Friday, January 21, 2022
Return to Dash with Friends

Chang Phuak Gate

Walking home from my lunch at Khao Soi Khun Yai, I almost immediately came upon parts of the old city wall and the gate on the north, Chang Phuak Gate, or as it is in Thai, Pratu Chang Phuak.

The original name of the northern gate in the city wall was Hua Wiang, because according to traditional belief, the head (hua) of the city (wiang) was in this direction (north). King Sa Muang Ma ruled the Chiang Mai area from 1385 to 1401, built Wat Chedi Luang, and also Wat Suan Dok to house an important Buddha relic. As the story is often written, he also had erected at this northern gate a white elephant monument (chang phuak) to honor the elephant who carried the part of the relic from Wat Suan Dok up the mountain to where Wat Phra That Doi Suthep is now located. And thus the name was changed to Chang Phuak Gate.

There are problems with this story mostly due to the translation of the term “phuak.” The first translation of “phuak” in Thai is “ivory” or “off-white.” Since chang is elephant, and phuak is ivory or off-white, it all sounds right. However, there are no white elephants. The elephants owned by royalty were a reddish-brownish gray, the Royal Elephants. There are pictures in the Elephant Museum in Bangkok. They are not white, off-white, or ivory, they are definitely gray but with a reddish-brown coloring in the gray. The royal elephants are not the normal color. Water buffalo, khway in Thai, are typically black, but are sometimes not the normal color, being more gray than black. And when they are not the normal color, they are a khway phuak. In the context of a large animal, the work phuak does not mean ivory or off-white, rather it means “not the normal color.” Unfortunately, sometimes the translators do not know the cultural tie in the words, and translate the words directly and separately, leading to this type of error calling elephants “white.”

After walking back to See You Soon, continuing to finish working on this blog, it was time for dinner at Dash with friends.

Dinner at Dash

My time here is very short. This is Friday and I leave mid-day Monday. And with this being the “high season” meaning the high tourist season. even with tourism down Rose and John are busy. We all got Friday free, so in essence, this is my goodbye dinner. Rudy, Iva (from Melbourne, Australia), and Rose and John are meeting me at Dash at 5:30. Rudy and I met at See You Soon since it was on his way to Dash. As we were walking through the sois to get to Dash, we found Iva, slightly lost in the maze of sois. We all got to Dash, John and Rose arrived, and we had a very lovely Thai dinner. I had just had khao soi for lunch, so had Pad Thai, a classic Thai stir-fried noodle dish. Here we are at dinner at Dash:

I was so involved in conversation with friends that I failed to get a photo of my meal. It was a very good dinner, with boisterous friendly conversation, and even live music. I am so uplifted and energized by the “kula” at Wild Rose Yoga. In Sanskrit, kula means a community or tribe, connoting a sense of inclusion and/or belonging, especially those coming together to practice yoga. Rose and John with their having been so welcoming and helpful over the years, and having chosen such skillful and passionate yoga teachers, have provided the foundation for a kula of people centered at Wild Rose Yoga. I have met many wonderful people at Wild Rose. Five years ago I met Tom and Julie from Sydney at Wild Rose. They return almost every year at the same time as me, and we enjoyed yoga practice, many meals, hiking in Chiang Mai, and then in 2017, we walked across Spain together on the pilgrimage known as the Camino de Santiago. (Tom and I may return to Spain to make another pilgrimage walk.) Two years ago I met Kathy and Gord from Ontario, Canada, and spent a couple of days delving into some of Chiang Mai’s less-known history (Wiang Khum Kam).I have met so many people at Wild Rose I cannot remember all. There have been many, many others. A great kula, one I shall always be a member, and to which I shall return.

Next: Return to Wat Chedi Luang and dinner with Poppy