Thursday 16 January, 2020
Exploring Santitham and Wat Santitham

I have a routine to my typical day, even though no day in Chiang Mai is really typical. My day starts with a check of e-mail and any pressing work-related issues, then either yoga practice at 8:00 AM and then breakfast, or a small breakfast and then yoga practice at 10:00 AM. The afternoons are typically hot and humid, so I do not want to spend much time outside in the afternoon, so a typical afternoon is spent either catching up on some work, making a blog entry, or going to a gua sha, che nei tsang, or acupuncture appointment. Then a few times comes a second yoga practice at 5:30 PM followed by dinner, or dinner and an evening walk if the evening is cooling. On the evening walks, I do not take my camera, and walk past markets still busy, walk near the Night Bazaar (I’m not a fan – too much of the Night Bazaar is knock-offs from China, and very aggressive and not friendly sellers), and then up to say Hello to my friend Aman Shahi from Nepal who has a singing-bowl shop. Aman is a singing bowl specialist, performs at concerts and on many CDs. Everything in his shop is from Nepal, and of the best handmade quality.

Visit to Chiang Mai Ram

Today was a typical day in many ways. After a small breakfast and an energetic yoga practice with Earthy, I decided to see about having my ears cleaned out. On strong recommendation, I returned to Chiang Mai Ram hospital to see an ENT doctor about cleaning out my ears. I get a wax build up a bit more than normal, and when I think I am not hearing the high frequencies well, I suspect it is time for a check. When I was at the reception they looked me up in their system, found me from my serious but short-lived illness six years ago in which I arrived by ambulance and spend a night at Chiang Mai Ram. This is a large, state-of-the-art hospital, and very efficiently run. Very soon I was waiting at the ENT area, and then called in for a check of my vitals.

Then a different waiting area, and very soon I was called into the examination area with a doctor and two nurses. I told the doctor my concern, he look into my ears, and told me they needed cleaning. Then he placed a probe with camera into each ear and the inside of my ears appeared on a screen with the wax buildup quite clear. He pulled out the wax clumps, and then showed me the result and my eardrums. Wow! What cool technology! I reported that I could already hear high frequencies better, the doctor made some notes, said goodbye, and I was led to the cashier. The total cost was 2300 THB or about $77. I was in and out in 75 minutes.

Chiang Mai Ram is just outside the moat, on the outer moat road right at Hua Lin Corner, the northwest corner of the wall and moat. I walked north, up into an area called Santitham after a temple of the same name. I have never visited that temple and thought that being so close, it was a good time to see the temple. The walk up from Hua Lin corner was not terribly long, at about 500 meters. The only challenge was figuring out which traffic light to follow to cross with traffic (driving in Thailand is like England, India, and Australia – on the left side of the road).

Wat Santitham

Very soon I was at Wat Santitham. Wat Santitham is an interesting temple very close to the old city of Chiang Mai.

On the grounds is a fairly extensive museum which few people visit, containing hundreds of Buddha relics. Admission is free, and the museum contains all manner of objects such as bones, teeth, hair etc. which all attributed to a particular monk in Thailand, often with their photograph. A notice at the front reads: “The Museum of the Lord Buddha’s relics from 5 countries together with relics of Arahants and holy monks from all over Thailand.” 

Notice at the entrance to the stairs, the two thewada figures, who, instead of praying or appearing to guard the building as they are usually portrayed, are actually gesturing to you with open palm that you’re welcome to come inside.

I did go up the stairs and into the museum; I did not take pictures inside the museum. Upon entering, I found it a bit odd and almost gruesome. And I did not stay long.

Here is a shot of the very large viharn (worship hall), the white building on the left, as I was entering the temple grounds.

And a closer view of the viharn. While I was there, there were no tourists or people other than a few men and ladies working on what appears to be the last phases of a restoration. The workers seemed surprised to see a foreigner with a camera, and a nicely-dressed gentleman who appeared to be supervising was very welcoming, even pointing me to the museum.

The entrance to the viharn is fairly typical Lanna-style, with giant Naga guarding the entrance. You can see in the picture one of the workers working on the concrete in front of the viharn. And also in the picture are stacks of concrete tile-like slabs on the stairs. Here is a closer view of the entrance.

And a close-up facade above the entrance doors, striking blue color, lavishly decorated with gilt foliate patterns. In the middle is the figure of the Erewan, the three-headed elephant. Unfortunately, the doors were closed today, so I was unable to see inside the viharn.

Chedi at Wat Santitham

I read that the chedi at Wat Santitham has been several years in the making. The style of the new chedi is familiar – it is from the early Lanna era and based on the chedi at Wat Chedi Liam in the ancient city of Wiang Kum Kam I reported on a few days ago on my recent visit there. It has a square base with five square layers rising in diminishing size like a pyramid. It has many niches, three on each side of each level making 60 niches in all. An impressive sight. Here are a few photographs:

This chedi is interesting to me because there are (still under construction) entrances on each of the four sides. I never knew chedis to have entrances.

The Duke’s (again) for Dinner

After walking back to my room at See You Soon, and having had Thai food for a few days in a row, I was in the mood to return to The Duke’s for a salad, cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke. A very satisfying meal.

The Duke’s makes their sauces fresh daily, and their Thousand Island dressing is excellent. You can see in the picture that I have it for my salad and on the cheeseburger.

The evening was cooler, and I made the walk (about 1.5 kilometers) back to my room at See You Soon. A nice end to another good day in Chiang Mai.

Next: Hike up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep