social study

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Wedding vibes in Phuket

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The previous post in this series is here..

Day 8 of our trip saw us say bye to Chiang Mai and go to Phuket.

Air Asia was interesting. The lines were long but moving along. When it was our turn we found the one checked bag was 4 kg overweight. The lady at the counter said we would have to pay 40 bucks anyways, so might as well adjust and check in the carry on bags for that price. So we checked everything. This was a direct flight and we were hoping that our bags show up with us when we get to Phuket.

We got picked up at the airport and had an almost 2 hour drive to the JW Marriott Khao Lak resort and spa.

After checking in we realized it was already time to join the Mehendi party.. so we cleaned up, took some pictures and walked to the beach where I was treated to smiling familiar beautiful faces. The whole gang was there and we were just so happy to be there! Accidentally ended up twinning with my buddy, the grooms dad! He keeps his social media profile at near zero levels.. but at least I get to post one photo! We were also so happy to see the bride and groom! These two kids made us so happy with the way they kept it cool for all of us!

There was a fire show and dinner and we called it a night when it got a little chilly. We had our first argument on the trip after 8 days when the smell of the mehendi shut down my nose and lungs and San refused to wash it off before coming to bed citing that the redness of the mehendi had a higher priority over my lungs.

One evening back with her friends and my lungs went down on the priority list.

Had to resort to a vicks inhaler to just breathe again and sleep. The next morning she was very happy with the end result and given she was smiling from ear to ear, I temporarily let go of the animal cruelty..

Many of my friends from Cupertino also told me to put my camera away and just enjoy the wedding.. so I took a few photos with my iPhone and that was it.

Here is a video highlight reel..

My screen time for this week is through the roof.. but it looks like I will finish writing about the Thanksgiving trip before Christmas and that is a good thing!

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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.