temples

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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..

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Saying bye to Cambodia after two more temple visits

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The previous post in this series is here..

We saw an amazing sunrise and came back to the hotel. It was almost 7 AM when we got back. It was time to go pack, check out, have breakfast (eat it like brunch given we have been up since ~4) and load the luggage into the car . Then it was two more must see temples en route to the airport.

The hotel staff bid us adieu as though they were sending a newly married bride off after an Indian wedding. They were all nice kids. We thanked them for their hospitality. Seriously, Cambodia folks redefine hospitality. The best in this trip. Amazing kind hearted genuinely sweet people!

We visited two more temples.

The Bakong temple which was one of the first temples to be built here in the late 9th century. The domes looked like Angkor Wat.. we thought they practiced here before building the big temple. This one was a monster. We had to climb a few hundred stairs to get to the top. We told our driver that given our cold the fact that the sun was up and beating down on our heads, we had no plans to climb up. We were going to walk around the base and take pictures and that was it. So we were 30 minutes early on our plan.

The second one , Preah Ko temple, we walked around. It was relatively flat..This area on the way to the airport used to be an earlier capital of the kings. There were many nandi’s that were stil intact in this temple.

After this, we drove to the airport. On the way a 7 foot cobra crossed the road. Saruk barely managed to avoid it and had to brake real hard. We were happy he did not run over the snake but a couple of ladies driving a moped on the other side of the street were not lucky. They freaked out and may have it the snake. Did manage to catch it on camera even if it is a grainy video..

We took selfies with our driver who was just fantastic and said goodbye! We would recommend him to anyone trying to do a compressed schedule.

A video highlights reel..

The Siem Reap airport is brand new (Chinese are taking over Cambodian infrastructure building). The airport was empty when we went there. There was a lounge which had flat seats. I took a two hour nap. When I got up was still feeling slightly feverish.. but it was time to board our flight to Bangkok and and then on to Chiang Mai. Funny thing is that this plane was a small propeller plane. So all luggage had to be checked in and directly to Chiang Mai. We were told that the passport stamping will be in Bangkok but we will be diverted in Chiang Mai to the international baggage claim by airport reps to collect our suitcases. We were praying they reach.. We had carefully distributed clothes so that there will always be something to wear at the wedding. The thought of having all our bags checked was worrying. Luckily they all made it to Chiang Mai.

We had a three plus hour layover in Bangkok airport and went to another lounge where they had 15 minute complimentary massages. Majority of this day went just in traveling from Siem Reap to Chiang Mai. The massage lady told San “your husband is definitely having a fever. Give him medicine”. Given all the adventures, I had brushed aside any feeling of heat. So went and grabbed some tylenol. By the time we landed in Chiang Mai, was feeling better already!

Our guide and driver came with his wife to pick us up from the airport. They are a really nice couple Joy and Goy. Joy spoke English but Goy only understood and needed an occasional translation from her husband. They dropped us off and said we start at 7AM. Be ready! Our hotel room had a decorated bed with mosquito nets. We were not sure if that was for mosquitos or for decoration! We had arrived at 8PM and the restaurants were all a drive away. Our hotel was off from the busy area and we did not have the “Grab” app which doubles up for Uber, Doordash and everything else in Thailand. . We walked to the local 7-11 to get some bananas and yoghurt but they would not accept USD! They also had a minimum charge for credit cards which we did not meet. If they tell you folks in Thailand accept USD everywhere, it is not true. In Cambodia everyone took USD and spoke English. In Thailand it was not the same experience.

The hotel manager, was a nice guy and understood our plight. He loaned us 350 local currency, got on the phone with a local Indian restaurant and got us some Nan, daal, rice and yoghurt., paid them and got it delivered to our room. It was not what we expected but some food was better than no food and we ate what we could. The rice and yoghurt was at least a safe bet. We were also told that the hotel resaurant was closed for renovation the entire month of December and there will be no breakfast but if we pick from a menu they will have it delivered to our door at 6:30AM. The options were not what we were used to. This was going to be tricky the next few days.

We ordered a breakfast list hoping at least some items would be okay for me to eat and went to bed.

Copyright © 2012, Sundar Narayanan. All rights reserved.