After the usual slow start, I made my way to North Gate passing by the three kings' monument
to catch
the bus up to the Wat Phra That Doi
Suthep. It is described as the most famous Temple in the area,
standing near the top of Mount Suthep to the north-west of the city. This
Temple was built around 1383. King Keuna of Chiang Mai selected a white
elephant to carry a holy relic of the Lord Buddha to what would be its resting
place. The elephant wandered up Mount Suthep until it came to a place where it
finally laid down and here the temple was built.
The taxi system at the gate was
well organised with a man gathering together groups of 10 for the ride up. It
was a rather old and, sitting at the rear, I got a good diet of exhaust
fumes from the ride up and almost asked my fellow passengers to resuscitate me
should I pass out from Carbon Monoxide poisoning! Anyway, after the half hour
trip uphill we arrived to a sea of humananity.
The walk up some 300 stairs had
been described in guides as arduous but did not seem a big deal. The first 100
were anyway occupied in negotiating a way through the stall holders.Having done
the ticketing and shoes off,
one is in the grounds of the Wat itself. Despite
the quite large number of people it has its air of peace and calm and the
golden chedi and four umbrellas are stunning. People proceed around the chedi
holding lotus flowers and we were treated to a group of people chanting.
Outside the central Wat grounds,
there are stunning views down to Chiang Mai as well as a huge collection of
bells which people are asked not to sound but which they inevitably do! I spent
about an hour and a half wandering around before getting a rather newer (but 10
Bart more!) taxi back down. This time we went via Chiang Mai University campus
which looked a lovely place to study - or teach.
Having been dropped off around
the North Gate again, I made my way to the opposite south end of the walled
City back to the Tropical inn for a small time out. On the way, I passed the
temple in which seemed to be having a bit of a do. There were lots
of people and a very gaudy purple elephant which was being finished off.
That evening, I went to explore
the Saturday night market for which Chiang Mai is famed. It is right by the Inn
at Chiang Mai gate. The traffic jam was something to behold and the traffic
policeman with his whistle did not seem to be making much of a dent on it. The
market itself is held in a long street and offers all sorts of touristy take
aways. The chime bells took my fancy but I don't really want to be lugging them
around for the next month! I also am not sure where they'd fit in to Ulysses
Road - maybe the boat instead!
I didn't stay that long at the
market and headed off to a highly rated vegetarian restaurant for some soup and
stir fried morning glory. Every mouthful of morning glory I eat gives me
revengeful satisfaction and maybe I'll try stir frying the wretched weed that
grows in my garden.
On the way back I passed the
Temple with the purple elephant. By now everything was in full swing and I
stopped to watch a performance of extremely elegant dancing with an assembly of
eligible ladies and one rather camp bloke who seemed to be their prince.
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