Thailand- a journey (part8)

Flying next to two hours to the North. Landing next to the town. Chiang Mai I am here.

The big hills around. The nights colder and the breakfast needs more cloths on your body to not get icy. 

But what a wonderful town. My luck was also to take a taxi from the airport and getting without any problem to the hotel which was in the center of the town, well next to it. The middle of the town is kind of an Island as the river is going around. Of course quite old this part with old walls and most of all Chiang Mai was once a very important spot for the Buddhist religious. That's why you can walk through the streets and meet one Wat next to another. The town became famous in 1296 because of King Mang Rai and because it is caravan routes which lead from China to Myanmar.

Those Wats are very beautiful and in the morning you can watch the monks going through the streets to get food and in the afternoon you can talk to them while sitting next to a Buddha or in a small garden of the Wat. The Wats from different times and so in different styles. 

But you can also go shopping and get wonderful food. And after the walking you can take a Massage - well maybe at the "Violet massage" studio. 

The it is time to visit the Temple! It is a very big one, though part does not exist anymore as earthquakes destroyed much. But there is also the second most important Jade Buddha of Thailand to find in the original Temple which misses his top. Most part of it. 

But take also the chance to tour around Chiang Mai, as there are art villages, places to meet old folk, places to see how things are made, places to discover while climbing in the hills. Though the art tour is often a mix of seeing art and how to produce it and selling shops with far to high prices for silver, clothes and so on. Best is to do morning tours in little groups as you won't be meeting the big tourist mass. 

On weekends there is a very big market on the Walking street and you should be there as it is amazing what you see and can get. Foot massage, food to eat like typical chinese and thai food (be open for everything!), art to buy and games to play and after all meeting people from all a round the world. The atmosphere is very easy going and a lot of laughter was to hear. 

Be there a minimum of three nights as you have the chance this way to enjoy Chiang Mai much better. 

The staff in the hotels have been very friendly and also in stores and restaurants. For me it was a pure enjoyment and then when you plane to take the bus to Bangkok or just Lampang, it is the Bus station "Chiang Mai Arcade". It takes about 20 minutes with the taxi/ cab. But you don't have to buy the ticket the day before you travel. It is o.k. to buy the day itself and the busses goes every hour.

Now it's time to enjoy the pics... again a lot of pictures to discover the world of Thailand.

My hotel room in Chiang Mai Chang Thai House

even the elevator got a colorful picture :-)

click on the pic to have them big

one of my favorite pics 

a very old house where the monks live

being in the centre/ on the Island

vegetarian food is able to get.. and it taste very good

I really liked that Buddha, I was there three or four times.. . I would like to have one exactly like those one

a green Jade Buddha and I was talking with a monk from that Wat, which was very nice

eating Bambus

here we see pics from my art tour

was very interesting how they made those umbrellas

the old wall of the town from 1236

want to know more about the Temple- read below

click on the pic to read

read below the story of this monk

wanna know what is in that house?- see below

a standing Buddha

in front of the standing Buddha is an army of sitting Buddhas

very old Wat as you can see on the wood

curious why you find those? Expression of an exhibition of design in town

such paintings are also here to find- actually I guess all around the world

here you see again that everything is next to each other, beauty and ugly, rich and poor

LOVE & LIGHT