Monday, January 10, 2022
Hiking up to Wat Phalad Second Time

Wild Rose Yoga is closed on Monday. My friend Rudy from France expressed interest in making the hike to Wat Phalad, so we planned the hike for Monday. After he completed an appointment in the morning, we met on Ratviki Road. Since it was a warm afternoon, we decided to get a ride close to the trailhead, make the hike, and then see whether we would walk back to town or get a ride. From the trailhead it is about 4 kilometers back into the old city. We talked to a red truck (songtaew) driver and started the ride to Wat Fai Hin, a known landmark fairly close to the trailhead.

A red truck, or songtaew, is a shared-ride service in and around Chiang Mai. You tell the driver where you are going, and if he is going that way, he will tell you to climb aboard. It will not be a direct ride, along the way he will stop to drop off or pick up other people. Typical fares around the old city are 30 baht (about $1). In the morning and early evening (rush hour times), the songtaews can be crowded. If a songtaew driver is not busy, he will agree on a fare to take you directly where you want to go. The charge for the drive to Wat Fai Hin was 200 baht (about $7) total. There are other colored songtaew trucks: yellow songtaews go south to Mae Wang, Mae Hong Song, and Lamphun; I think the green songtaews go north to Mae Rim; the orange songtaew trucks go to Doi Saket; and I have also seen blue and silver but I do not know where they go. It is a good system, providing inexpensive shared transportation around, to, and from Chiang Mai.

We arrived at Wat Fai Hin, and after a short detour due to the driver being a little confused about where we wanted to go, we were dropped off at the road to the back entrance of the Chiang Mai Zoo (currently closed). This is actually about 200-300 meters closer to the trailhead, so we continued up the hill and started the hike. I have shown many pictures of the hike in the past, including a few in a post here about a week ago, and it was not different today. Here is one shot as we finished the steep part and were getting into more dense jungle/forest which was slightly cooler.

After about 30-40 minutes of uphill hiking, we arrived at Wat Phalad. This is a favorite temple partly because of its serenity and its seldom being frequented by tourists (I classify as a tourist, however). I also posted a few pictures of this temple a week ago, and many times in past visits to Chiang Mai, also on this long, continuous blog. Here is the photo of the Buddha in the newly constructed outdoor worship area:

It is beautiful in its simplicity. Around the new rectangular worship area to the west is this Buddha:

This was here before, and the new construction incorporated the entrance into the design. It was also renovated and looks nicer than I have ever seen it. Slightly more to the south and west is this large seated Buddha, about 5 meters (16 feet) high. This was also here in the past and has also undergone a renovation, now looking much cleaner than in past years.

And just a little more south and slightly west Rudy got a photo of me in front of a statue that almost looks like the Buddha as an angel.

We explored the temple area and the still-underway renovations. Some of the dirt paths are being replaced with stone which will be nice. There has been much progress even since I was here just a little over a week ago.

We went down the stairs to one of the landings overlooking a view of the small waterfall and Chiang Mai, and here I am again in front of the large cinthes guarding the stairway.

After resting, eating some snacks and rehydrating, we started the hike back down to Chiang Mai.

The forest/jungle looks about the same going up as coming down.

Wat Fai Hin

I told Rudy about the dogs at Wat Fai Hin, and that while I had passed it many times over the last 10 years, the very territorial dogs kept me from exploring. He got a stick from a dead tree and we proceeded to Wat Fai Hin. The dogs came out with threatening barking, Rudy banged the stick on the ground and the dogs backed off. They kept barking but backed off. So we went into see some of the temple while the dogs kept barking and barking. I was unnerved, but we proceeded. There were three viharn at Wat Fai Hin, all closed, and not really a chedi to be seen.

All three of the viharn were closed, but all three had a look as if they had been in use recently. At some temples, it can be almost obvious that they are not in day-to-day use: the doors are closed and locked, the stairs maybe dirty, and and the general look being unused. These appear to be in use. With the territorial dogs, I would not be coming here to worship, but that is just me. We did see a couple of monks walking around as we were there, so there are people around.

Wat Suan Dok

We continued down the road and into the area of Chiang Mai University. Since we both felt good, we continued walking, stopping to look at Wat Suan Dok. This is another very important temple in Chiang Mai, and I always love the viharn – it is the largest of all the temples I have visited in Thailand.

And around to the west or back of the viharn, there is this view of the large standing Buddha facing out to the large gold chedi:

And here is that large gold chedi:

Just to the south of the viharn, there is another, smaller viharn. I was told by a local that this used to be a separate temple, but is now considered to be part of Wat Suan Dok. Inside this viharn is a Buddha statue called Prajao Kao Tue, and is said to be the largest bronze Buddha image in northern Thailand, and the most beautiful in Lanna art. The picture does not convey well how beautiful it really looks in person, and also how large it is. I’m glad I was able to see this, as often the doors of this smaller viharn are closed.

We continued the walk back into old Chiang Mai. We parted at the Monument to the Three Kings, and I headed back to See You Soon to clean up and rest. After a rest, I went again to La Fontana for dinner. I just love their gazpacho, and their pizza is just better than any I have had in the U.S. A very nice ending to another really good day in Chiang Mai.

Next: Exploring southwest of the old city.