Chiang Mai
Our time in Chiang Mai was a good combination of exploring the city and visiting parklands. We stood on the highest peak in Thailand, viewed waterfalls and temples, and were treated to a charming dance performance.
We found the city of Chiang Mai to be very accessible to tourists. The core of the city is only about 2 miles across, and it is easy to hail a tuk-tuk or red taxi. A tuk-tuk is a motorized version of a pedicab, and a red taxi is essentially a rideshare. Taking a tuk-tuk across town would cost $3–5, a ride on a red taxi $1–2 per person.
Chiang Mai gets a lot of tourists, and the stores and shops in the core of town get a lot of their business from them. The number of places offering massage is astounding. Both of us had wonderful 90-minute traditional Thai massages at Kiriya Spa Vana for only $33 each. The atmosphere was similar to that of a nice spa in the USA, and the quality was easily on par with some of the best massages we’ve had anywhere. Other places offered a 60-minute massage for as little as $10. (A travel blogger named Justine took on the onerous task of visiting 30 massage spas in Chiang Mai to write her review.)
We got up early one morning to participate in an alms-giving ritual. Every morning, novice monks leave Buddhist monasteries and walk the roads carrying large bowls. “Please don’t call these begging bowls,” our guide told us. The novices don’t ask for anything; they only hold out the bowls if you approach them.
People give packaged food and drinks, and the novices eat whatever they’re given as their midday meal. In this way the temple is supported and lay people have the opportunity to do a good deed. Our guide said that he and many others give alms every morning. Some people were giving alms to dozens of monks, perhaps as part of remembering or preparing for a special event.
We also saw alms-giving at Wat Phra Singh, inside Chiang Mai’s old city center. In addition to flowers placed in front of the Buddha statues, people gave packages of robes, food, toiletries and even cleaning supplies to the monks, receiving a blessing in return.
Entering one temple, we saw what at first glance seemed like a row of motionless monks. They were very lifelike wax statues, each of a particular monk with individualized details, such as facial expressions and eye glasses.
We set out to visit Wat Prathat Doi Suthep, a famed temple at the peak of Doi Suthep. We hiked a steep mountain trail to get there, going past a small temple secluded in the forest half way up the hill.
After lunch, we had an opportunity to visit Patara Elephant Farm, which is the subject of a separate blog post.
That night, we had dinner at a Buddhist temple after receiving a blessing for long life and prosperity from a former monk, now a “blessing master.” Dinner was served on a khantoke, a low round table that allowed us to dine comfortably while seated on floor cushions. Our guide showed us how to take pinches of sticky rice in our fingers and use them to scoop up the other foods.
A group of young dancers performed to traditional music, while their moms and aunties took photos and applauded along with us. Afterwards, they set off firecrackers and some Roman candles.
The next day, we visited areas around and within Doi Inthanon National Park. Doi Inthanon is the highest mountain in Thailand at 2,565 m / 8,415 ft. Our first stop was Wachithan Falls.
We also visited an area where the people of the Karen and Hmong tribes live (known as Thai hill tribes). Originally these tribes groups were migratory and used slash-and-burn farming. The Thai government compelled them to adopt more sustainable techniques. Their villages are primitive by modern standards, but many now have electricity, and they sell coffee and hand-woven goods to visitors.
We also visited the Royal Agricultural Station, a place that develops plants that can be successfully grown in the surrounding region, for use by the hill tribes. There are some beautiful gardens there, and workshops for things such as processing tea and testing herbal remedies and beauty products. Quite a large number of flowers are grown in partially protected gardens, most of them exported to Bangkok.
Near the peak of Doi Inthanon is a cloud forest. In this tropical evergreen forest, much of the ground and vegetation is covered with mosses. Also near the summit are two two chedis, or stupas, dedicated to the king and queen of Thailand, set in formal gardens. The chedis provide great viewing platforms to see the surrounding area. People will often camp nearby so they can reach the mountain top at sunrise and observe the “sea of mist” below them. We weren’t early enough to see that.
