Tourist Times

Today was the first day we were able to act like true tourists in Chiang Mai (with a few changes along the way). We started our day too early at 5 am when I awoke to the buzzing of my alarm. A quick trip to the bathroom and I threw on my hiking clothes. A red truck was waiting in front of our apartment to take us to the start of the trail for Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Wat means “temple” in Thai and that is exactly what it is, a temple set on a very tall hill outside the city. But to fully explain a little history is necessary here…

Chiang Mai (“New City”) is a very old city (founded in 1296) that has often been the center of the Thai empire (even before Thailand was officially Thailand). Chiang Mai acted as the capital until the area was conquered by the Burmese in 1558 and was held for two centuries. The Thai finally threw the Burmese out of Thailand, but in 1776 the city was abandoned for 15 years because it had been so thoroughly destroyed during the years of Burmese occupation. When they eventually came back to the city it had to be largely rebuilt and it was never again declared the capital/center of Thailand, which was now Bangkok in the South.

Doi Suthep was built in Thailand about 600 years ago. It was built to house a very famous Buddhist relic that resided in Chiang Mai at another wat in the old area of the city. However, when the relic (a piece of Buddha’s shoulder bone) spontaneously replicated it was decided that a special temple should be built to house the relic. The bone was, therefore, strapped to the back of a white elephant and it was decided that wherever the elephant stopped to rest, they would build a new temple. Unfortunately, the elephant decided to wander up an impossibly steep hill and didn’t rest until reaching the top. Today, Doi Suthep sits in that exact location and is considered the most holy site in the area. Today, there is a red truck that can take you up the mountain on a very curvy road full of switchbacks, however, Bruce (the leader of our program) decided that climbing the mountainside on foot would build more character and would be a better experience. Therefore, we set out on a trail for the temple at 7 am, after we had all congregated at the base. Well, the hike took a while and was EXTREMELEY hard! It only took about 2 hours to climb up to the top, but most of the way was incredibly steep and difficult. We were hiking along a set trail through the forest, but often the trail consisted of branch roots and packed dirt acting as stairs upward and strong vine trees as ropes to assist in towing yourself up. I managed to make it to the top with a great deal of complaining, but it was a close call, and I’m sure everyone was sick of hearing about my pain by the end (somehow it makes you feel better if others are in mental pain from your whining about your physical pain, don’t ask me why).

Reaching the top felt like a HUGE accomplishment and in all honesty, it was. I’m sure I’ll be sore tomorrow from all the hiking, but it was a good(ish) experience making the climb and seeing that I really could do it. I carried three bottles of water up the mountain with me and it was a good thing I did because I drank two of them completely on the hike and broke into the third at the top. Now, that might not seem too incredible to you, readers at home, but consider the fact that I did not have to use the bathroom for almost 3 hours during that time. Where did the water go, you ask? One word: sweat. I have never sweat so much in my life as I did this morning during that hike. To give you a frame of reference…I was wearing a shirt that is supposed to “wick” away moisture during long hikes like that and help keep you cool. By the time I got back to my apartment at about 10:15 am the handkerchief in my backpack was damp. Therefore, I sweat enough to go through my shirt and backpack and into my hankie. Parts of me sweat that I didn’t now were capable. Being a swimmer, it was particularly gross as I am not used to sweating even when I exert myself. In the pool, the sweat is just instantly washed away, but not so in hiking. By the time I got to the top I felt exhausted, but I ate the watermelon I had bought at the market yesterday and packed, which went far toward rejuvenating me for the coming sightseeing.

The temple was amazing. There are 100 steps leading up to the temple itself and along the way, the handles for the staircase are made up of the extended bodies of dragons, whose heads appear at the bottom of the staircase and tails at the top. They were beautiful! When we arrived at the top we had to buy a ticket for “foreigners” for 30 Baht (less than one dollar, remember) and we were able to enter the temple complex. There are a lot of small buildings and side areas surrounding the main temple with Buddha statutes and rooms for monks and prayer. The main temple was closed off with scaffolding, but the entire thing is gilded in gold so that it gleams in the sunlight (even the filtered sunlight we had because of the clouds – and actually, thank goodness for the clouds because I’m not sure how I would have survived the hike had it been hotter and sunnier). We were very respectful while in the temple area (ex. No shoes, covered shoulders and legs, head lower than all Buddhas, etc.) and our respect must have shown because at one point Zenia and I were kneeling in a small enclave (one of many surrounding the main temple) and the monk presiding over a prayer included us in his blessing (by flicking water on us many times during the course of the prayer). It was amazing to see the temples; however, it is always important to remember to be respectful of the faith of the people visiting. Most of the visitors to the temple are going on something akin to a religious pilgrimage and while we are there for sightseeing reasons, we were very careful not to intrude on their religious ceremonies and their more serious use of the temple.

After we were finished touring the temple we took a red truck (thank goodness!) back to our apartment to clean up and refresh ourselves. We got our bathing suits on and walked the four blocks to Muan’s apartment for swimming. (Muan, as you may remember, is a Thai law student working with BABSEA who has an apartment near us with a pool in her complex she invited us to use.) The water was AMAZING and it felt so good to once again be in the water as opposed to feeling as if you were in water due to the humidity. We stayed at the pool for about an hour and 15 minutes and then headed back to our apartments to shower and change into some clothes for sightseeing in the Old City of Chiang Mai. We decided that, as we have so few days to act the tourist in Thailand, we would have to make the most of the time that was given to us. Therefore, instead of relaxing after our arduous hike, we opted to go out to see some temples in the Old City. Chiang Mai has around 300 temples (an equal number to that of Bangkok), but my guide book pointed to five in particular (three easily accessible in the Old City), so we decided to visit them.

The first temple was Wat Chiang Man, which is the first and oldest temple in Thailand and the site at which excavators found a stone tablet that was used to help date the city’s construction. It is believed the temple was built under the reign (and direction) of King Mengrai, who was a huge influence on Thailand during its formation and who named Chiang Rai (a neighboring city) after himself. The second temple we visited was Wat Chedi Luang, an extremely interesting looking temple that was mysteriously partially destroyed (the top of it is partially collapsed) hundreds of years ago. There is some confusion about how it was destroyed (earthquake, cannon fire, etc.) and as no one knows what it looked like before, it has been left alone and has never been reconstructed. The elephants around the temple are particularly amazing and we all agreed (Zenia, Sam, and I) that this was our favorite temple.

At this point we were really tired of walking (and extraordinarily hot as we were forced to wear long pants in deference to the modesty necessary to visit the interior of a temple) and I was definitely starving. We stopped a small restaurant across the street from our second temple and had a delicious lunch! We actually ordered a plate of French fries as an appetizer :) (we just wanted to try them and wanted a little break from pure Asian food). I also had my first plate of pad see ew in Thailand!!! It was absolutely delicious and I am happy to report that it tastes very similar to the wonderful pad see ew I enjoy at home (which means I’ve been eating the authentic stuff!). I had been craving it for a few days and it was certainly worth the wait! After lunch we walked on toward our third temple. Along the way we found a shop that had been mentioned in my guide book, Chiang Mai Cotton. I bought a beautiful cotton Thai skirt there and I can’t wait to wear it. :) After that we headed off once again. The third temple on our list was Wat Phra Singh. This is a more modern temple, with some interesting tree gardens where there are signs sporting some great Buddhist (and non-buddhist, I think) sayings. At this point in our trip we were really tired of walking (it was 4:30 by this time), but we didn’t want to head back to our apartments as we were directly across the street from the area of the Sunday night bazaar, which we were supposed to visit that night. We sat under the trees at a small picnic (marble) table and chatted for that time about movies, books, etc.

At 6 pm we headed off for the night market and exploring the stalls. The Sunday night market certainly caters to the tourists and while we were told over and over again that the Thai love to bargain, it soon became clear they don’t like to bargain with foreigners as much and that when they are at the Sunday markets they are less inclined to bargain and more inclined to drive up the prices. We stumbled along at first, not buying anything until Zenia got into full Indian bargaining mode. She was incredible! I have never seen such bargaining skills and I’m sure the Thai were in shock. We managed to get better deals than we expected (although we’re all sure that we could still have gotten the price down further if it had been the Saturday market for locals rather than the Sunday tourist market). I got one cute skirt, a necklace, and these incredible pants that are hard to describe, but extraordinarily comfortable.

We managed to walk almost the entire length of the market (which had to be a couple miles long) and by the end my feet were aching so badly I didn’t think I could take another step. We grabbed a red truck home and I immediately jumped in the shower and am now feeling clean and fresh, ready for bed and extremely tired. So, goodnight (or good morning), my dear readers. I hope you enjoyed hearing about my tourist times as much as I enjoyed having them.