We had a full day visiting various “wats” or temples in Chiang Mai. We started out at Wat Suan Dok where we were able to visit the temple and then spend 90 minutes “chatting” with a monk. They even have a sign outside the part of the temple complex where the monks receive visitors that says “Monk Chat”. Our monk was a 24 year old Burmese man who came to Thailand when he was 12 to become a novice and has since been ordained as a monk on a permanent basis. In Thailand all males are expected to “become monks” at some point in their early lives, usually by the time they are 20. They enter a temple for anywhere from 7 days to several months to a year or more and live as “novices” and then leave and return to the regular world. While they are in the monastic setting they live the full Buddhist monastic life. They get up at 4:30 AM, meditate, and then make very early rounds through the city or village collecting alms that residents give them. When the boy enters the wat he is given a “begging bowl” and every morning they go out and collect food. When they return to their temple they share what they have collected. They have their breakfast when they return and then work for the morning. At 11:00 they have their second and last meal of the day, and then spend the rest of the day in prayer, meditation and learning. They only eat two meals a day. We noticed that there were a lot of stray dogs wandering around the complex. We learned that when people cannot care for their dogs, they drop them at temples and the monks care for them. So every temple has packs of dogs lying around, following the monks as they move about the complex, sleeping all around the wat complex and generally enjoying their lives. They are well fed and cared for by the monks. In fact, at Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep up on the mountain outside of the city where we ended our afternoon, they even have a collection box for people to donate for the food and medical care of the dogs! I couldn’t help but contrast the practice in our country of taking stray dogs to a pound where they are euthanized while in this country they are cared for by monks in the most sacred places in the country.
After our visit to Wat Suan Dok we had a vegetarian Thai lunch at a wonderful little restaurant. It was a buffet and we all left more than stuffed! Then we went to Wat Phra Singh, which boasts a unique library of Buddhist scriptures. From there we took a rickshaw ride through the old city and out to Wat Chedi Luang, a huge and magnificent old temple that was partially destroyed by an earthquake hundreds of years ago. It contains sacred relics of the Buddha, as do many of the wats. The rickshaw ride was great fun! First of all I was impressed at the physical fitness of the rickshaw drivers, none of whom are “spring chickens” yet they have the strength to pedal all over the place with rickshaw loaded with people in tow. And I definitely had to adapt the Thai mai pen rai attitude as we rode along crowded city streets with taxis, cars, motorcycles and huge buses all brushing up within fractions of an inch of our rickshaws as we ambled along at rickshaw pace! In Thailand venturing onto the roads is not for the faint of heart! It was fantastic to see the city from the rickshaw, however. I really felt part of the heartbeat of the city as we wended our way through the old city streets, past many temples and even a number of processions. Later this week begins a three month period which our guide, Anil, describes as “Buddhist Lent” during which time the monks do many special religious ceremonies and prayers. The people are getting ready for this holy season with processions through the streets with giant candles and drums and chanting. We passed several of these processions today, mostly college and university students from the various educational institutions here in Chiang Mai, of which there are many. This holy season is also a popular time for young boys to do their stint as monks. When we got to Wat Chedi Luang we were able to observe an ordination ceremony as two young boys (I’m guessing teenagers) took their vows, received their robes and begging bowls and became monks. It was fascinating to watch that ritual.
From there we took our bus and rode up into the hills surrounding Chiang Mai to a very holy site, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, another huge complex that contains various relics of the Buddha. The temple complex is way up in the hills and is a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists. While we were there, we got sprinkled with holy water and received a blessing from a monk, and Sam and I did the walking meditation/prayer around the stupa with lotus flowers as offerings to the Buddha. We then burned incense and lit candles at the prayer shrine right next to the stupa. The entire complex is one Buddhist shrine after another, somewhat like a cathedral with many saints chapels. There were the usual contingent of dogs lying around, and we noticed that they pretty much ignore the devotees and tourists but as soon as a monk appears, they get up and follow him along! When Sam and I were doing the walking meditation around the stupa we saw an adolescent tabby colored kitten asleep next to the Buddha statues! I love these religious shrines where animals are welcome!
After visiting all these temples, we came back to the hotel for a short rest and then went to a traditional northern Thai dinner at a cultural center called Khum Khantoke. We had a delicious meal sitting on the floor with all different foods available for the table to share. We loved the “sticky rice” which is so sticky that you roll it in a ball in your hands and dip it in the sauces. While we had dinner, there was a performance of traditional northern Thai dances which were colorful and entertaining! Once that was over we came back to the hotel, and much as I wanted to go out to the night market which is right across the street I simply do not have the energy! Still haven’t adjusted to Thai time yet. Neither has Sam. He crashed as soon as we got back here! His favorite activities of the day were the chat with the monk, the rickshaw ride and the visit to Wat Doi Suthep on the mountain. He also loved the food at the program this evening! We’re hoping by tomorrow we won’t be so exhausted by the end of the day. We still haven’t fully recovered from the journey over here and are both uncharacteristically tired by evening!
Tomorrow we go visit the elephants!
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