Sunday, 26 January 2020
Final Day in Chiang Mai

Today is my last day in Chiang Mai for this visit. I check out from See You Soon at noon, then the ride to the airport will pick me up at 3:30 PM. The first flight from Chiang Mai to Hong Kong leaves Chiang Mai at 6:30 PM for a two and a half hour flight. Then after going through international transfer security and finding the gate for the flight to Los Angeles, the flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles is scheduled for 12 hours and 2 minutes. After that, through immigration, baggage claim, customs, to the car rental, and a two hour drive to my home near San Diego. It will be a long, long day.

After breakfast, I skipped yoga practice today, and instead finalized packing everything. Even after being in Thailand for over a month, everything fit easily in my luggage. I was able to check out before noon and leave my bags at See You Soon. I walked down to the Amazing Alleyway for one last fruit smoothie and hoping to catch a few of my yoga friends as they left practice, but I was too late and missed everyone. Then I went one last time to my favorite temple, Wat Chedi Luang.

Wat Chedi Luang

Wat Chedi Luang is on every map and guidebook of Chiang Mai. “Chedi” means pagoda, and “Luang” means “really big” or “royal”, so Wat Chedi Luang is the temple with the really big chedi. The temple dates back to 1390 when King Saen Muang Ma started construction of the temple and the chedi in which to hold the ashes of his father. The chedi was not completed until 1475, almost 85 years after construction began. The chedi was for more than 500 years the tallest structure in the region and could be seen for miles around. For many, many years, the chedi at Wat Chedi Luang housed the famous Emerald Buddha. The Emerald Buddha was moved after the earthquake in 1545, and is now at Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok at the Grand Palace (the Emerald Buddha is so named for its color – it is not a large emerald stone).

The earthquake in 1545 severely damaged the chedi at Wat Chedi Luang, causing the top 30 meters of the 80 meter high chedi to collapse. There are no records of what the top looked like before the earthquake, and to restore it improperly would bring it great dishonor, so the damaged chedi is left as it is. Some restorations have been done to the lower parts of the structure over time.

Foreigners enter the temple grounds through this new (three years old), ornate entrance (and pay 30 THB, about $1).

Phra Viharn Luang

After entering and paying the fee, one can see the main viharn with the large chedi in the background. This viharn, known as the Phra Viharn Luang, has been rebuilt several times, and houses the much revered Phra Chao Attorat standing Buddha. The current viharn dates to 1929, and sits on the original viharn site dating to 1411, built by the Queen Mother of King Sam Fang Kaen who also cast the standing Buddha image.

The viharn is typical Lanna-style, with a triple-tiered overlapping roof, and large fierce looking naga creatures on the stairway banisters guarding the entrance.

Inside the viharn, the large standing Buddha is impressive. The Phra Chat Attarat (translates to “eighteen-cubit Buddha”) was cast in bronze in the 14th century.

The notice at the entrance states that

“This is the most beautiful Buddha image in the Lanna Kingdom. The face looks gentle and all shape is balanced. This amazing Buddha statue is made with the art of Lanna and Pala, India.”

The image is certainly impressive, almost imposing, being nine meters high (30 feet) and in the posture known as “persuading the relatives not to quarrel” or “Giving Pardon”. The Buddha is flanked by statues of two of his eminent disciples: Moggallana and Sariputta. Here is a closer view of the Phra Chat Attarat standing Buddha:

Phra That Chedi Luang

As was mentioned earier, the chedi at Wat Chedi Luang was built by King Saen Muang Ma who was ruler of the Lanna Kingdom to house the ashes of his father. Construction started in 1391 and was completed in 1475 during the reign of King Tilokarat (who also build Wat Jed Yod). King Tilokarat also enlarged the chedi to make it the largest structure in all of Lanna. In 1545, a large earthquake shook Northern Thailand and the upper 30 meters of the 80 meter high chedi collapsed.

Looking up to the eastern niche, one can see a small Buddha statue in the niche atop the stairs where the Emerald Buddha once was (not visible in this picture).

Walking to the south west corner of the chedi, this photo is from where I often sit for my morning meditation. It is a really good start to the day to sit for a meditation at the foot of the Phra That Chedi Luang.

At the back of the chedi are several pavilions. One houses a reclining Buddha statue that dates back to about 1500, and another houses a statue of the Phra Katchayana (Fat Buddha). Next to those are two pavilions that house the 10-ton Phra Buddhamani-Srilanna Buddha and the 15-ton Phra Buddharatana-Naganaphisi Buddha statues. These were made from stone quarried near Chiang Rai (about 4 hours drive north and west from Chiang Mai), and then sculpted near there before being brought to Wat Chedi Luang four years ago. I happened to be there the day the statues were being unloaded from the trucks. (Notice that the workers are in flip-flops while maneuvering this 10-ton statue.)

The statue after placement on the pedestal, before the pavilion was built.

After the 10 ton statue was placed, a pavilion was build around it. Here is the statue in the pavilion today:

The second statue, the Phra Buddharatana-Naganaphisi Buddha image, is three and a half meters high, weighs 15 tons, and is protected by the five-headed naga serpent. This is the statue after it was unloaded and placed on the pedestal four years ago, before the pavilion was built.

And the Phra Buddharatana-Naganaphisi Buddha statue, now in a very respectful and protective pavilion:

With that final tour around a very familiar and favorite Wat Chedi Luang, my visit to Chiang Mai for the winter of 2020 is complete. I returned to See You Soon and had lunch while waiting for the ride to the airport.

Reflection on my Winter in Chiang Mai 2020

I have made yoga-focused, month-long or longer visits Chiang Mai eight times. I stay at the same places (The 3-Sis, See You Soon), practice yoga at the same place (Wild Rose Yoga) with many of the same teachers (Rose, Annie, May, Dutchie, Airy, Sera, Earthy, and Jear), eat at many of the same places (Kanjana, Blue Diamond, La Fontana, Street Pizza, The 3-Sis, etc.), see many of the same temples and sights, and make the hike up the mountain to Wat Phalad and Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. And while there is much similarity, every of the eight visits has been distinctly different. The city changes over time, and being different myself, I see things differently. Every visit is different and none better than another. I cherish my visits to Chiang Mai – experiencing life in a different culture, even as a visitor, is refreshing and energizing. I am looking forward to returning to Chiang Mai.

The Journey Home

The end of my month-long stay in Chiang Mai was quite anti-climatic. After eight month-long or longer visits to Chiang Mai, I am comfortable here – and comfortable with the people and their culture. It is all a journey, a journey to Chiang Mai, a journey seeing and learning about Chiang Mai history, and a daily journey practicing yoga, seeing friends, enjoying meals. And I enjoy that journey – there is no particular destination other than Chiang Mai itself. I have used this quote, a favorite of mine, about the journey before, and I’ll post it here again, because it is so apropos, the last sentence in the book “Up Country” by Nelson DeMille:

The journey home is never a direct route; it is, in fact, always circuitous,
and somewhere along the way, we discover that the journey is more significant than the destination, and that the people we meet along the way will be the traveling companions of our memories forever.

“The journey is more significant than the destination…” Absolutely! And as I have said before, what a great journey I have been on! I am so grateful for the journey, and the people I have met all along the way.

Fortunately, the journey home was uneventful and typical, aside from everyone in the Chiang Mai and Hong Kong airports wearing masks because of the corona virus threat. Once I arrived at the Chiang Mai airport, check-in for the Cathay Pacific had just begun, so I was able to check my two bags. Then I went through the immigration, had my passport stamped that I left before my visa time expired, and through security, all ready for a long wait for the flight. The flight from Chiang Mai to Hong Kong was fairly short at two and a half hours.

Then at the Hong Kong airport (and in my experience, all Asian airports), international transfer passengers must go through international transfer security, a second security check. Once through security, I had to take a train to another terminal (the Hong Kong airport is large, the eighth largest airport by passenger traffic, and the busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic, surpassing Memphis, the hub of FedEx in 2010). The signage made the transfer easy, and soon I was waiting near the gate for the long flight to Los Angeles. The flight to Los Angeles left on time at 12:15 AM on Monday, January 27, and we arrived in Los Angeles about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, at 8:00 PM on Sunday, January 26. Because of crossing the international date line, we arrived just over 4 hours before we left.

The rest was uneventful, and I finally arrived at my home a little after midnight, a month and a day from when I left. It is good to be home, and I am so very grateful for this and all of my yoga-focused, long visits to Chiang Mai. I have gotten to learn about a very different culture with very different history, gotten to eat very good and different food, and was challenged every day by skilled yoga teachers at Wild Rose Yoga. Thank-you, Rose and John! Another memorable break from my routine has ended, leaving me with very good memories of all it brought me.

Next: A return to Spain for another pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela…the journey continues.