A walk to the Silver Temple

Chiang Mai, Day 76

Last night we watched some YouTube travel videos for Chiang Mai to see if there was anything else that we really wanted to see whilst we are here. There are things like trips to the mountains to see the famous temple there or to visit elephant sanctuaries, etc., but these are not really floating our boats.

I don't see the point (or the need) to visit the mountain temple when:

a) There are so many amazing temples here in the centre of Chiang Mai

b) there is currently some 'smog' in the mountain areas, so you are unlikely to get a great view over the city and

c) Sometimes you can get a little ripped off by the taxis trying to get back down from the mountain (as you can't get a phone signal, so the taxis waiting have a monopoly on prices).

As for the elephant 'sanctuaries' - well, there are lots of stories about how ethical these really are, especially the ones that allow you to get close to these beautiful animals. So in this instance, I think we'd rather pass.

However, we haven't yet been to the famous Wat Sri Suphan, more commonly known as the 'Silver Temple', so that is our visit plan for today. We plan out a rough loop that will take in an area that we have not yet seen or walked.

After a leisurely morning on the balcony, watching the little community below us wake up and begin their day and pen our thoughts as we eat our breakfast and drink our coffee (or Fanta in R's case), we eventually get ready and set out for our walk.

Kad Kom Market

On our way, we came across a market, which I think is the Kad Kom Market. It's not too big, is mostly undercover, and sells lots of fresh vegetables and fruit. There were a few meat sellers, but they did not have the same smell that you find in markets that sell meat and fish as well as everything else, which was great.

Wat That Klang (Abandon)

This temple is located outside the city wall on the south side of Chiang Mai town.

There are several temples along Suryawon Alley, and there are also many ruins of abandoned temples. It is known that it was once a temple street lined with many temples.

Wat That Kran is one of the ruined temple structures along this path. "Thattu Klang" means "central stupa". Currently, only a huge stupa made of exposed brick remains, which is thought to correspond to this ``central stupa.''

The history and era of construction of this temple are unknown, but there is a theory that the pagoda was built around the 15th or 16th century based on its architectural style. It seems that the Sukhothai style has been confirmed. It is known that it was a temple of considerable size, so we imagine that it was built by a fairly influential person.

The pagoda that can be seen today has undergone some restoration work, but the entire temple was not reconstructed. For some reason, it must have been difficult to rebuild. The surrounding area appears to be private property.

Wat Yang Kuang

This temple we passed the other day and whilst I was knackered at that point, today I was more refreshed, so we briefly pooped in again to have a look but I didn't take any photos this time and we were swift to move on to our next stop.

Wat Thatkam

This temple was very beautiful. I know I sound like a broken record, but there are so many amazing temples here that it is so impressive to see these magnificent buildings. R and I don't usually go into the temples themselves as we feel like outsiders who do not want to interrupt or get in the way of people who are there to pray or worship. We also don't feel like it's appropriate for us to go into these religious buildings to take a few photos. For us, we are happy to observe and admire from the outside and get a glimpse of these stunning places.

After leaving Wat Thatkam, we continued on our way...

In a short time, we had arrived at the Silver Temple. Now, at this point in this blog post, I want to set an early Easter Egg offering to our wonderful, darling children, just to see if they are reading any of our blog trip musings. So, whichever of our beloved offspring can WhatsApp the words "I think mum is so much cooler than dad" into the family WhatsApp chat will be the worthy winner of a £50 cash prize. Note: this is time-limited, and if neither of our cherished children fulfils this competition task, then there could be future consequences #justsaying

Wat Sri Suphan is another Buddhist temple which is located, in the southern part of the old city. It is known as the "Silver Temple" because its ordination hall was constructed using silver, aluminium and nickel.

Wat Sri Suphan was founded around 1500 during the reign of King Mueang Kaeo of the Mangrai Dynasty (1292–1558).

The temple is situated in the Haiya district, the traditional silversmith area of the city, where workshops continue to operate. Their craftsmanship was celebrated when the temple's striking new ordination hall was completed using silver, nickel, and aluminium panelling, and featuring extensive, decorative metalwork sculpting and repoussé work. The ordination hall is in active use, and women are barred from entering.

In 2022, the pagoda, which had previously formed a large crack, collapsed following heavy rain. In the remains, many Buddhist artefacts were discovered which had been placed inside the structure. The collapse was attributed to the later addition of an outer cement shell that was painted over with gold construction paint, which added weight and trapped moisture in the original earthen core.

By the time we arrived at the Silver Temple, it was very hot, and I was starting to feel the heat of the mid- and early-afternoon sun beating down on us. The main entranceway for the temple was open, but you needed to buy a ticket to get into the central area. It was only 50 baht (£1.20) each, but as we don't generally like to go inside the buildings themselves and we were starting to flag a little, we decided not to bother going into the main area and just took a few photos from the general entrance areas. Another thing that is sort of annoying, even though we don't normally go into the buildings themselves, is that some buildings only permit men to enter them. Now, I don't want to start a rant here, but if that is the case and there is not a separate 'women only' temple, why do men and women need to pay the same entrance fee? Surely, women should pay slightly less?

We had a rest and a drink of water, and we spotted a nice-looking little place on our way to the temple, which had a sign for cold beers. I'm not much of a beer drinker, but I don't generally like soft drinks like Coke or Fanta, and I get a bit fed up with water, coffee, and fruit smoothie drinks, so I was set on having a cold beer. We walked into the place, and there was no one about. I'm not sure if the place was perhaps a small hotel or some sort, but after a couple of minutes of waiting, we left and started to make our way back towards the apartment.

On our way back, we took a different route, which involved crossing the canal in another location and we saw some of the canal areas that had not yet had any cleanup efforts. This was a very different sight to that of the Mae Kha canal area. I wonder if the plans to extend the clean-up with reach this area or if the funding will run out long before then?

By this time, it was long past lunchtime and not quite dinnertime, but the perfect time for us to stop by our favourite little restaurant for something to eat. I had a pork and morning glory dish, and R had a pork and holy basil dish. Both dishes with drinks were around £3.50.

After filling up, we made our way back to the apartment with a small stop off at the nearby Seven-Eleven to pick up a few groceries, and that was pretty much us for the day. Back home to shower, rest, and recharge.

Our walking route for today

Chiang Mai, Thailand

3rd February 2025