Sandy's Global Eyes

April 23rd 2019

On our final day in Chiang Mai, Thailand we decided to watch the sunrise come up over stunning Wat Phra That Doi Suthep (temple) at the top of Suthep Mountain.

We booked our private taxi using Grab taxi to arrive at our accommodation at 5:10 a.m. so we could observe the sunrise at 6:04 a.m. According to the Grab Taxi app the trip should take about 45 mins. at this time in the morning to cover the 15 + km trip up Doi Suthep-Pui National park. (Doi means mountain in northern Thai).  Our previous experiences with Grab Food and Grab taxi had been very positive and the credit card prepaying ensured that ‘surprises’ in fees didn’t occur. Plus…You can monitor the location of your driver on the map feature.

The cost for the private taxi to pick us up at our accommodation, drive us up the mountain before sunrise, wait in the parking lot for about 2 1/2 hours, then drive us back to our lodging was $24.43 Canadian dollars.

Yes. You could travel cheaper in the red truck songthaews. or “rot daang” (red trucks) for 200 Baht each person.  But….not if you intended on seeing the sunrise!

It was dark when we departed from our location and drove up the mountain, yet in spite of this there were dozens of ambitious athletes up early riding their bicycles up this steep and narrow road!

We were the first tourists to arrive at the enormous parking lot and determined to achieve our goal of seeing the sunrise from the top of the Wat, we nearly ran up the 306 step staircase.

The Wat officially opened for public viewing at 6:00 a.m. and we were first in line! The cost to enter the temple is free for Thai locals and 30 Baht each for foreigners.

As the sun rose the gold Buddha statues, Chedi, and Stupas were intensely regal and reflective. Monks were meditating. The peaceful location and brilliant rich color surrounding us was so worth the early start!

Please click the link below to see a slide show/video of our experience in this most sacred temple.

[wpvideo 1sSDdgwm ]Slide show/video of sunrise at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep!

In addition to the intricate and opulent beauty of the gold Buddhas and temple grounds, there is extensive history at this sacred temple. Observe the white elephant photos. They are key in this historical story.

The monastery was established in 1383 by King Keu Naone to enshrine a piece of bone from the shoulder of a historical Buddha.  This bone shard was brought to Lanna by a monk from Sukhothai. The shard broke into 2 pieces at the base of the mountain.

One piece is enshrined at the Wat Suan Dok temple (beside our accomodation). The Wat grounds where we eat our daily vegetarian breakfast at Pun Pun. The second piece of bone was mounted on a sacred white elephant that wandered through the jungle until it died. This is now the location of the Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.

There is a white elephant statue located beside the temple at the top of the mountain. The golden five-tiered umbrella marks the city’s independence from Burma and its union with Thailand.  Another interesting piece of information I discovered was that the 306 step staircase flanked by naga (serpents) had another purpose …apparently “the climb is intended to help devotees accrue Buddhist merit”. I wonder if running up the stairs accrues additional merit?

At the base of the extensive staircase there was a cute little girl (and mother and grandma?) dressed in northern village tribe traditional clothing. There were also stalls and a small marketplace where tourists tend to shop. Our Grab taxi was waiting and we had packing to do as tomorrow we depart to Hanoi, Vietnam!

But first….one last healthy meal at Pun Pun and photos with our daily waitress. Then one last amazing Thai massage. Mark enjoyed the hour long foot massage and reflexology (usually 250-300 baht) and I enjoyed the hour long neck/shoulder/back massage (usually 300 baht or 350 with oil).

Goodbye Thailand! Our 3 weeks here have been wonderful (minus loosing my hearing aid at the Ancient City out of Bangkok!) we’ll return for 4 more days after travelling through Vietnam and Cambodia for 18 days with Intrepid Tours. Hanoi… Here we come!

April 22nd 2019

Last evening there was a huge storm in Chiang Mai–lightning, thunder, and tons of rain! However, it was our only chance to explore the famous Sunday Night Market. So…Off we went!

When we arrived in the old city at the Sunday Night market, there were minimal tourists and many of the shop stalls were covered in plastic sheets. Although the streets were wet and there were pools of water in areas, the rains soon subsided and the plastic tarps were lifted. We didn’t purchase much…but I did have a lovely nutella/peanut butter crepe!

This morning we woke up to the sound of chainsaws. We shook our heads as this was common on Vancouver Island, but new to us in Thailand! Upon opening our 5th floor curtains, we discovered a man standing barefoot in the massive tree above the pool area immediately in front of us.

He was level to us so he must have been equivalent to about 5 stories up in the air~! The man was manipulating a chainsaw cutting off huge branches and had absolutely no harness, hard hat, safety shoes, or safety equipment of any kind!

We were stunned in disbelief and horror! What would my logging friends back home have to say about this lack of safety? They did use ropes to attach the branches as they descended to the ground…but the man up the tree climbed barefoot to the edges of branches! He had incredible balance and clearly no fear of the distance below him and the cars driving past.

We headed to the Wat for a peaceful reprieve and our morning breakfast at Pun Pun. In this collage of photos I have included a photo from our Airbnb condo of the previous Thai King presenting the owner’s grandfather with his university diploma.

Apparently, this is a tradition here. How incredible that must be for each university graduate!

Since we are departing from Thailand in 2 days, we decided to explore a new area of Chiang Mai and took a taxi to the Nimman Area which is known to be quite modern and ‘upscale’. This type of shopping isn’t really our focus, but we thought we would check it out!

The weather returned to sunny and 40 degrees (before humidity), so air conditioned malls sounded appealing. We noticed there were more young people in this area, fancier vehicles, (check out all the mirrors on the truck!), and lots of clothing and coffee shops. Also… check out the Botox and skin whitening ads above Clover pharmaceutical.

There were also many ‘cute’ type statues.

We started at Maya Lifestyle Mall, then One Nimman Mall. In these malls we saw lots of clothing and brands similar to those found in North America… Lee and Levi jeans.

Groceries stores had a range of unique products… I.e. Shark fin soup mix!

MAYA Lifestyle Mall at Chang Phueak was massive and very upscale! There was a giant pig with sunglasses statue greeting shoppers at the front entrance. PS… the fish were slip on sandals!!.

In addition to a wide array of stores selling expensive clothing, perfumes, sports gear, jewelry, artifacts, children’s items, etc., there is an extensive food court floor, and 5+ star bathrooms!

I was very enticed by the detailed , colourful painted elephant sculptures. The money was a fund raiser to protect elephants in places like the Elephant Nature Park.

But the prices were steep and we still had 3 weeks left in this trip!

Food downstairs was diverse and plentiful on the food court level. I even noticed the first Easter chocolates I had seen in Thailand in one specialty chocolate store. We passed on the crocodile, but did try an interesting round frozen dessert.

Although there were 6 floors in this huge shopping center, we had enough “shopping” experiences. We stopped to enjoy the music and stalls outside, then headed back to our accommodation. Tomorrow we are getting up early to experience the sunrise up at the famous Buddhist temple Wat Doi Suthep.

April 19th 2019

Benz is working full time and completing her second Masters degree in Engineering, so she’s incredibly busy! Sadly, today was the final day she could travel with us. So… Today was her choice of activities in Chiang Mai.

We had vegetarian breakfast at Pun Pun on Wat grounds then we travelled by red Songthaews inside the walls of old Chiang Mai city to Wat Phra Singh.

Benz had passed this temple multiple times but never explored past the lion looking statues (unicorns?) at the entrance.

This is the oldest surviving original building using a northern Thai style wooden structure.

Toilets are usually a challenge to locate when walking around Thailand; especially at temples and when exploring ancient sites. But the washrooms at this temple were extremely noteworthy!

They were very clean, expected you to remove your shoes and wear their plastic shoes, and even had instructions explaining how to use a toilet!

After visiting this famous 14th Century temple we located an interesting place to eat lunch in the old city.

Chiang Mai, has a metropolitan area population of nearly 1 million people and claims to have over 300 Buddhist temples! It was founded in 1296 and the capital of the Lanna Kingdom until 1558. The Old City area still has sections with moats and walls. Two famous temples are 14th Century Wat Phra Singh and 15th Century Wat Chedi Luang.

After lunch we decided to exit the old city and return to the area near our accommodation to explore another famous Temple (Wat Suan Dok).

Wat Suan Dok is also known as Wat Buppharam. It is a Royal Temple of the Third class. It’s name translates to “flower garden temple”.

This is well suited to the newcomer as the temple is ornately decorated with colorful designs and including multiple flowers on the pillars inside.

In addition to its importance historically the grounds are always filled with monks, bus tours of dedicated Buddhist visitors, multiple dogs, birds and animals, in a peaceful, harmonious setting.

There is a visiting entrance fee of 20 Baht for non Thai visitors. There are lots of different types of fundraising you can contribute too—from orphanages, to sick, elderly, etc. We were able to sign our names on some new curtains that were being hung in the Wat soon.

There are also amazing programs we have experienced at this teaching temple. There is a Monk Chat time available as well as meditation training and retreats.

I participated in the Monk Chat last visit and learned lots about the life and experiences of monks during my previous visit to Chiang Mai. Next time we want to try the meditation retreat.

It was a wonderful last day with Benz. Tomorrow Mark, Alexander and I spend the day pampering Pachyderms!!!