first temple was wat phra doi suthep at 3520feet above sea level and 15km outside the city. this is one of the major temple attractions and ppl actually go on some sort of pilgimage here every year. it houses one of buddha's relics. there are two ways of reaching the top of the hill to see the chedi. one is going on the naga staircase which has around 300 steps. the other is taking a furnicular cable car (20B). mom, and i and another uncle took the steps of course. the others all went on the cable car.
the way up was not that difficult at all. and going on the naga staircase is actually a good thing. it is believed that one has succeeded in life. haha.
the steps are all very broad and you can hold on to the body of the naga. so stop when you are out of breath and continue again.
at the top, you will see these before entering the main temple where you have to take off your shoes of course, just like any other temples you enter in thailand.
this is the golden chedi everyone goes for. is this where they keep the buddha's relic? you can walk in clockwise direction around the chedi 3 times and pray for blessings.
one is supposed to get a view of the city but all we saw that day was mist covered view. the white elephant there had a story actually. the buddha relic was placed on top of the white elephant and the elephant walked 3 days and 3 nights before reaching the top of the hill and died. the king then built a temple to house the relic on the spot.
along the way up to the temple there are many stalls selling bells, fruits, snacks, souvenir items, jade, etc. after the temple visit, the cunning tour guide took the opportunity to bring us to another thai specialty shop- herb. he said since everyone was complaining was discomfort, he would bring us to try thai herb. puke!
no one bought any of the herb but we got free trial of their heated herb bag. just wrap it around sore places and let the heat loosen the strained muscles. well, it provided temporary comfort to the tired shoulders.
then we went for lunch before our long journey to chiang rai. buffet style again at one of the hotels.
the spread includes traditional northern thai cuisine of sticky rice with green chilli paste and pork curry with thai vermicelli. but not many took them because of their tummy condition. i do not like sticky rice nor pork curry, so i passed as well. the bunch of bananas outside the hotel was an attraction as well. everyone took a photo with it. it was at least 5 feet tall.
i am not sure how far chiang rai is from chiang mai, but it is definitely more than 200km and there was no highway linking them. the road was like our trunk road and it was quite hilly.
after about 2 hours from chiang mai, we stopped at a hot spring, touted to be the highest hotspring in thailand. the location is already in chiang rai province.
we also soaked our tired feet in the warm water in the trenches built for this purpose. you can also boil eggs at designated spots and there was also a cold water pool. i think most buses stop here for a rest.
then it was bus time again. we reached chiang rai at around 5p.m. and headed straight to wat rong khun designed by an artist named chalermchai kositpipat. it is an unconventional temple building which you cannot find in any other place. it was beautiful!
many thais flocked here to admire the magnificent architecture and sight. you should not touch the white wall or bridge as there were guards with hailers shouting reminders.
there was also a small gallery exhibiting the artist's works.
my fav photos. the sun was setting as we were about to leave and i got snapshots of the building bathed in different lights.
next stop- dinner of course. cantonese cuisine this time.
steamed chicken, beancurd, vege, pork with pepper, black pepper pork, steamed sour and spicy fish, fried egg with oysters, seaweed soup and fruits. very filling indeed.
check in to the hotel next? not so fast, they brought us to chiang rai night bazaar. it was not as big as the one in chiang mai but i found there were more things to see.
i got another tee...how many new ones have i got now? it was handmade, you know those like where they have sprayed different colours on it. well, that was mine. the small albino snake there actually belonged to one of the stalls owners. one of us even asked for permission to hold the snake.
we went back to the hotel at around 9.30p.m. it was called little duck hotel and it was lousy. i think it was kinda old...9 years old if i am not wrong. places in thailand like to put the year after the name. my shower was not working and i had to go to borrow next door's bathroom. too lazy to ask for room change. the bed was too soft and mom's pillow was extremely high. the room was dark too and there was not enough light for reading...so after my shower, i went to one of the rooms and we gambled. hahaha...chi kam (a traditional chinese card game). they had been gambling every night since we came. that night there were only 4 of us as the rest were too tired and some went down for a snack. well, i won rm16 and went to bed at midnight.
no one bought any of the herb but we got free trial of their heated herb bag. just wrap it around sore places and let the heat loosen the strained muscles. well, it provided temporary comfort to the tired shoulders.then we went for lunch before our long journey to chiang rai. buffet style again at one of the hotels.
the spread includes traditional northern thai cuisine of sticky rice with green chilli paste and pork curry with thai vermicelli. but not many took them because of their tummy condition. i do not like sticky rice nor pork curry, so i passed as well. the bunch of bananas outside the hotel was an attraction as well. everyone took a photo with it. it was at least 5 feet tall.i am not sure how far chiang rai is from chiang mai, but it is definitely more than 200km and there was no highway linking them. the road was like our trunk road and it was quite hilly.
after about 2 hours from chiang mai, we stopped at a hot spring, touted to be the highest hotspring in thailand. the location is already in chiang rai province.
we also soaked our tired feet in the warm water in the trenches built for this purpose. you can also boil eggs at designated spots and there was also a cold water pool. i think most buses stop here for a rest.then it was bus time again. we reached chiang rai at around 5p.m. and headed straight to wat rong khun designed by an artist named chalermchai kositpipat. it is an unconventional temple building which you cannot find in any other place. it was beautiful!
many thais flocked here to admire the magnificent architecture and sight. you should not touch the white wall or bridge as there were guards with hailers shouting reminders.
there was also a small gallery exhibiting the artist's works.
my fav photos. the sun was setting as we were about to leave and i got snapshots of the building bathed in different lights.next stop- dinner of course. cantonese cuisine this time.
steamed chicken, beancurd, vege, pork with pepper, black pepper pork, steamed sour and spicy fish, fried egg with oysters, seaweed soup and fruits. very filling indeed.check in to the hotel next? not so fast, they brought us to chiang rai night bazaar. it was not as big as the one in chiang mai but i found there were more things to see.
i got another tee...how many new ones have i got now? it was handmade, you know those like where they have sprayed different colours on it. well, that was mine. the small albino snake there actually belonged to one of the stalls owners. one of us even asked for permission to hold the snake.we went back to the hotel at around 9.30p.m. it was called little duck hotel and it was lousy. i think it was kinda old...9 years old if i am not wrong. places in thailand like to put the year after the name. my shower was not working and i had to go to borrow next door's bathroom. too lazy to ask for room change. the bed was too soft and mom's pillow was extremely high. the room was dark too and there was not enough light for reading...so after my shower, i went to one of the rooms and we gambled. hahaha...chi kam (a traditional chinese card game). they had been gambling every night since we came. that night there were only 4 of us as the rest were too tired and some went down for a snack. well, i won rm16 and went to bed at midnight.
the next day was another bus day...even longer.
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