Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Reflecting on My Visit to Chiang Mai

I have been home for almost a week. Getting back into my routine at home and work has left me little time for reflection on my recent winter in Chiang Mai. Most apparent is that the visit was far too short. Because of the need for a second PCR test after 6 days, I kept to myself for that first week, leaving only three weeks of interaction with John & Rose from Wild Rose Yoga, yoga practice itself, and seeing other friends.

Khun Kae’s Juice

When I asked John about a good place to have khao soi on January 1, he replied with the Mark Weins’ You-Tube video of the five best bowls of khao soi in Chiang Mai (see my post on January 2). As I was leaving Chiang Mai, John sent me another link to a Mark Wein’s You-Tube video on Khun Kae’s Juice entitled “Thailand Fruit Mountain!! Amazing Smoothies at Chiang Mai’s Best Juice Shack!!“. Since I have been there many times with John and also with Rudy from France, and have posted a few pictures, I wanted to share another perspective no this gem in the old city of Chiang Mai.

Reflecting on Visiting Chiang Mai

I have made yoga-focused, month-long or longer visits Chiang Mai nine 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, eat at many of the same places (Blue Diamond, La Fontana, Street Pizza, Miguel’s, Kat’s Kitchen, etc.), see many of the same temples and sights, and make the hike up the mountain to Wat Phalad. And while there is much similarity, every of the nine visits has been distinctly different. 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. The city changes over time, and being different myself, I see things differently.

This year, having not been able to visit for two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were more changes and many things very different. It was a bit shocking to walk down streets that were busy before the pandemic and see very few people and few cars and motorbikes. It was sad to see restaurants that I used to frequent now closed. The Thai restaurant, Kanjana, at which I ate two or three times per week in past visits is now closed and empty. At the same time, it was heartening to see many restaurants I liked still open and doing well in spite of the dramatically reduced tourism. I did get to most of my favorite temples: Wat Chedi Luang (where most mornings I sit for a morning meditation), Wat Lok Moli, Wat Sri Suphan, Wat Suan Dok, Wat Phalad, Wat Mengrai, and Wat Chiang Man. Wat Jed Yod was closed to visitors after several monks there were diagnosed with the coronavirus. I also visited many of the less-touristy temples in and around the old city, too numerous to list. Unfortunately, I did not get out to King Mengrai’s predecessor city to Chiang Mai, Wiang Kum Kam, a favorite of mine, on this visit. And a fun exploration I made was having khao soi at five different places, most not frequented by foreigners.

When I am planning my visit to Chiang Mai, and even on reflection, it seems as if I would have much free time. However, when I am there, I seem to be busy every day and all day: breakfast while updating my journal, yoga practice, lunch at a place like Blue Diamond or a snack at Khun Kae’s Juice after yoga, catching up on work in my room or at a coffee shop, exploring the city, learning about the history, then dinner, an after-dinner walk, and more work catch-up ending the day. The days are full, interesting, uplifting, and energizing.

The end of my month-long stay in Chiang Mai was quite anti-climatic. After nine month-long or longer visits to Chiang Mai, I am comfortable here – and comfortable with the food, the people, and the culture. It is all a journey, this time a more complex journey to Bangkok then to Chiang Mai; a journey seeing and learning more about Chiang Mai food, culture, and history; and a daily journey practicing yoga, seeing friends, enjoying sights and 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.

I am looking forward to returning to Chiang Mai, hopefully for a longer visit.