Wednesday, January 1, 2020
New Year’s Day Forest Hike to Wat Palad

Started the day with a invigorating yoga practice with Annie. Annie is a truly gifted teacher, her yoga skills are unsurpassed, heavily influenced by the Ashtanga yoga style, and her passion for yoga comes through in her teaching at every class. The idea of starting the new year with a hike through the forest/jungle up to Wat Palad came to me, so after yoga, a change of clothes, I caught a Grab to take me to the trail-head west of Chiang Mai University, and a little up past Wat Fai Hin. The trail-head is not available as a Grab destination, so I used the Wat Fai Hin location and tipped the driver a little to have him drive the 500-600 meters farther up the hill. He told me he had never been there and was happy to know about it, as he thought it a good place to go for a run. And he would be in good company – I often see runners on the trail.

I headed up the trail into the forest. It is really in between a forest and a jungle. In drier weather, it looks more like a forest, but after rains, it is much greener and seems a bit more like a jungle.

[Note: the pictures show the date as 2019-12-31 because I forgot to reset the date on my camera. It really is 2020-01-01 in Thailand, but still 2019-12-31 in the U.S.]

The trail to Wat Palad is about a 40-50-minute hike. Some sections are pretty steep, and others rocky as can be seen in the photo above.

I saw many people on the trail today, celebrating the New Year with a hike up the mountain. From Wat Palad, the trail continues on up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, one of the most known and popular temples in the Chiang Mai region. Thousands of tourists and Thai people drive motorbikes or cars, take red trucks or buses up to that temple. The second part of the hike from Wat Palad to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is much more difficult than the trail to Wat Palad. There are fairly long sections that are as steep or steeper than climbing stairs. It is a very beautiful hike, and many people brave the steep inclines to climb to the temple. I shall make the complete hike soon. But for today, hiking to Wat Palad seemed a good start to the new year.

Wat Palad

Wat Palad is a remote temple in the jungle/forest that has a very long history. In the story of the relic that broke into two pieces as it was to be interred in the chedi at Wat Suan Dok, one piece was interred there, and the other piece placed on the back of a royal elephant. The king declared that wherever the elephant stopped, a temple and chedi would be built to house the relic. The elephant (being followed by the king and his army on horseback) went up the mountain now known as Doi Suthep. He stopped, trumpet three times, sat down and died. The very famous temple Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is the temple and chedi built there to house the second half of the relic.

Almost halfway up the mountain, the elephant slipped and fell while crossing a small river and waterfall. He got up and continued on up the mountain. A Thai phrase for “to slip and fall” is “pah lert”. It is believed that the temple’s short name was originally Wat Pha Lerd, and was later changed to Pha Lad, often spelled Palad or Phalad, as that is the name of the waterfall on the temple grounds. Wat Palad was also historically used as a resting place for people making the pilgrimage up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep before motorized transport became commonplace and easily accessible. It is now known as a meditation temple as it is surrounded by nature, having been built into the forest rather than in spite it.

After a hike of about 40 minutes, I arrived at Wat Palad, slightly tired and very sweaty – it is a humid day (like most in Chiang Mai). The first thing is to cross the stream on the newly renovated bridge, and view the city of Chiang Mai below:

Then I wandered around Wat Palad a bit. Parts of Wat Palad are under renovation, and parts were completed in the past year. One of my favorite scenes here is the outdoor viharn (worship hall) with no walls:

A closer look at the Buddha in this viharn; it has a peaceful, serene quality:

Another of the several small viharn is under renovation:

And, interestingly, the adjacent chedi looks very rustic, but was undergoing a renovation for the past two years. It looks like they worked to keep the rustic, ancient look:

Near the chedi is this large seated Buddha, about 3-4 meters tall. This small viharn was under renovation last year when I visited:

The official entrance guarded by these cinthe mythical lion creatures that are guardians, related to the Chinese guardian lions.

Then I went down the naga staircase to the lower level. The Phaya naga are a class of mythical serpent-like, semi-divine beings, half human and half cobra. They are a strong, handsome species who can assume either wholly human or wholly serpentine form and are potentially dangerous but often beneficial to humans. They are revered and feared equally, and often guard the entrance to northern Thai temples.

Naga are seen in northern Thai temples on the banisters of stairways. They are seldom, if ever, seen in central and southern Thai temples. A view of the naga staircase from above, near the bridge over the stream.

After a rest, a long drink of electrolyte replacement, it was time to head back into the forest and down the mountain.

Wat Suan Dok

After reaching the trail-head, I decided to walk to Wat Suan Dok, another 3 kilometers past Chiang Mai University. Along the way, I was not so sure of my decision, as it was hot and I was getting tired. But Wat Suan Dok is always invigorating in its grandiose size and reverence.

And the inside of the viharn, one of the largest I have ever seen. I suspect this viharn could easily hold 2000 people worshiping:

A better idea of the size of the viharn can be seen in this outside photo:

I flagged down a tuk-tuk for a ride back to the Tropical Inn. I was just too tired to walk more today, being that it was hot and humid, and the walk would be another 2 1/2 – 3 kilometers.

Dinner at Street Pizza

After a rest, a shower, and clean clothes, I headed out for a treat for dinner, Street Pizza. This is another favorite of Rose and John, the owners of Wild Rose Yoga. Street Pizza, like a few others in Chiang Mai, make their own pizza sauce with fresh ingredients. And it is good. I had a watermelon smoothie, a salad and then a small pizza:

Another good day in Chiang Mai, and a very good start to the new year!

Next: A laid-back day in Chiang Mai and a couple of temples.