Yikes! Tomorrow morning we hit the road again. This time we will be Bangkok bound and although that will be the last time we change cities....we have three different locations we’ll “reside” in during our time in that dynamic city. We decided we’d like to give Bangkok a chance to show us some of it’s different faces hence the three locations. But today we are still in Chiang Mai and what a great stop this has been for many reasons.
Having an apartment has meant that we’ve been able to get back to some semblance of “normal” for the past few days and even though that may seem like a very small thing....in truth....it has been pretty big! It’s interesting how many things I take for granted until they’re gone. Being here has offered a chance to have a few of them back again and it has felt really really good. Living out of a suitcase and on the road for more than two months has been fun but it takes its toll after a while too. And as we’ve been on a budget our accommodation doesn’t always offer up all the bells and whistles that I never miss till they’re gone. Little things like a table beside the bed that is big enough to hold your alarm clock on the days that you need it. Or somewhere other than the floor where you can recharge your device(s). And speaking of floor....a counter where you can boil water for coffee. Or little things like a place to hang something up to dry. Speaking of that....even having a sink that has a plug in it and that is large enough to wash out a few clothes is a big deal so having somewhere to hang stuff to dry more like a luxury! LOL. :-). Or having no noise from the street or a room with curtains so it is dark enough to sleep in or no geckos chirping away on the walls of your bedroom or a bed that doesn’t hurt when you lay in one position too long. Yep....little things like that. LOL. And then there is the mirror or lack of in many places or somewhere to sit other than on your bed or a shower where you don’t get tangled in the curtain as it is just too tiny in there or a dry place to stand when you come out of the shower or a dry toilet seat to sit on after someone has had a shower. Yep....there are a few little things like that when you sit down long enough to take notice of them and that show up even more when you get them back again. Actually isn’t there a song lyric about “you don’t know what you got till its gone”? Soooo true and one of the reasons I believe everyone deserves to have the opportunity to travel to diverse experiences and cultures. I believe that they provide a new perspective that can’t be gained any other way.
Don’t get me wrong....there are no complaints here about missing some “stuff” while being on the road..... just an observation of the things that I miss when they’re gone and how much I appreciate having them back again when I do. Chiang Mai has been a place to have some of them back and it’s been great. :-)
Today we decided it was time to visit a couple of temples again as we haven’t been to any since our arrival here in Chiang Mai. The best place to find a taxi is right across at the Plaza and since we needed to have lunch somewhere too we could kill two birds with one stone. Lynda and I opted for a Japanese Hot Pot and sushi buffet style place and Natalie made her way to the pizza spot. Natalie assures us that hers was good but I gotta tell you that Lynda and I are soooo happy we decided to blow the budget on this lunch. It was the equivalent of about $16 CAD so not too outrageous but much more than we could have found something for in the food court. But this was an “experience” as much as it was lunch. First we had to choose what kind of broth we wanted in our hot pot. Then we had to choose what kind of sauce we wanted. From there we were shown to our seats, our hot pots were turned ‘on’ and we just had to watch what others were doing to figure our next steps out. There was an assembly line of tiny plates of ingredients constantly running around the room and in front of our seats. We could choose whatever we wanted from that line and drop it into our hot pot to cook. There was shrimp and beef and pork and fish. There was corn and greens and mushrooms and some other stuff that I have no idea what it was. We found little pots of garlic and chilies at our station and in no time we were settled in and cooking like locals. There was some tasty bits coming out of our little pots for lunch today! And just when we thought we had it all figured out a lady sitting nearby (who spoke a little English) informed us that we could also help ourselves to all the sushi, tempura, gyoza, drinks, and fruits that were along the perimeter of the room. OMG! Now there were some tasty treats along those walls! The gyoza were delicious! Crispy outside with tender perfectly seasoned pork in the middle. The tempura were massive prawns covered in a crispy panko crust. The fruit included the BEST pineapple either of us had ever tasted and the sushi....well the sushi was both beautiful to look at and tasty too. There was one in particular that I think was the perfect bite. It was a round of daikon radish stuffed with a piece of cucumber, a piece of egg, a piece of crab, and topped with a dollop of mayo.....yep.....DELICIOUS! By the time we were done (we weren’t able to last the full hour and 15 minutes we were allowed) we literally rolled out of the place we were so full!
After reconnecting with Natalie and a little more shopping in the “northern village” section of this plaza we were off in search of a taxi driver who could speak some English. Luckily we located Yo who had enough English for it all to work and who was happy to take the three of us for an hour or two to visit a couple of temples within the city. Yo’s two little boys were at work with him as his wife had started a new job today and as it is Saturday....the boys got to go to work with dad. The three of us squished into the back seat of Yo’s taxi and we were off.
At the first temple we were surprised to see how many locals there were making use of the temple. Later Yo explained that it is a long weekend and today is Saturday so everywhere is busier than usual with Thai’s. At this temple we marvelled at the lifelike statues of several monks lining one of the walls. One of the statues is of the monk who was the principal monk here and who called this temple home for 77 years. He had died in 2009 at the age of 98. These fibreglass statues are so lifelike it is hard to believe they’re not real! There was another monk (this one was real) doing blessings and receiving offerings from the many worshippers visiting the temple this day. Many of those worshippers would take another offering that the monk had blessed for them over to one of the statues and then place it in the offering plate in front of the statue of the monk that represented that which they wanted to focus on with their prayers. The temples are beautiful to look at and the gentle nature of the worship within them is also beautiful to witness.
There was a pure black cat lying at the door of this first temple too and in truth we couldn’t tell if it was dead or alive! Just when we thought for sure that it was dead or very nearly dead at least it twitched and we almost jumped out of our skin! LOL....not sure why that cat was there but whatever the reason....we’re hoping it hasn’t used up all nine of its lives.
At the second temple there were a few buildings and the one around the back was obviously soooo old! It was all made of stone and the stairs leading up to the top were soooo steep that I wouldn’t have wanted to try risking them! There was another building out front where only men were allowed to enter. This is the first time that I can remember encountering this in a Buddhist temple. The reason women are not allowed is because they can menstruate and it is believed that any deviance from this ancient ruling will result in social instability and so no one challenges it.
Everyone was allowed in the main building though and it too was beautiful! So many flowers near the front and the massive Buddha image that stood at the front of this temple is considered to be one of the most beautiful as his face is so gentle and soft. Also at this temple there were a number of little statues all along one wall. There was a statue for each day of the week and another for the year of the monkey, the ox, etc etc etc. You could purchase some golf leaf and then take it to the statue for the day you were born and the year of your birth and rub it on as you make your wishes to each of them. I bought my gold leaf (20 baht for 2 pieces), located Wednesday daytime statue, rubbed the first piece on and then located the year of the monkey statue to repeat the process. The gold leaf is between two pieces of paper and you get a little stick to use as an applicator but even at that by the time you’ve rubbed your gold you are guaranteed to have a few gold flecks on your hands. I figure this is just more good luck and so rubbed it onto my clothes. :-)
So now we are back at the apartment thinking about how we’re going to stuff even more into our already “pregnant” suitcases for our flight tomorrow. I’m guessing that tonight will be more of the routine that seems to have developed for us during our time here in Chiang Mai. Natalie will come over and we’ll play a couple games of “10” (cards). Tonight we’ll likely finish off whatever junk food and drinks we have in our rooms as tomorrow morning we’ve made arrangements for Yo (our taxi driver from today) to come back and pick us up for the airport at 10 a.m. Yes, a very civilized time! We figured....why get there so early that you can’t check in to your hotel anyway.....so a noon flight it will be for us with Bangkok Airways. Who knows...maybe we’ll be lucky again and they’ll have another special lounge for us to wait in at this airport too. Regardless they provide such great service we’re looking forward to another flight with them.
Till next time,
LorLyn
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