05 PM, I noted that the cost was only 215 THB ($6.65 USD) which I again paid with cash. Theoretically I could have paid with my Moreta app, but I had still not been able to add more money since arriving in Thailand despite having sent multiple messages to customer support. The app had been very nice to use in Vietnam, but it was clearly less useful in this particular country. This is not just because of the inability to add more funds to the online wallet, but also because many of the common places in Thailand seemed to have a strong preference for cash.
Still, the evening was pleasant, and it was just a leisurely thirty-minute walk back to my lodging. Upon arrival at 7:33 PM, I refilled my two water bottles at the front desk and decided to turn in for the night…perhaps I would watch some streaming video, or perhaps I would just do some reading. It wouldn’t even be a bad option to just go to sleep very early. I had seen several more interesting temples, had enjoyable walks, eaten satisfying food, and even privately reflected on issues of gender and death. In short, I wanted nothing more from the day. I was content.
Travels with Jay 