photoblog

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Dinner, massage and a tuk tuk ride

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The previous post in this series is here..

After the Wat Phra Singh temple, Joy told us that he would drop us off at Raj Darbar, the most popular Indian restaurant in the area among his clients. After dinner it was a 5 minute walk to the night market. We could hang out there and get a Tuk Tuk to go to our hotel. Our hotel was a good 30+ minute walk at least from this area but a 4 minute Tuk Tuk ride along the same road.

We had a really nice dinner at the restaurant. The waiter was too nice and courteous. Came and checked on us every 10 minutes.

Walked around the night market and after 30 minutes decided to go for a massage at Cloud Massage. It was a full body Thai massage for 10 USD. The place was small but nice and the people were super nice. San and me both enjoyed the massage.. Was worried at one point that the full dinner was a bad idea before the massage.. but nothing bad happened. Would definitely recommend this place if you have an hour plus for a massage. Will also recommend you go before dinner..

We walked some more and San made a mental note of things she has to eat before leaving this place. There was no more room in the tummy for that evening. Got a tuk tuk and went back to our hotel. Given how we had started the day in a pharmacy, we were both feeling great. The herbal lozenges did wonders!

Here is a short video highlights reel..

The next morning we told him to just get me enough miini croissants and orange juice boxes and we are happy. We were to leave at 6:45 to a place that was 2 hour drive.

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Wat Phra Singh Waramahavihan - getting used to long Thai names

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The previous post in this series about the Dai Suthep temple is here..

We drove down from the hill top past many recent temples in Chiang Mai city and finally reached Wat Phra Singh. SIngh is same as Singham (Lion) said our guide Joy. We didn’t get the lion connection to the temple.

The temple predates Doi Suthep temple. This one was built in the year 1345.

It is beautiful !

We ended up in the shrine when they had just finished a special ceremony. It was interesting. They tied three bamboos together to make a tent and at the base of each tent they made offerings for the steeds or vahanas of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.. a swan, an eagle (Garuda) and a Nandi (bull) respectively.. some symbolism to take a person to god you need these three vehicles that the gods use. It was interesting to see the intersection and intermixing of Buddhist tradition with Hindu tradition.

We also got blessed as part of the group when they were all leaving which was a plus. We took our time soaking in the architecture and decorations. The place was getting crowded. Do not miss visiting this temple when in Chiang Mai.

A video highlights reel..

This was our last stop for the day. After this Joy told us that he would drop us off in the area with all the hotels and restaurants and night market. From there we take a Tuk Tuk to go to our hotel. He would meet us again the next day at 6:45 AM.

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The beauty of Doi Suthep temple

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The previous post in this series is here..

We had a long drive from the Land of Angels to go up the mountain overlooking Chiang Mai to reach the Doi Suthep temple.

The temple was built is 1385 and is just beautiful. Gilded gold decorations, elaborate nagas (there is a hairline difference between Aadhi seshan and a dragon and this area is where the crossover happened is my guess), Buddhas in every pose, paper lanterns, the most beautiful set of steps we have ever walked on.. watching faith upfront, a fast track to heaven (apparently if you climb up the stairs to go to the temple, you go to heaven.. we paid for the escalator cage), etc.

We rang the bells and made wishes, prayed in the shrine, got blessed by the monk and got yet another “saradu” tied on our hands, watched the city and the airport from the view point.. basically had an enjoyable afternoon that made the time with the elephants in the forests a 100km away earlier in the morning, a distant memory.

We bumped into friends at the head of the staircase! What were the odds.. Apparently pretty high when half of bay area friend circle goes to attend the same wedding in Thailand..

The photos and videos do NOT do justice to the beauty of this place.

We also stopped by briefly at Wat Pha Lat which is now a famous meditation center. It was closed for tourists as the monks cannot meditate with the tourists around. So had to be content with taking video outside. Then we stopped at Wat Si Soda at the base of the hill which is just beautiful. We did not get time to go up the staircase but the nagas and stairs were amazing.

Here are the few landscape mode photos..

and the video highlights reel where you can also see Wat Pha Lat from outside and Wat Si Soda..

After the Doi Suthep temple, we were back to the old Chiang Mai area to see some old temples that were built here even before Doi Suthep.. that in the next post..

Copyright © 2012, Sundar Narayanan. All rights reserved.