Mountain Village and Buddhist Temple near CM

We heard that we should not miss seeing Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, which is a Buddhist Temple at the top of the highest mountain around Chiang Mai, and is a sacred site to many Thai people. We booked a half-day tour so we would have a guide to tell us what we were seeing. Of course, there are almost always shopping opportunities for tourists on booked tours, and this was no exception. We stopped on the way at a small village to watch some of the hand-crafted goods we see in the markets being made. The village was on the side of the mountain, so of course, the paths were all very steep, some almost at 45 degree angles.

The long winding path in the village


Handmade goods for sale.

Another booth with items for sale.


One woman was sitting at a picnic table drawing a batik design on a piece of cloth about the size of a bedspread. Jack asked her what she was using to draw with, and it turned out to be a stick she was dipping into natural rubber that had been heated and liquified. She showed us some of her completed pieces, and they were totally covered with geometric designs. There were no spaces left unadorned larger than the size of a dime. It was excellent work, very intricate and precise. Jack wanted to buy something she made, and although we could come up with enough money to get something, we could not think of one thing we would do with it when we got home. So, although it was great handiwork, we decided to pass it up.

Making the batik design with melted rubber at the picnic table.

Getting everything just right.

We continued up the mountain in the van, and at one point, the driver had to turn off the air conditioner so we would have enough power to climb some really steep places. After riding for about an hour, we were dropped off in from of the Temple steps. Unfortunately, we were immediately descended upon by the most aggressive and rude hawkers we have come across so far, anywhere in our travels. I was very surprised and disappointed at this. This is Thailand, after all, where everyone is usually so polite. The only way I knew how to deal with the hawkers was to ignore them and walk away, which was harder than you might think, as we were completely surrounded. There was no way I would buy anything from anyone so obnoxious and aggressive.

We did get away from the hawkers and stood at the bottom of the stairs that led to the top of the mountain and to the temple. I didn’t count the stairs up, but it seemed to be about a million. Seriously.

Seriously, count the stairs! The green bannister sides look like the body of a dragon.

But in reality, there were only 309 steps. However, I decided that it would be better for my knees to take the monorail to the top. I was expecting a fabulous view of the surrounding mountains while riding to the top in the monorail, but it turned out to be a big elevator to the top. No view, except for looking at the 30 other people in it with us. When we got out at the top, however, all of the hawkers were gone, and we were in a quiet place of meditation, devotion, and worship, with misty clouds all around us.

The Wat, or temple grounds, consisted of several buildings. Many were ornate and extravagant shrines to Buddha. Each shrine had an alter, an extraordinary, very large Buddha statue (sometimes more than one), candles, offerings, and open floor space to sit or kneel to meditate and worship. In addition to the candles, there were lots of mirror tiles, gold leaf, and metallic painted finishes that made everything glow and sparkle. Everyone takes their shoes off before entering. Our group went into one shrine where a very young monk gave us a blessing and sprinkled everyone with water. The Buddhists in our group knelt down and said prayers.

Buddha in one of the shrines

Our tour guide told us the legend of this temple, and here is the legend as appears in Wikkepedia:

According to legend, a monk named Sumanathera from Sukhothai had a dream; in this dream god told him to go to Pang Cha and look for a relic. Sumanathera ventured to Pang Cha and is said to have found a bone, which many claim was Buddha's shoulder bone. The relic displayed magical powers; it glowed, it was able to vanish, it could move itself and replicate itself. Sumanathera took the relic to King Dharmmaraja who ruled the Sukhothai.

The eager Dharmmaraja made offerings and hosted a ceremony when Sumanathera arrived. However the relic displayed no abnormal characteristics, and the king, doubtful of the relic's authenticity, told Sumanathera to keep it.

However, King Nu Naone of the Lanna Kingdom heard of the relic and offered the monk to take it to him instead. In 1368 with Dharmmaraja's permission, Sumanathera took the relic to what is now Lamphun, in northern Thailand. The relic apparently split in two, one piece was the same size, the other was smaller than the original. The smaller piece of the relic was enshrined at a temple in Suandok. The other piece was placed by the King on the back of a white elephant which was released in the jungle. The elephant is said to have climbed up Doi Suthep, at the time called Doi Aoy Chang (Sugar Elephant Mountain), trumpeted three times before dying at the site. It was interpreted as a sign and King Nu Naone ordered the construction of a temple at the site.

Statue of the Legendary White Elephant

The temple grounds were also very interesting. There was an enclosure for a huge metal bell, and sets of large bells outside several other shrines. There were also displays of smaller Buddha statues in different poses that had special signficiance for Buddhists.

The largest bell has its own building.


The Reclining Buddha represents Buddha's moment of death, when he achieved total enlightenment. Everyone else gets as close as they can to total enlightenment, but Buddha is the only one who has ever achieved it.


Twelve Buddhas lined up in different poses - one for each month of the year. People light candles in the pots in front of their birthday month for special blessings.


These snakes are to protect the Buddha.


Statue of a fasting monk. He must fast until noon, so he's watching for the sun to get directly overhead before he starts eating rice from the bowl he's holding.


There were many different sets of these great bells all around the temple grounds.


Bells dedicated to loved ones and hung over the door.


Another set of large bells.


Rennovation in progress.

The view of Chiang Mai from the Temple can also be great, but on the day we went it was rainy and overcast, so we didn't see its best.

View from the top on a cloudy day.


Another view on a cloudy day.

We decided to take the steps down the side of the mountain, all one million, I mean 309, of them. In retrospect, I should have taken the monorail (big elevator) back down because my knee was really complaining by the time we got to the bottom. I don’t have a bad knee, it just gets cranky from time to time.

About half way down, with our tour guide.

One more view of the million steps looking up from the bottom.

Bangkok, Thailand

We finally got to Thailand. After the stressful events surrounding our connection in Brisbane, it was a relief when everything went better. We went through customs in Phuket, which consisted of giving a stern-looking clerk half of our immigration card and getting the other half stamped and handed back. That was it. No luggage check or anything. We had a long lay-over at the small Phuket Aiport, so we had plenty of time to have a leisurely supper at the restaurant and relax. We landed in Bangkok at 9:30 p.m., and after we collected our luggage, went out to find our ride to the Convenient Grand Hotel. Lots of other people were trying to find their rides, too. We found the woman from our hotel who wheeled our luggage to a seating area. She had us sit and told us to wait for some other folks to get there. That gave us some time to do a little people watching in our new country.

It took us some time, an almost alarming amount of time, to reach our hotel from the airport. It was too late for anything to be open as our hotel van drove through the dark neighborhoods and deserted streets. We finally arrived, however, and were pleasantly surprised by our hotel and room, even though it was far off of the beaten path located in the middle of a residential area. The hotel was only a few months old, and the room was really big and comfortable, and we got a really great night’s sleep.

The day after we arrived, we decided to go shopping. Mostly we needed regular stuff like shower gel and sun screen. There was a nice man in the hotel lobby (The Tour Man) who arranged for a driver to take us. When we asked about taking the bus, he just laughed. The Tour Man arranged for Sam, who spoke very good English, to be our driver. Sam took us to a mall that was pretty far away, but one that the local folks go to, not a tourist destination. We had fun looking in the shops and finding our way around. I'm finding malls to be pretty universal so far except that here all the signs are in Thai, with a little bit of English, and all the women’s clothes are no bigger than a size 2. It was really modern, full of people as it was Saturday, and really loud. In addition to all the people, there were about five or so shops with loudspeakers setup by their entrances advertising sales or demonstrating something, and turned up really loud, adding greatly to the noise level. I thought it was great! We were about the only folks who weren't Thai, but no one seemed to notice.

The second day, we arranged a trip with The Tour Man to see four temples, and Sam was our driver again. Sam was very happy to see us, and he wanted to show us a really special time. So, we wound up going to many, many other places in addition to the four temples. First, we went on a tour of the canals in a long boat. It was really interesting and fun, and, we got some great pictures! Next, we went to the Emperor's Palace that was awesome and great to see. It was really hot though, and really crowded because it was Sunday and the Queen’s birthday was that week. We had dressed in pants and I had a long sleeved shirt on because we were going to the temples, so that made the heat even worse. I got some great pictures, but I was really hot.

We saw the Reclining Buda, the Sitting Buda, the Emerald Buda, the Golden Buda, and the Standing Buda at separate temples. They were all beautiful and awesome. We had to take our shoes off and go in our socks inside each. Jack and I were both amazed that our socks were clean that night after walking around all of those temples without our shoes. If you sit down, you are not supposed to point your feet at the Buda, talk too loud, or do anything else considered disrespectful. I took a lot of pictures, but I don't think I have enough pixels on my camera to do justice to the amount of detail there was in the very ornate decorations.

After we looked at the temples, we went and had some lunch at a neighborhood restaurant that Sam knew and did not have any other tourists. It was really good and a pretty good price. We decided we had had enough fun, though, and requested to go back to our hotel after lunch. Jack and I were about to melt away into puddles from the heat and humidity. Sam was worried that he made us angry somehow, but we were just pretty overwhelmed, hot, sticky, and had seen enough temples to realize that, although they are beautiful and awesome, they are all about the same.

We decided that Bangkok was not for us. We had a good time sight seeing, but our hotel was too far out of the way and we are at the mercy of the Travel Man to go anywhere without his assistance. The city is also huge and overwhelming. And, we were feeling somewhat like an ATM machine.

We wanted to go back to the beach, so headed off to Koh Lanta after about three days in Bangkok. Koh Lanta is a little island south of Phuket that looked like a good place to do a little bit of snorkeling. More about Koh Lanta tomorrow.