January 5, 2014 Sunday

A bit of a goal today was to visit the so-called “Silver Temple,” Wat Sri Suphan. The silver temple is south of the old city, but not a terribly long walk from the center of the old city, perhaps 1.5 km (about a mile) for where I am staying. The temple is located Wua Lai Road, south of Chiang Mai Gate, in the traditional area for silver making and silver shops. This was not a great day to walk down that street, as there is a Saturday Night Market there, and after the market most shops are closed on Sunday. The temple gets its name from the main worship hall, here called an ubosot rather than a viharn (I’ll have to research the difference between those words), being covered in intricate silver work (actually a mixture of silver and aluminum). The work is in progress, due to be completed sometime in 2015, so it is interesting to watch the craftsmen working. This is a relatively old temple, having been built from 1495 to 1515, but it was destroyed and looted several times when Chiang Mai was under Burmese occupation.

The ubosot is not large. There are signs indicating that women are not allowed to enter. I entered and saw nothing particularly different than in the many other worship halls I have visited, specifically nothing that I felt might offend women. But not being from this culture, I doubt I would notice important subtleties that may be important in their culture or religion.

When I got to the temple and was about to take pictures, the battery in my camera had no more power to give. I will return with a fresh camera battery soon.

I walked a long way back, up the east side of the moat, and into the old city via Tha Phae Gate and onto Ratchadamnoen Road where the Sunday Night Market was getting set up. I changed, went to a yoga class, and felt hopeful that my back problems are diminishing.

I had a small meal at 3-Sis, then headed out to the Sunday Night Market for a foot massage. I did find Nam again, and she gave me another expert foot massage. A nice end to a relatively mellow day.