Sunday, December 25, 2022
Christmas Revisit of the West End of the Kamphaengdin

Started the day (of course) with breakfast at The 3-Sis, actually Poppy’s Cafe, since the cafe has a different name than the guest house. Poppy is the youngest of the three sisters and the manager of the guest house and cafe. Then a Christmas Day yoga practice with Annie. Annie’s classes are advanced, somewhat vigorous, and focus more on the elegance of the movement and transition between poses. After the practice, I was energized to take a walk and explore a bit with my camera.

Walked to Chiang Mai Gate, the main south gate of the old city. From there I headed west, feeling the need to explore more of the Kamphaengdin. As followers of my blog know, I have a fascination with the Kamphaengdin. It is a little-known but important part of Chiang Mai history, and not well-known by many Thais living here. The Kamphaengdin was an earth/clay wall, the second wall encircling the east and south of the rectangular city wall and moat. I posted a map from 1904 in a previous post clearly showing the Kamphaeng Din, or Kamphaengdin. Just south of Ku Huang Corner, the southwest corner of the old city wall, the Kamphaengdin came very close to connecting to the main brick wall. There is a park along this section of the wall from which a 200-300 meter section of the Kamphaengdin still exists.

Open-Air Buddha Pavilion

While walking westward along the outer-moat road, I passed a psychiatric hospital and noticed in front an open-air pavilion, sometimes called a “sala,” in which a Buddha statue was placed. Perhaps a peaceful place for the staff to escape on their breaks.

A closer view reveals a very nice ivory-colored stone Buddha statue:

Ku Huang Corner

The southwest corner of the wall & moat is named Ku Huang Corner. I arrived at the entrance to the park and looked across the busy outer-moat road to Ku Huang Corner:

The Kamphaengdin

From the same position, just rotating, the entrance to the park was in front of me:

I walked down into the park. Being lower by about 3 meters than the busy road on the west side, the noise disappeared. This is a very peaceful park, and there are always people jogging and working out here when I have visited in the past. Immediately, to my left was the old Kamphaengdin, easily 5 meters high along this stretch. [I turned around to take the photos to avoid the glare of the sun, so the Kamphaengdin on the right in the photos.]

Just a few meters further, more of the Kamphaengdin:

And even more, in this part, the brick foundation can be seen.

And even more of the Kamphaengdin with many trees and grasses growing on it:

Towards the end of the 200-300 meter stretch of this part of the Kamphaengdin:

It is Sunday, so the weekly Sunday Night Market is in full force. Two roads that cross, Prapokkloa and Ratchadamoen are closed, and crafts, clothing, and food vendors set up along those roads. Because people can walk in the street, it is commonly called “Walking Street.” It is a social event for many Thais, and shopping event for tourists, so it is always crowded. Having been here for many years, the Sunday Night Market is essentially the same every week. Feeling no need to be in the slow-moving crowds, I wend further away to Mush for dinner. Here is my dinner at Mush, stir-fry vegetables with chicken,and a lemon iced tea:

Next New Years Countdown preparations at Tha Phae Gate