Two Days of Outings & Adventures

Chiang Mai, Day 77

Yesterday (4th Feb) was not very exciting, I'm afraid. We ordered a Grab taxi to take us to the other large shopping mall on the other side of the Ping River at the Big C Juvenile Court (close to Chiang Mai Bus station), but it was nothing like the Maya Shopping Mall.

There was a food court but even that was quite disappointing because the area was blowing cold air throughout the mall and it made eating in the food hall really uncomfortable, not to mention the food cooled down really quickly.

Also, the staff in the food court were not particularly welcoming or very happy-looking. Now I'm not saying everyone should be polite and pleasant all the time, but when you are in a customer-facing job, it doesn't take an awful lot to smile when handing the plate of food or receipt over to the customer. The only person who showed any hospitality was the lady we bought our food card from at the food court. I'm not sure if the staff working on the counters were just a bit bored (or maybe they were freezing also!), but it was not a great impression. So it wasn't a great start to the day.

After having something to eat (a katsu curry dish for R and a pork steak and chips for me), we then went to the Big C supermarket, and this was great. The store was one of the biggest we have seen, and they had a terrific selection of all sorts of foods. We didn't really need much in the way of groceries at this point, but we very much enjoyed looking at all the sections of fresh foods and displays on offer.

It was so funny to see the supermarket selling 25kg bags of sugar as a 'normal' grocery item. They also had different varieties if the pure, refined one was not to your taste! R also said I needed to take a photo of the cheap price of eggs for our US and Canadian friends - he is so annoying and evil at times!

After the Big C, we went and had a look around the rest of the stores in the complex, and they were fine, but R was turning blue at this point with the cold. At first, I thought he was joking, but his hands were blue!! So we went outside to let his body heat up again, and outside there were several food stall vendors setting up for the day. We had just eaten, so we weren't looking for anything else, and after a short time, we resumed our indoor visit. Our hearts took a bit of a leap when we spotted some bakeries, but the bakeries are not what we are used to, so the items are never quite as sweet (so goodness knows why they need 25kg bags of sugar!) and the bread is a little odd to what we are used to also. Anyway, after a short time, we decided to call it a day and ordered our Grab back to the apartment. Overall, if you're in Chiang Mai, this is not a place I'd recommend going to.

Chiang Mai, Day 78

The following day we decided to make a third attempt to visit the Three Kings Monument. You may notice that we have a certain level of determination and although it's just a monument, we wanted to see it up close.

We decided to book a Grab to take us to the Tha Phae Gate entrance and we'd walk from there, this would save us a little walking time in the blistering sun.

Wat Muen Larn was the first temple that we came across as we walked along Rachadamnoen Road. It was just a brief stop off for us and then we headed onwards towards the Three Kings. We passed a few more wats including Wat Duang Dee but we didn't spend too much time here either as we weren't planning on temple visits today.

We had planned n visiting the three museums in the area beside the Three Kings Monument and our first stop was the Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Centre.

This was a two-floor museum covering the development of Chiang Mai up until today. It was very interesting and also very good to learn more about the city and how it evolved. The building that the museum is housed in is also very unique and colonial-looking looking with its dark wooden floors and white walls with shutters. However, after our time in this museum, we were a bit tired and didn't think we could do the Lanna Centre or the Historical Centre museums justice by trying to look around them also, so we left here to get some lunch and start heading homeward.

Of course, no sooner had we walked out than we spotted another interesting-looking temple. This time it was Wat Inthakhin Sadue Muang.

Wat Inthakin Sadeu Muang was, it is said, where the city pillar called “Inthakin” was erected in 1296 by King Mangrai when Chiang Mai was founded. “Wat Sadeu Muang” means “Temple of the naval of the city”, reflecting its central position in the old town.

This was a very nice temple indeed and we enjoyed walking around it. There were also some monks talking to some younger (male) foreign visitors which was lovely to see as they seemed to be very engrossed in their conversation.

I also loved all the little statue babies in this temple as they were so cute...

After this we headed for some lunch and found a nice little restaurant (Krua Dabb Lob) on Rachadamnoen Road. I had their vegetable fried rice and R had a pork dish with an egg on top (although the egg was a little runny for his taste). We also passed on the frog dishes!

After a refreshing rest and lunch, we then headed to Watchediluang Varaviharn. Now it seemed we went the long way around to get to this, and then by the time we arrived there, it was mobbed with tourists and you needed to pay to enter (and there was also a temple that was only permitted for men to enter). So we decided to give this one a miss. It is supposed to be a very impressive temple, which is probably why it was so busy, and no doubt we will regret missing out on it, but that's life as they say.

Of course, no sooner had we left this temple with the intention of just making our way back to the apartment, when we came upon yet another temple. This was was Wat Jet Lin.

Wat Jet Lin

Wat Jet Lin was established at some point in the early 16th Century. The major event which took place at Wat Jet Lin was the coronation of the Lanna King Mekut Sutthiwong in 1551. The name Wat Jet Lin means the ‘Temple of the Seven Channels’ and refers to 7 water channels under which, according to the only written historical record of the temple that exists, members of the Lanna Royal Family used to come to the temple to bathe under.

The main building at Wat Jet Lin is its prayer hall, which features a distinctive Lanna-style tiered roof. The prayer hall looks as though it was constructed in the late 19th Century or early 20th Century. At the time Wat Jet Lin was founded, the temple buildings were being constructed from teak wood so the greater likelihood is that the original prayer hall perished and got replaced by the current concrete structure as, by that time, building with teak wood had become a lot more expensive.

What makes Wat Jet Lin an interesting place to visit, however, is the large number of curiosities dotted around the grounds of the temple. The temple is very old and retains a lot of artefacts, which are on display. One of the things to look out for is the row of large stone balls on display. These stone balls are traditionally placed around ordination halls in Buddhist temples in Thailand, buried in the ground under what are called sema stones, which are traditionally placed around ordination halls in Thailand to mark the special purpose of the building. The origin of these stone balls, like many other features at Wat Jet Lin, is unknown.

We loved this temple. It was so serene and beautiful, and we were really glad that we popped in to see it. The bamboo bridge across the small water pond was lovely and took you to an almost forest area, which was hard to imagine was actually in the centre of Chiang Mai city walls. Again, we observed monks taking the time to talk to visitors, and it just had a really lovely warmth to it.

After this, we headed back to the apartment for a shower and a rest. Then in the early evening, we went out for some dinner and again observed the thousands of little birds that sit on the overhead wires and chat to themselves. We have come across this in a few locations during our time in Thailand and it is so strange to see and hear.

We think the birds are called Common Mynas, but it's quite funny to watch them from the apartment balcony when they all congregate in the trees and then as the sun goes down they move from the trees to the overhead wires. We read somewhere that this has to do with them feeling at ease as there are fewer predators about in the wire locations that they go to at night. Not sure how true or not that is but it's certainly very odd to witness.

Dinner this evening was a beef noodle dish for me, and R had a pork mince omelette with rice. Both were delicious and from our favourite little family restaurant nearby.

And with that, we had another busy day in the bag.

Today's Walking Route - 5th Feb 2025

Chiang Mai, Thailand

4th & 5th February 2025