Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Another day another temple.... I see what people mean now by once you have seen one you have seen them all. Thats a bit harsh though, it is. These temples are really amazing in fairness to them. Today we decided to do a bit of a self guided walking tour of Chiang Mai. The main section of the town is built within a walled and moated square, a large square. There are four gates half way down each edge of the square, and needless to say there are four corners at each corner. These are the only places where the walls remain, which is why I mentioned it. They are all built out of red bricks, like most of the old temples. In the centre of the town there is a massive ruined temple that I got a few decent pictures of. Its not so much a go inside temple as a monument type thing. Its sort of pyramid shaped, with some terraces along the way up and some gold statues built into it, it is decorated with elephant statues protruding from the wall of one of the terraces though most of the elephant statues have been stolen or removed or broken and only about five of them remain on one corner. When I look at things like this, as it is very ruined inspite of keeping its little gold top and being looked after to some degree, I really wonder what it must have looked like in its prime so to speak. Also, judging by the homemade scaffolding that ya see fellas using building their houses around town I have to wonder how in the Buddhas name did they build these things. I reckon this one in the centre of town is at least four or five storeys high, it is also the oldest or tallest or something ist Wat in Thailand. All around it are smaller temples and Wats and things, and inside one of them there is a buddhist monk inside a glass case that makes David Blaine look like the Irish goverments attempts to make our financial problems disappear.
Chiang Mai itself is nice, much more chilled out than Bangkok. We have walked around most of it, and nothing is annoying or in your face here. The guys with the Tuk Tuks just ask if you want a lift and if you dont they drive off. We took a walk down to a night market and nobody was hassling us or trying to steal stuff from us or even force stuff on us to buy. It was all just like a market anywhere in the world really. There are food stalls selling all sorts of things... I saw barbequed frog, and in the stall next to it is a chocolate banana pancake and the one after has a hotdog and then some stirfry. They all get their dinner from these little stalls and eat it sitting beside the road. The people here are much nicer, or at least nicer. Probably because they have more time for tourists here I guess. Everyone smiles though. I have gone for a few runs around here and almost everyone I make eye contact with smiles at me. When I went for my run today I was trying to find my way over to a track I saw on google maps. The path to it went through a golf course so over I jogged and found a path running around the golf course and off I went. I was half way around when two fellas in a golf buggy wearing security tshirts came driving up after me telling me to get out... big smiles on their faces. I tried to ask them if I could go through to the track but they didnt understand, they told me to get into the golf buggy and they would take me back out. I just told them I would run back out so they followed me... I felt very important with two lads tailing me through a golf course on my morning run. After that mishap I tried to get in the other way but ended up being stopped at a checkpoint along the road by some military guy who again with the biggest smile in the world used the only english he had "Go Back!". I pleaded my case again but he just laughed and said Go Back again. Turns out the track is in the Air Force base, my bad.....
Nice relaxing day today then. We went out for dinner again, it probably cost less than a fiver. The food is good here, even the stuff we didnt make ourselves!!!! Tomorrow we are becoming Elephant Mahoots.... should be fun...
- comments