January 25, 2016

After the rain on Sunday, a cold front moved in overnight, and it is cold today – unusually cold and rainy. The staff at 3-Sis put me in touch with a woman from Bulgaria who wanted information on meditation. Since they see me going over to Wat Chedi Luang for my morning meditation, they thought me to be something of an expert. I am flattered, but consider myself a relative beginner. I am, however, happy to share what I have learned, so this woman and I went out into the cold, and over to Wat Chedi Luang where we talked a little about meditation, what I have learned, and then we proceeded to do a walking meditation around the chedi (it was just a bit too cold to sit).

We returned to 3-Sis and talked more through breakfast. It was nice to have a little company, and someone with an interesting life.  She and her husband had lived in Bangkok after she got a job with the Bulgarian Embassy posted in Bangkok. So she was quite familiar with Thailand, but had spent very little time in the north.

I was going to forego yoga, but the staff at 3-Sis asked me where Wild Rose Yoga was because a German couple was going there, so I quickly changed clothes, and took them with me. Wild Rose is not hard to get to if you know the way, but not being on a main street or even a main soi (lane), it is a little hard to describe how to get there – easier to just show them. Like is often the case, I’m glad I went to the yoga class. If nothing else, it got the blood moving on a cool day.

I spent much of the day indoors, out of the sporadic rain. The temperature did not get above 60 or 62 degrees F all day, setting records for the coldest in SE Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand) in more than 30 years. In Hong Kong, the temperature was the coldest in more than 60 years. While that does not seem cold to us in the U.S., the Thai people have no heat in their homes, so overnight low temperatures in the low 50s makes for a very cold house.

January 26, 2016

My last day in Chiang Mai and Thailand. It seemed to fly by so quickly, as is so often the case when there are interesting things to do and almost no idle time. It is even cooler than yesterday, but not quite as rainy, although it is threatening. After a morning walking meditation at Wat Chedi Luang, and breakfast at 3-Sis, I borrowed an umbrella (just in case), and headed out for a walk around the old city, particularly to the north of the wall to Wat Lok Molee, a favorite temple at which I have not spent much time this year. Here are a few photos from that walk, everything is wet and dark:

Entrance to the main viharn at Wat Chedi Luang. Surprisingly bright in the rainy darkness.

Eastern view of the chedi at Wat Chedi Luang.

View of the chedi at Wat Chedi Luang from my daily meditation seat.

The entrance to the hor trai (library) at Wat Chedi Luang – the moms seem quite bright in the wetness of the day.

The Monument to the Three Kings. One of my favorite sights.

Entrance to the viharn at Wat Lok Molee.

The only south-facing viharn I know of, and a stunning teak building.

The rich teak interior of the viharn.

One of the paintings on the ceiling of the viharn.

The Buddha at the front of the worship area.

The yaks (giants) guarding the entrance to Wat Lok Molee.

Even on this rainy and rather cold day, the markets are open and busy.

Here we see mango, papaya, dragon fruit, rose apples, and oranges.

Another part of the same market, oranges, papayas, avocado, potatoes, and bananas.

After walking around a bit, I returned to 3-Sis, finished packing, and checked out at noon. The car will come at 8:15 PM to take me to the airport. For my last afternoon, and the coldest afternoon in my time at Chiang Mai, I went to See You Soon to have lunch and catch up on e-mail. Hard to believe that this is my last day here.

Next: The Journey Home