Around Chiang Mai
March 12, 2012 - After the last ride, I went around Chiang Mai on a camera rampage. Mostly I visited a number of wats but below are some other items mixed in as well. The entire list of Thailand slideshows is now completed and can be found here.
Wat Ched Yod - Initiation of a new monk
Sunday Market
Wat Bupparam
Wat Chedi Luang - Taken during the Sunday market, so it appears in that slideshow.
Wat Phantao
Wat Phra Singh - Some of the wax statues are very realistic
Wat Phra That at Doi Suthep
Wat Suan Dok - This was an early morning shoot. I arrived at the wat before sunrise to catch the light and was surrounded by a number of dogs. Bending over to pretend picking up rocks works in Asia, so that kept them at bay. After a few minutes they gave up.
Wat Umong - Another very different wat. Words to live by, especially the last one.
New wats are still being constructed here and there. Lots of manual labor, precarious scaffolding and no safety equipment.
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai was the right place to take a breather before the big trip begins. Being here gave me the time to sort out a lot of the logistics for the next while, some room to think as to what's next post consulting career as well as escape the rain in Vancouver. Being in one place without needing to move around was welcome, with Smith Residence providing a very comfortable place to relax. It's an odd place, luxurious in some ways, a salt water swimming pool on the roof, but filled with long term residents, mostly old white male refugees escaping the social glare from their homelands, comforted by their locally (acquired) conquests. It does give one pause as to what it means to live as an expatriate in a warm place.
Anna and I had a lot of fun on our two motorcycle outings and numerous drives through Chiang Mai. The easy way to see this town is to rent a scooter for the time you're here and dive headlong into traffic with all the locals. The rules are unwritten but organic and it all seems to work quite smoothly.
An unending supply of street vendors and local food constantly surprises you as to what people can whip up on a burner, access to farm-fresh ingredients and real free range protein. We were never disappointed. The fact Anna speaks passable Thai to get what we needed all along no doubt contributed a lot.
This was my fifth or sixth time in Thailand, I lost count, but it will always remain a place to return to and discover more surprises.