January 11, 2016

Hiking up to Wat Palad

After the almost daily 10 AM yoga class at Wild Rose Yoga, my new friend Tom from Australia and I were planning to walk through the forest/jungle to Wat Palad. This is a temple to which few tourists go, although daily hundreds of tourists go by the entrance on the main road as their cars, trucks, or busses climb up the mountain to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep near the top of the mountain. The temple at the top of the mountain is a very important, significant, and beautiful temple. Because so few tourists go to Wat Palad, I am the beneficiary of the serenity and peacefulness of this temple in the jungle (or forest … it is hard to clearly describe; it is like a jungle and like a forest, maybe a little more like a forest at this time of year).

To walk all the way to the trailhead and then walk all the way up to the temple is a long, long walk. We decided to get a driver to take us to Wat Fai Hin, near the trailhead, hike up from there and back, and then decide about walking back to town or getting a taxi (red truck). A swedish couple who were in our yoga class joined us, and we were soon on our way.

At the trailhead, here is the sign pointing the way. It is in Thai, and I suspect is may point the way to Wat Palad.

In a few places, for short distances, the trail is almost as steep as climbing stairs and rocky, but the majority, while definitely uphill, is not dramatically steep.

There are welcome benches a few places along the way. The total distance is about 1.5 km, or about a mile.

This picture shows the well-worn and clearly delineated trail. I would not say one could not get lost, but getting lost because one could not find the trail would be very surprising. Maybe in the rainy season…???

In several places, the brush almost makes the trail a tunnel.

Then we arrived at Wat Palad. From the hiking trail, we can see across the rocks of the creek/river/waterfall to the white dragon staircase. The rocky area in the foreground is often more of a creek or river. Today it was quite dry.

The actual name of Wat Palad is Wat Sakithakame Vanaram. The story of the name by which most people identify the temple is that the elephant carrying the relic that went up to Doi Suthep slipped and fell here because of the slippery rocks of the waterfall. People often slipped here also while making their way either to this temple or farther up the mountain. The old Chiang Mai Thai word (northern dialect) Pa-lert means to slip and fall. Over time, pa-lert evolved into palad, and identified the temple, Wat Palad, sometimes spelled Phalad, Phalaad, or Pha Lat. (I mostly see it spelled Palad.)

Most temples are centered around one grand viharn (worship hall) with a chedi (pagoda) in the back of the viharn, and then other smaller halls, some ordination halls, some smaller viharn. Wat Palad has no central viharn, there are four smaller viharn, of which two are open-air, with no walls.

After crossing the river, we see this viharn (worship hall). In all of my visits to Wat Palad, the doors of this viarn have been closed, so I have never seen inside, and I am only speculating that this is a viharn.

The painting of the thewada (angels) on the doors are very nice and artistic. Makes me want to see inside; maybe someday.

This is another of four viharn at Wat Palad. Notice that there are no walls. Except for the pillars holding up the roof, the sides are open.

A close-up of the Buddha statue and the worship area. Less extravagant than many viharn, yet very nice.

In back of the open viharn is this very old chedi.

One of my favorite areas is this open-air small pavilion, guarded by two thewada (angels). There is an open-air seating area to the left, with a view down over the rocks and waterfall and down the hill to Chiang Mai. In the rainy season, this covered seating area would be a nice respite from the rain, and maybe a nice spot for a meditation.

After exploring Wat Palad, the Swiss couple went up the hill to the main highway to catch a ride down to the city. Tom and I walked back down the hiking trail, to the Chiang Mai University area, had a light lunch, and then walked all the way back into town. My fitbit reported a 17,800 step day. It was a good day, starting the day with a meditation at Wat Chedi Luang, breakfast, then yoga, and a walk through the forest with new friends. My hiking boots are better broken in than a few weeks ago. There will be more walking coming. We shall see what happens next.

Next: Another walk around the wall.