CHIANG MAI 2010

THURSDAY 4th After a good night’s sleep we were ready for anything. During breakfast taken in a building by the pool we spoke to a couple of ladies sitting at the next table and asked if they had seen the white rabbit as we were beginning to wonder if we had dreamt it. Yes on their first night and by now Opus had come into the room. He explained the rabbit roamed around the garden and having made a hole some where it comes out at night to nibble at the grass. He pointed in the direction to a small courtyard between the buildings and said he has a smaller rabbit in a cage which he hopes to release when it has grown a little large because now one of the visiting cats would kill it. We also chatted to an Australian couple from Adelaide who were off on a tour at 11am having hired a vehicle and driver for 5 hours.
As we set off to explore the immediate area they boarded their smart tuk-tuk being joined by their son who was staying in another room in the complex. Last night Opus had said we should visit ‘Uncle Jack’ who has Scottish ancestry who would tell us all there was to know about Chiang Mai. A few yards along the road we stepped through the gateway of ‘Wat Kate’. Our first sight was of a spectacular glittering wall of the temple. Hidden in the plants close by were several sculptures mainly of dogs as this temple is dedicated to dogs, which probably explains the barking at 4am! In the grounds was a museum run by Uncle Jack who we discovered is currently in hospital but he is about 90 we were told. The museum was a collection of everything housed in a long building with several tiles missing off the roof. Glass now filled these empty spaces to allow more light into the rooms. Huge cobwebs hung from the rafters and some of the exhibits were in a very faded condition and amongst a collection of clothes in a large glass case was a sign stating ‘skirt worn by an old woman who died at the age of 108’. Rather rusty dust covered cooking utensils stated that the steam pan was ‘In the past, it uses the steam and made the warm the foods. The special qualities are fast to hot and hot longer than any stuff. So, it is very popular for most of family in the past.’At one end of a room there was a shrine dedicated not only to Buddha but the Country’s beloved King and Queen. Any donations are given to the Church. Also inside the temple grounds is a school and we arrived as the children were taking a break. 2 young boys were playing with a young turtle they had removed from the small pond surrounded by several stone figures. I tried talking to the boys but they either did not understand me or they were too shy to respond in English. We left them messing about in the water as another boy joined them.
We discovered another small gateway that lead us across the road to the footbridge over the Ping River which was flowing quite fast as we watched a cruise boat try to turn to the landing stage to let some of the passengers off. At the other side of the footbridge was a flower market and Keith decided it would be a good idea to visit this first to keep me quite. So many stalls but nearly all the same with buckets of bright yellow chrysanthemums to be used to make the floral tributes to the many ‘Wats’ in the city and orchids of all colours. I smiled at the bouquets of lotus buds surrounded by a frill of cabbage leaves – different! Then we came to the floral displays of all shapes and sizes and then the accessories but by this time Keith was getting bored so we made for the Wats in the old part of the city. Trouble was we had to pass many to reach the ones recommended by Opus so we have decided to limit ourselves to at least one a day.
Our route took us past shops and eating places – some geared up for locals but many for the tourists. We stopped at a tailors to see the quality of their suits thinking about our drinking buddy Darren who would love to have a suit made for him. No point in him coming here though as they only made suits for the ‘tall and thin’ not the ‘short and fat’!
Some of the roads became very narrow as we headed into the old part of the city and at one point we had to stop to let three pickups pass each one carry mourners in the back, the last vehicles also carrying a large display of yellow arrangements and I felt sure the dearly departed was under them!
We stopped at ‘Sarabu’s’ guest house and snack bar for a drink and to escape the heat and took advantage to study the vast array of tours on offer and being told by the heavily pregnant young lady who served us that she could give us a special price.
We came to the temples of ‘Wat Bupparam’ and ‘Namdhari Sikh’ again with glistening features due to the clear blue skies and the brilliant sunshine and each one having its entrance guarded by creatures with long bodies and tails that stretched around the entire building. In the older parts with the white tiered ‘stoupas’ that are built at an angle rather than straight women were not allowed to climb the stone steps to pay homage to the 4 small statuettes placed around it. The garden areas were lovely but such a display of animals, cartoon and natural, alongside more recognisable figures of people.
Our route home took us across a wide bridge of the Ping River that was adorned with red, white and blue flags on one side and yellow flags on the other as well as tiered pots of colourful plants. It was only a short distance back to ‘Baan Orapin’ and yet on our large scale map it looked miles so we had plenty of time to laze by the pool for the rest of the afternoon.In the evening we ate at a ‘Chinese House’ along with many other people as it turned out to be a popular place especially for the tourists. In the shop at the front of the building we saw photographs and press cuttings of a visit by Hilary Clinton on the night of the Festival of Light in November 1966 but no sign of Bill!