Chiang Mai's Many Temples (Etc.)

In Chiang Mai there are temples at every corner--not literally, but the city is so rich with them that you can walk twenty minutes and go past a half dozen of the things. So that's what we did today.

To start the day we slept in a bit and then I did laundry while we ate breakfast. Then, we set out on the first and longest loop of the day, walking south down Singharat road, we passed Wat Dab Pai which is right next to our hostel, then Wat Pa Bong further on, and then finally arrived at Wat Phra Sing. These three temples are all along basically a half a kilometer segment of road. Then we turned at walked to Chedi Luang, which was the main event. After this, it was past noon and we went back and took a nap.

I don't know if I have pictures at each, because I didn't take any notes or organize anything so when I look at my pictures I can't remember which temple is which half the time!

But let's start the pics with Wat Chedi Luang, because it's the shiniest and most impressive so I definitely remember it. Also the earliest photos on my camera are from it, so I guess that's when I started taking pictures. I've also got sweet info and stuff courtesy of Google Now which enriched my tour. And, lastly, I didn't go inside any temples because I was never dressed well enough.

Wat Chedi Luang

The front of the assembly hall at Chedi Luang, called a viharn I guess.

The large stone "Chedi" (stupa) is now 66m high and 44m wide, built in the 14th & 15th centuries.

 Also in the immediate area of the temple are a "city pillar" in a cool decorative building, which I guess I failed to take a pic of, as well as some kind of "protector tree" Dipterocarp, legend says if it ever falls, a great disaster will befall the city. I have no idea which tree it was, so I couldn't take a picture of it.

Wat is going on? (get it?)

Here's a couple pics from random temples:

Wat Inthakhin...this one wasn't even on my map...

Wat Dab Pai, I think?

After our nap time, we went down to a park, these trees were the best part. They are rainbow eucalyptis trees, and they peel their bark off in layers with each layer a different color. Super awesome, we were so stunned by them we had to look them up and learn more.

Three Kings Monument

In the middle of the city(ish) thee is a big decorative square....circle...with a monument of three kings. Apparently. All the plaques were in Thai, so I can't explain who they are, but the statue was cool!

There was also this little metal miniature of the city, which I'm always happy about. You can easily spot the big Chedi Luang on the right. The monument was about two blocks north (up in the photo).

Wat Chiang Man

Last, we stopped up at Wat Chiang Man, which I'd read houses some kind of fancy crystal Buddha. but was not generally open to the public. The temple grounds were a pleasant surprise, very beautiful exteriors, multiple large buildings, and a lot of cats and dogs living there.

good dog.

So, that really wasn't enough pictures to do any justice to anything, but uploading photos is hard, and I didn't even take that many more that I should show off anyway. 

Tomorrow we are doing something even more exciting. I hope you've all got big ears for the stories of adventure and fun we'll be trumpeting back to you soon. 

K I'm going away now. 

Til next time!