"Failure teaches a man how to succeed"
This was a quote hanging on a tree in Wat Phra Singh, Chiang Mai. Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai offered me peace when I really needed it. It gave me opportunity to break away and clear my thoughts. I chose to spend time in temples, visiting the karen tribe, observing the life of monks and making new friends.
Wat Rong Khun: The journey started from Wat Rong Khun, the white coloured temple. As I understand, the concept of temple is walk from hell to heaven. There is a beautiful but scary representation of hell at the beginning of temple. But as one walks, the fairy tale representation of heaven starts to appear. Each and every corner of this temple is beautifully done. It is an amazing feeling to be there.
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| Reflection of the blessings |
To know what is good, one must realize what is bad. To know what is heaven, one must see what is hell. There is a drawing of Ying-Yang also.
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| The concept of walk from hell to Heaven |
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| The temple depicting concept of hell |
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| The heavenly abode |
The temple was heavily damaged in the earthquake of May 2014 but thankfully, it was restored soon enough. Arriving early at this temple is a good idea!
Karen Tribe: After the white temple, I was on my way to Karen tribe (Long Neck). It is an experience to meet the tribal people and specially when they have a distinct feature.
Now, I was on my way to Chiang Mai. The journey itself have been so nice. Thai people are very graceful, polite and always smiling. With a good thai dinner, Pad Thai and Mango + sticky rice in coconut milk, I was off to a good long sleep.
Chiang Mai old City: The next morning, I was on a stroll to Chiang Mai old city where all the temples are. I just happen to see a girl in front me and spontaneously I asked "where is Chedi Luang?!"
It turns out, she just did not show me the path literally but spiritually. She was on her second trip to Chiang Mai with her husband and all the way from South Korea. We shared a cup of coffee to begin with, then she took me too her favourite place. All the while she told me about the monks she befriended last year and her understanding of the city.
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| Near a temple, 100 meters from Chedi Luang |
From here we parted our ways, but we met again and continued to share our experiences. She showed me where Chedi Luang is and I had good time to explore this 14th Century temple.
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| Chedi Lunag, first impression |
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| The monks passing by |
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| Chedi Luang in the night |
The nearby bigger temple
Wat Phra Singh is more spiritual place and equally astonishing.
And guess what, a funny photoshoot was also going on (-:
The Next day was to spend time in Doi Suthep and RachaPhruek. Doi Suthep is 12km from city and the road is steep. The top of the mountain gives good view of the city.
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| All that glitters are not gold! here it is god |
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| Monks on their way down the temple |
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| A beautiful kid |
RachaPhruekh is also 6 km from the city, but it is rewarding to visit this place too.
The rest of the time flew way pondering and eating :-). On Saturday night, I took a bus to Bangkok and long time friend was there to show me around for the day. We just restricted ourselves to Wat Arun and Royal Palace. There are plenty of other things in bangkok, some other time.
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| Wat Arun, across the river |
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| Friend (-: |
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| Wat Arun |
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| Royal palace |
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