Okay, there’s a lot more than a wat; there are many wats! Over the past couple days I have been to four and that’s just the start. For those still scratching their head wondering what exactly a “wat” is, they’re a type of Buddhist and Hindu temple in South East Asia (namely Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos). For those still groaning from my pun, get over it. It’s awesome, just like Chiang Mai!
I have only been here two days and I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite stops. Chiang Mai is much less chaotic than Vietnam was. While traffic can still be chaotic at times, there is much less honking, something I’m appreciating after two weeks of non-stop honking out the window. As already mentioned, there are many wats to explore and I’ve wasted no time getting to it. On my first day, I was able to walk to two from the apartment I’ve rented and the third one I stumbled upon completely by accident! There’s lots to see and do so I’m excited for what’s ahead.
Yesterday, I decided to not travel too far while I get adjusted to the new culture, language, and environment. I set out on foot for a wat nearby where I’m staying, Wat Umong Suan Phutthatham. It’s an old wat, around 700 years old, and is set outside the bustling main city of Chiang Mai. It was built to give monks from the city an escape closer to the woods where they could meditate and achieve enlightenment in peace. It certainly was peaceful! There was a giant pond where you could buy food to feed the pigeons and fish, which were quite healthy. Wandering around, you’d find “talking trees” that had words of wisdom written in Thai and in English. Not everything around the temple was translated but there was enough to keep me informed about key things.
After taking in Wat Umong for a while, I moved onto the next wat, Wat Suan Dok. This wat, about 650 years old, is located a little closer to the center of Chiang Mai but is still outside the Old City. This wat has a huge, gilded chedi, or stupa, that is said to contain a relic of the Buddha. The chedi was neighbored by a group of mausoleums that housed remains of members of the royal family of Chiang Mai and a large “sala kan prian”, or sermon hall. The sermon hall was very ornate and had quite an elaborate shrine that a few monks and worshipers were at. I felt very odd as an obvious foreigner and outsider in this sacred place. I has done a little research on Thai temple etiquette but even that wasn’t enough to keep me from feeling out of place. The monks were nice though and one even said “hi” to me in English and asked me how I was doing (good but too flustered by the unexpected inquiry to hold a longer conversation).
After Wat Suan Dok, I grabbed a tasty Thai curry noodle soup on my way back to my apartment where I set about making plans for the rest of my weekend. I had been in contact with a friend I met on Nomad List and we discussed renting scooters to go up the mountain to see Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, one of Chiang Mai’s most famous and popular wats. In order to get there though, I needed a scooter so I set out to rent one. This turned into quite an adventure itself as I had never been on a scooter or motorcycle before (Mom, don’t worry I’m always wearing a helmet on the scooter). To complicate things, Chiang Mai is a maze of windy streets and they drive on the left side of the road. Once I got my scooter, I decided I should practice driving around a bit to get used to it all. I started out getting a little lost as I got accustom to driving the scooter. After I felt comfortable, I dialed in my apartment on Google Maps and was able to navigate my way back home okay. Back in familiar territory, I decided to explore the area around my apartment by scooter a bit. I explored some of the roads that lead up the hill into the mountains behind the apartment complex and stumbled upon a trail head. The sun wasn’t setting for another hour or so and I decided it was time for a hike so parking the scooter, I set off up the Monk’s Trail. I was not alone on the trail and passed a bunch of other tourists as well as a group of locals out for some kind of youth group hike. I had no idea where the trail was going but I knew there would be a couple waterfalls along the way. Sure enough, I encountered the waterfalls but then I came across something I had not expected; another wat! I had inadvertently come upon Wat Pha Lat.
The view from the wat was magical; a stream cascaded down some rocks and to the side a long white stone staircase descended down the hill with two white dragons carved on either side. At this moment, I felt incredibly at peace and basked in the view of Chiang Mai before me as I listened to the sounds of the river and the jungle around me. I wandered around the wat a little bit before I decided to return to the trail head as the sun was setting and it was going to be dark soon. I made it back home and with that serendipitous experience fresh in my mind anxiously awaited the events of the next day.
Which brings me to today! Mid morning I set out on my scooter to meet up with Jez, my friend I had met on Nomad List. He’s a friendly guy from Manchester; also a traveling front end developer so we had plenty to discuss between that and our experiences traveling around. We met up at a shrine just off the road on the way up to Wat Doi Suthep and set out from there together. The windy road up the mountain was beautiful in and of itself. We came to the base of the wat, parked the scooters, grabbed a small bite to eat from some street vendors, and set off up the long staircase to reach the wat itself. It certainly was a popular place. There were many tourists and worshipers there and, compared to the wats I had visited before, was quite busy. We explored the many shrines around the central chedi and enjoyed the stunning view of Chiang Mai from the mountain top ( which is pictured at the beginning of this post).
After exploring the wat, Jez headed back down to Chiang Mai and I continued up into the mountains to visit Bhubing Palace, a royal residence of the king of Thailand. The palace grounds were quite beautiful. There were many beautiful gardens including a rose garden and green house that were quite lush. The palace itself was nice although there wasn’t much of it you could explore besides the backside. There were other housing complexes further up the hill from the palace which were still quite luxurious and featured fantastic views of Chiang Mai below. I would not mind being a guest of the king but I doubt I’ll ever get such an opportunity.
I was pretty wiped out from the two tours and figured I’d have more time later on if I wanted to return to explore more of the mountain towns. Hopping on the scooter, I motored back down the mountain and returned to Chiang Mai.
It’s been an eventful first couple days in Chiang Mai! I haven’t quite decided what comes next. I still haven’t made it into the Old City which is apparently the place to be. Jez said he found a pretty awesome coffee shop there I know I’ll have to go check out at some point. Who knows? Stay tuned for the next post to find out!