Chiang Mai day 1
Wat more Temples?

In Thailand the word Wat means Temple. Chiang Mai is a walled city surrounded by a moat and has over 300 temples.

Temples

After a leisurely start to the day we went out to discover Chiang Mai. We decided to head out of the walled city and walk around the outside. Almost every 20 meters we came across another temple. All of the temples have 2 dates A.D. (the western date) and B.E. (Buddhist Era which starts 544–543 BC).

Before we came to our first temple we walked through the Chang Phueak Gate, we turned left and walked along the moat until we saw a row of golden horses.

Wat Khuan Khama

Wat Khuan Khama, surprisingly enough, is also known as Golden Horse Temple. It is believed to have been established around 2035 B.E. (1492 A.D.).

According to legend, the land on which the temple stands was once owned by a horse groom or merchant who used horses for trade. When his beloved horse died, he was overcome with grief and decided to honor the animal's memory by donating the land to have a temple built.

Wat Rajamontean

Wat Rajamontean was the next temple we came across which had a huge statue of Buddha next to it.

Wat Lok Moli

It is not known when Wat Lok Moli was built but it is first mentioned in a charter in 1910 B.E. (1367 A.D.). In Thailand they do not allow people into the temples with bare legs but most temples have sarongs that you can borrow. I borrow a sarong and went into the temple which had a golden Buddha sitting and praying.

Outside there was a dragon that you could hoist up to give water to a Buddha at the top of the pagoda.

Lunch

We carried on walking around the walls of the city and it was starting to get hot so we looked for somewhere to eat we found a place called Auntie Kul's made-to-order food. The food was fantastic and cost 160฿ (about £3) for 3 meals.

I then went back to the hotel to write 12 postcards to send to friends all over the world.

In the afternoon I went shopping to buy a sarong and a wallet, as I didn't want to keep carrying my wallet around with all my cards in it. I found an excellent red sarong that had been hand coloured with batik. The wallet i found was hand made and painted with elephants.

Street Food

At night in Lanna Square there is a street food market with about 30 stalls of all nationalities. I had a manger curry which was delicious. Opposite where we were sat was a dessert stall and the owner kept waving at me and in the end she offered us 4 desserts for the price of 2, I bought 2 strawberry tarts, a chocolate mouse and banana cake.

Muay Thai

In the night we went to the Muay thai stadium in Chiang Mai, one of 4 it turns out. There were 6 bouts and the driver who picked us up from the airport the previous day arranged us some ring side seats and to have our photo's taken with the fighters before one of the bouts.

Obviously I was going to support the fighters in the red corner. The first two bouts the red guy was knocked unconscious in the first round. The next fight went all the way to the end but was won by the blue corner. Then it was the 4th fight and this was our turn to have our photos taken with the fighters, the blue guy won again.

In most of the rounds there seemed to be a lot of hugging, until that was the added seventh bout. This bout was much more furious and the fighters were really going at each other. We had a very entertaining night and would recommend experiencing this at least once in your life.