December 31, 2015 Arrival Back in Chiang Mai

After breakfast and packing, I took the BTS skytrain from the Chit Lom stop outside the hotel to the Paya Thai stop (for a whopping 25 THB, or 75 cents), then after a short wait, took the Airport Rail Link from Paya Thai to Suvarnabhumi Airport (aka BKK) for 45 THB ($1.40), about 40 km or 25 miles. In less than an hour after walking out of the hotel, I was in the airport. Bangkok’s airport is relatively new, having started service in September 2006. It is a LARGE airport. Suvarnabhumi (pronounced Suwannaphum), was named by the current king, and refers to the Golden Kingdom, thought to have been located somewhere in Southeast Asia. Suvarnabhumi is the 10th busiest airport in the world handling over 55 million passengers per year, so at any time of the day and night it is busy.

The flight check-in, security, and the waiting were all typical, and I regret that I did not take any pictures. The flight to Chiang Mai is scheduled for one hour, and almost every flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is full both directions.

I arrived in Chiang Mai, and after a short wait for luggage got a taxi to town to the 3-Sis Guest House, where I’ll be staying to the next 26 days, (3-Sis is owned by three sisters, hence the name.)

Here is the new pedestrian entrance to Wat Chedi Luang directly across the street from 3-Sis. This entrance was being built when I was here last year, and was close to be completed when I left.

While not listed as a royal temple, Wat Chedi Luang is very important to the Thai people and busses of Thai people come to visit this temple every day.

Almost daily, I go to Wat Chedi Luang to do a morning meditation at the foot of the old, large chedi behind the viharn.

A view of the large chedi at Wat Chedi Luang. The name can translate to “temple with the really large chedi (pagoda)” and for hundreds of years this was the largest structure in all of northern Thailand. Damaged by an earthquake in 1545, it is left as it is because there is no documentation of what the top looked like, and to restore it improperly would be to dishonor it.

The chedi is large and seems powerful. I see that people are drawn to it, and I enjoy my morning meditation at about the spot from which I took this picture.

Next: First walk around the wall/moat