Chiang Mai: Temples and Elephants

Our next stop was Chiang Mai, a smaller city in the north of Thailand, known for its nature, temples and relaxed atmosphere. In the 14th Century, it was the capital of the Lanna Kingdom, which is now just northern Thailand.  Why did we decide to come here? You guessed it - because ChatGPT recommended it. 

Unfortunately, CJ started feeling sick during the travel day, so we cashed in early the first night. 

We had two full days in Chiang Mai and spent the first checking out some of the historic temples.

This was Wat Phra Singh. In the nearby courtyard, colorful lanterns were being hung. From a painfully drawn out interaction with a domestic tourist we learned about the Yi Peng Festival, an annual celebration where they light up and release all the lanterns to symbolize the letting go of bad luck. 

After eight weeks of mosques and prayer calls, the Buddhist temples were a refreshing change in religious architecture. Here is some context in case you are interested. In Thailand, temples are called wats. They are places of worship, meditation, learning, and more. Many are home to monks and students full time. They are full of offerings (flowers, candles, and incense), murals, and buddhas. Lots of buddhas. 

They have gold buddhas. 

But also emerald buddhas.

And horizontal buddhas.

And the occasional chubby buddha. 

And creepy wax monk figures. These things were seriously chilling. The closer you got, the more human they looked. I kept waiting for one to reach out and slap me. 

Alright that exhausts my full knowledge of the wats. All of the signs were in Thai. I had to use google maps five minutes ago just to remember the temple names. Honestly, I'm not even sure which photos are which temples, so don't fact check those. Our limited understanding did not stop us from appreciating the remarkable details on every wall, floor, and ceiling.

After one temple, CJ, feeble and in need of rest, made his way to the hotel. Like a duck lost from its mother, I waddled around and sought out the only quests that made sense to me: more temples and food. 

I went to Wat Chedi Luang, which unlike the more polished temples, resembled ancient ruins. 

Inside, there was a ceremony honoring the Queen Mother of Thailand (King's Mom) who has recently passed away. I was not privy to this information, however, until a volunteer at the temple tapped me on the shoulder and told me to stop taking photos of the officers. My bad. Got this one just in time. 

After that, I tried Khao Soi, a coconut curry noodle soup. It is known as the signature dish of northern Thailand. I didn't enjoy it as much as the classic pad see ew or rice dish, but it it was still super tasty. And it came with sides which is always fun. 

After a midday nap, CJ was revived. We hopped in a juiced up rickshaw to head for the mountains. Our end goal: another temple. This one called Wat Phra That Doi. The name kinda rolls off the tongue. The nap was sadly not enough to heal CJ from his ailment. His condition worsened. But we pushed on. 

Overlooking the city, this temple was the perfect place to watch the sunset. 

The stairs up down from the temple. 

For dinner, we explored the night time food market. Perusing the alleys, we found no shortage of dumplings, noodles, mango sticky rice, and old ladies standing behind more food than I have ever seen, all sitting in huge open containers. Not sure this place would survive a health inspection. 

The next day we embarked on yet another tripadvisor tour. This three in one excursion would take us to the sticky waterfall, an elephant sanctuary, and a bamboo raft ride. There is something oddly comforting in having no formal details of your itinerary or timing. Just hop in the van with a bunch of randos and let the driver lead you to salvation.

First stop was the waterfall, said to be "sticky" because of the course rocks that are easily gripped with bare feet. First we descended.

Quick photoshoot.

 Then back up. 

During the ride to the elephant sanctuary, we struck up conversation with another man on our tour. He was a therapist working remotely in Thailand but originally from Alaska. Although he had only been in Thailand for two months, he explained that he will be buying land in Venezuela to gain citizenship. Then he plans to pay the US government to revoke his US citizenship. Rationale for this bold move? Tax reasons. Very interesting conversation to say the least. 

Fast forward to the elephant sanctuary where we were instructed to chop up bananas, sugar cane, dates, and turmeric to form big balls of gloop. We then held up the ball, made a noise, and placed the ball directly into the elephants mouth. We gleefully followed instructions and proceeded to gorge these creatures for over an hour. Apparently they do not get full. 

If you do not feed it fast enough, it will take the food by force. CJ learned the hard way. 

 

Next up was the bamboo raft. We drove about five minutes up the river and then rode the raft back down. While our sanctuary claimed to be ethical in their elephant treatment by not using bull hooks or allowing for riding, we caught a glimpse of a neighboring "sanctuary" that was doing both of these things. Sad. 

In the most Thailand fashion, a women was selling beers on the river just for bamboo rafters. 

After pushing through the long day, CJ finally could be put to rest. Well done soldier. 

The next day we were off to Bangkok, for my last stop before departing from CJ and heading west. One last hoorah. Till next time.