It’s An Early Morning, Valentine!💘
Up at 4:30 and out into the dark at 5:00 to wait for our pickup with a small group tour to see three temples on a mountain above Chiang Mai.
Our driver and guide arrived and picked us up about 10 minutes later. As we jumped into the van I said good morning to everyone and received the expected half hearted grumbles. It was early. There were seven of us in the group and they all seemed pretty decent folks.
On the way up the hill, James told us that there are about 1 million people living in Chiang Mai and about 70 million people living in Thailand. Approximately 9,000,000 people live in Bangkok.
Dad, an answer to your question, there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of tall buildings in Chiang Mai. That won’t be the case when we get to Bangkok in just over a week.
We were dropped off and walked up to a very long stairway that would take us up to Wat Prathat Doi Suthep Buddhist temple.
There was a bit of grumbling, but everyone made it to the top ok. There we received an orientation from James who had spent 18 years as a monk. So he knew his stuff. He explained that most young people are encouraged to become monks, if only for a short time. The education costs are cheaper, and their families enjoy a bit of status and pride. James explained many of the principles of Buddhism, and I think we found that the most interesting. Much of the rest of the time he was talking about historical elements of Buddhism and oddly I found this less interesting. Perhaps it was just the time of day?🤔
We walked briefly into the main pagoda area, but soon found ourselves sitting on the floor in a prayer hall listening to the rhythmic chants of the Buddhist monks.
I recorded their voices because it’s often quite special. I must say that this version wasn’t quite as special as others I’ve listened to. These monks seemed a bit disjointed. It was early.
Back outside by the pagodaJames explained the significance of walking clockwise around the pagoda three times. Thankfully, Annemarie and I did this correctly at the full moon ceremony, because walking in the opposite direction is considered very bad luck!
We all took turns walking around the pagoda three times carrying a beautiful lotus flower and two candles. We made three prayers, one for each circuit. In reality, the first circuit is to show respect to Buddha, the second circuit is to show respect for Buddha’s teachings and the third circuit as I recall is to provide a prayer for something personal.  at the end of the third circuit you placed your flower on a wicker basket and light the two candles. 
The sky was lightening as we made ourselves over to a large balcony overlooking the city below. It was very beautiful as you might imagine.
Sunrise.
I took just the one picture on my camera before starting a time lapse series. My first effort, and it didn’t turn out too badly. I borrowed AM’s camera to take a couple of more pictures.
We took a few minutes to have some fun with the sun!
There were other tour groups at the temple for the sunrise ceremony, but because the company we were with was amongst the first to start these tours over 10 years ago, we were provided with the opportunity to alms to the monks as is the morning tradition. Perhaps also because we paid a bit more?
Afterwards, we walked down all the stairs and had a typical Thai breakfast.
We got back into our van, and our driver started the descent to a lower temple called The Hidden Temple with parts of it they were up to 600 years old.
At this point, James was sharing too much information and I started looking for photos instead of listening. AM was more engaged, and good for her. Did I say that it was early?
This next photo shows the jungle monks walk. A route that runs from Chiang Mai up to the top of the mountain. People often walk it during the hot season when temperatures can get up to 45° in the city, but are considerably cooler higher up. Had we known that it was here we might’ve walked it. On second thought, probably not because it’s pretty hot in the afternoons.
Our last stop was at the Tunnel Temple. There were bats hanging inside the caves!
James explained that there are two types of monks. The first type of monk wears orange robes with footwear and lives in the cities. The second type of monks are referred to as jungle monks, and they wear brown robes sometimes with shoes. The jungle monks exist to keep away from the temptations of the city. It’s more difficult these days for the jungle monks because host of the jungle areas have been transformed into national parks. It’s illegal for them to live in the national parks.
We were dropped off back at our hotel at about 11 o’clock. We had been up for six hours, and it felt like 10. AM is yawning beside me as I write this.
We decided to have breakfast at the hotel, because our included breakfast was still being served when we returned. The thought was that we wouldn’t need to have lunch today. So far so good.
After breakfast, we went for a walk around town to get a little bit of cash and to do a little more shopping. The ATM fees here are shockingly high!
I’m going to leave you with a little photo mosaic of the interesting electrical wiring one sees in the telephone poles around this city. I couldn’t imagine being someone who has to work with this mess!
That’s about it for today. Wishing everyone a happy Valentine’s Day when it arrives wherever you’re located in the world.
I should add that we will be taking the bus to Chiang Rai tomorrow morning. It’s about a 3 1/2 hour trip Northeast from here. There’s some fun things to see there, and we are both looking forward to having a good look at this city and its wonders!
Cheers!❤️
Geoff
Distance Walker - Wandering & Wondering! 