Long Awaited Chiang Mai Post

Sorry for the amount of time that this has taken, I have just been pretty busy since I spoke with you all last.  As you know, last Thursday night I left for Chiang Mai.  We had a 3 day weekend for Visakha Puja, or Buddha's Birthday!  Although it is kind of funny how little lead up there was to the day, considering that it's one of the most important Buddhist holidays of the year.  Anyway, the bus ride to Chiang Mai was long (6 hours) but relatively comfortable.  We got into the city around 11 p.m. and took a songtaew into the city to meet up with everyone else--in total there were 10 OEG teachers in Chiang Mai for the weekend.  Tricia and I dropped our stuff at the hostel, gathered with a couple other new arrivals, and ended up at the only eating establishment still open at that hour--McDonalds.  Yeah, you heard me.  And honestly, the rest of the people were over the moon about this.  I think a lot of the people were really sick of Thai food already (I had heard many people lamenting the lack of cheese in the Thai diet), but I am not really at that point yet.

Ronald showing his respect with a wai

After the first Western meal in town, we began a wild goose chase to find the rest of the group.  It was already 1 a.m., so I was running out of energy (normal bedtime here is ~9 or 10), but I went along with the plan anyway.  There were a series of garbled calls, ambiguous directions, and shouting matches, but we finally found everyone at something I hesitate to even call a bar.  The best I can say is that it was a really shady reggae themed dive bar catering to Westerners--I think there might have been 1 Thai in the whole place.  Definitely not a place to hang out when stone cold sober, and it wouldn't be a place I would want to hang out even in my drunkest of moments.  But the other half of the group (the ones who had been drinking for ~5 hours) were having a good time, so I hung around for a bit.  After about 30 minutes, a few other people realized how unpleasant this all was and a group of us trekked back to the hostel.  Finally, some sleep!  Most of the hostel was set up in individual rooms, but I was in the dorm room with 1 girl and 2 guys from our group, as well as a random guy and girl.  By the time we got back to the hostel I couldn't even care less that I didn't have a private room--I stumbled into bed and fell into the sleep of the dead.

Happy Buddha Day!  Friday was the holy day, which meant no alcohol sold all day (much to my companions' chagrin).  Considering the level of inebriation the previous evening and the late return to the hostel, I am surprised we even got moving as early as we did, but the magic happened and everyone was up and moving by around 10:30 a.m.  With the help of Gina, the hostel owner, we decided to go to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.  This wat sits perched on the mountain overlooking Chiang Mai and is impressive in its own right.  To reach the pagoda, you must ascend 309 steps along the Naga staircase.  We were particularly excited to head up there because there would be ceremonies held at the temple for Buddha Day.

So we set out by songtaew.  The ride up to the wat takes about 45 minutes along a curvy mountain road, and I definitely was green by the end.  Luckily we made it with no incident.  The temple grounds were packed--everyone had come to worship and be blessed.  So many people were dressed in white for the holiday, I felt kind of embarrassed being so obviously a tourist.  However, there were many other tourists there are well--Western and Asian alike.

The whole experience was nothing short of magical.  I wonder what my impressions would have been had I not seen the wat first on a holy day, but everything just drew me in.  It was amazing to see all of the people engaged in ceremonies that are such a mystery to me.  Some are already becoming familiar to me (getting blessed by the water on the lotus flower), but there are new customs and practices around every corner.  I enjoyed being able to step back and watch.  We did get to sign a bit of fabric to be wrapped around the pagoda.  Interestingly enough, one of the projects the wat is raising money for is to build another wat in Chino, California--just a few miles from Pomona!  I thought that was pretty cool.

I wish I could explain everything I saw and experienced to you, but that would be impossible, so I will just include some of the pictures.  Try to imagine the sounds of the bells and the smell of incense/candles.

The Naga staircase

Nearing the top

So many shoes!!!

Signing the fabric

Young monks

Walking around the shrine and praying

Offerings everywhere you look

It was quite the sight to see.  As we headed down from the temple, it began to rain.  Slowly at first, then it picked up speed.  As all the rain flowed down the massive staircase, there was actually a bit of flooding at the bottom!  Intense.  We took shelter in a shop and I actually got a wall hanging for my room--a canvas painting (black and white) of a Buddha head.  Simple, but it looks nice on the bare wall I had.

As we headed down the mountain we encountered 3 separate wrecks and one motorbike accident.  It made me glad the idea of renting motorbikes and riding them up the mountain had fizzled out--we would have been in real trouble considering the high grade of the road and the wet pavement.  We made it back in one piece though and had a quick lunch (Western of course--Mexican to be exact) before proceeding to our next activity--massages!  Since we had a free afternoon we had decided it was high time for a traditional Thai massage.  Some people wanted to get a massage from the women's prison and others wanted to go to the blind massage school.  Gina once again steered us in the right direction--she said while these were popular choices and "interesting," the massage quality was only so-so.  She recommended a spa that would pick us up and that she had gone to, and it was still less than $15 for an hour massage.  Sounds like a plan to me!  In fact, it turned out to be much better than anticipated.  The facilities were lovely, the staff was attentive, and the massage was excellent.  I have never felt so many parts of my body pop--strange at first, but quite nice.  it was rejuvenating.

So we enjoyed our "day of beauty" as my father would say.  I think everyone enjoyed it.  There was much talk of coming back for another massage before leaving the city, but to my knowledge I am the only one who actually did.  Ah well, their loss!

We finished off the evening with a visit to the night bazaar--basically an outdoor market selling all kinds of clothing and souvenirs.  Tons of stuff.  I got a few things there, but it was more fun to look around than anything else.  You wouldn't believe the kinds of stuff they have.  One of the more entertaining things to look at were the knock offs.  Unlike the Chinese knock offs, these are all really high quality--you honestly can't see the difference on some of them.  But I will say it is odd to be looking at North Face jackets and Burberry scarves when it is 90+ degrees out!

Anyway, that was the end of our first full day in Chiang Mai.  After the night bazaar and dinner (pizza) we headed back to the hostel.  Most people drank beer there (no bars open for Buddha Day) and I hung out for a bit before heading to bed.  I was pretty tired and wanted to do a bunch of sight seeing the next day, so this turned out to be a good plan.  Others stayed up most of the night.

Unfortunately it is late now and I need to get some sleep, but I will tell about the rest of the trip tomorrow.  Until then, good night!