Week Two: Still In Chiang Mai

my motobike

please the horn

Chiang Mai has been home for a week now and we have mainly been walking around, relaxing and getting diarrhea.  Yesterday though, for a little adventure, Jen and I rented a motorbike and drove out of Chiang Mai up a winding road to the top of Doi Suthep, the mountain overlooking the city.  We visited a very cool monastery/temple Wat Phrathet Doi Suthep.  The Temple was very beautiful and super old (1300s).  You have to walk up this long staircase to the top with a giant dragon head on either side of the steps at the bottom with their tails as the banisters all the way up.  At the top it's very mystical and Jedi-like with a big golden stupa and monks whacking people on the head with a stick and tying strings around their wrists.

dragon guardian

jen on the way up

It's very strange walking around and taking pictures in a place like this.  People are praying about who knows what and you feel like kind of an asshole looking at it as an attraction.  On the other hand tourists contribute loads of money not only to the local economy but directly to the temples which helps keep them running.

If you think about how old churches and cathedrals are full of tourists taking photos you don't feel as bad but usually they aren't around in the middle of a service.

active buddhism

golden stupa

Anyway the Jedi temple was really cool, I mean Buddhist temple and afterward we went and checked out a couple of other sights on the mountain including the Bhubing Palace which is a residence of the Thai royal family.  It was less showy in it's architecture but had some massive botanical garden action going on.  Large trees with what looked like poinsetta flowers growing out of them were everywhere.  along with tons of rose beds and jungle plants.  They had some bizzare music playing from outdoor speakers along the paths as well as a soundtrack of birds chirping.

royal residence

palace gardens

poinsettas?

We kept following the road up and over the mountain until we reached the Hmong village of Doi Poi which was basically a handycraft market where pushy salespeople try to sell you the same stuff you see at all the other markets down in the city so we pushed on down the other side of the mountain to a "real" Hmong village that was also a coffee and banana plantation.  This place was cool. They had a little old lady selling coffee and banana bread that were both delicious.  We had Some coffee and took a walk around where I proceeded to converse with local wildlife.  At the end of the day we watched the sun set and headed down the mountain as we froze to death.

lame market / village

helmet hair

the Hmong market/village from above

my Hmong coffee

jen enjoying Hmong coffee

view from the plantation's coffee shop

dry beans 

drying berries

drying tables

Jen checking out the place

coffee berries

banana flower

the plantation

conversing with dogs

oh look, a dog, Jen's favorite

conversing with chickens

the sun goes down in the sky.  Teletubbies say goodbye

me, cold on the way down the mountain

post script:

Driving a motorbike in thailand is a flavorful experience.  As you zoom in and out of clustered taxis and mopeds, around the corner of a quiet lane or a bustling round-about,  you breath in the blue smoke from the tailpipe of a tuk tuk, taste the hot and pungent cloud of horrible swamp gas from an exposed sewer vents or breeze by the sweet aroma of a fresh produce market the open roads of Thailand always have something to offer.