Thursday, January 19, 2023
Returning to visit Wat Lok Moli

Yesterday, Rudy, my friend from France whom I met at Wild Rose Yoga, and I had a hike up the Doi Suthep mountain. It was a long and tiring but good day hiking on unfamiliar trails, mostly up hill (or so it seemed) in the jungle/forest on Doi Suthep. Today started at the O2 Gym for a strength training session with Ning. After that I was hungry and went to Butter is Better for lunch (see my previous blog post). After lunch, I worked on blog posts in my room at See You Soon, then ventured out for a walk. I was in the mood for khao soi, but the places that specialize in khao soi and cater to an almost all Thai clientele close in the mid-to-late afternoon. This includes my favorites, Khao Soi Khun Yai and Khao Soi Islam. I decided to walk up to the north part of the old city, visit one of my favorite temples, and see what seemed good for dinner after a walk.

Wat Lok Moli

I posted about Wat Lok Moli (sometimes spelled Wat Lok Molee) many times, since it is one of my favorite temples. The staff at The 3-Sis where I have stayed almost every year for 10 years sometimes ask me what my favorite temple is today. And it does vary, but several are always at the top of the list: Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Lok Moli, Wat Suan Dok, Wat Kate Karam, Wat Chiang Man, Wat Sri Suphan in the city, and of course, Wat Phalad up in the jungle on Doi Suthep.

Wat Lok Moli is a very old temple, not unlike many temples in and around Chiang Mai. The temple was known as a royal temple as members of the Mengrai Dynasty, who ruled the Lanna kingdom from the 1290s to about 1600, maintained it during their rule. The chedi which is seen today dates from the 1520s and was built by King Ket, the 12th Lanna king, to house the ashes of members of the Mengrai Dynasty. As with all temples, various buildings are renovated or reconstructed as needed. The viharn (worship hall) at Wat Lok Moli was reconstructed fairly recently in the early 1990s.

The viharn is not particularly large, nor is it small. I like the rustic, all teak construction and the fairly intricate decoration outside. This is a Lanna-styled temple, with the entrance guarded by two dramatic naga creatures.

Inside, the decoration is all rich dark brown stained wood. The contrast with the shiny gold Buddha at the alter is striking:

I particularly like the mosaic ceiling art. If you do not look up, you miss this completely.

Here is a closer view of the shiny gold Buddha image at the head of the viharn:

Looking out from the steps of the viharn, the entrance to the temple grounds can be seen with the two elephants just inside the entrance arch.

A view of the side of the viharn shows clearly the Lanna style, made primarily of teak, with overlapping roof sections with several tiers pitched steeply and sweeping very low almost to the ground as can be seen in this picture.

Walking towards the back of the viharn, the large, 500-year-old chedi comes into view. I love this chedi, it is tall and imposing with an elegance to its look:

To contrast the 500 year old chedi, just to the right of the picture above is this bell tower guarded by two fierce-looking mom creatures (pronounced with a long O, like moam). It is made in the same style as other buildings at Wat Lok Moli, and while it does appear to be old, it is not. It was in the last phases of construction when I visited a year ago, so now it is about 1 year old.

Since I was on the north side of the old city, I walked over to Jok Somphet for dinner. “Jok” (pronounced “joke”) is a Thai version of Cantonese rice porridge. With a good amount of electrolytes and a smooth, creamy texture, jok is particularly good when your stomach is a little stressed maybe after eating a little too much spicy Thai food. The Jok Somphet resturant clientele is mostly Thai, although a few foreigners are also seen. They have many dishes other than jok, and today I had baked chicken with rice and vegetables. It was very good, and I apologize for not getting a picture.

Speaking of pictures of food, I was asked why I did not have a picture of the cinnamon roll from Butter is Better. The simple reason is that it looked so good I started eating without taking a picture first. However, I stopped for a coffee break at The Crusty Loaf Bakery, which is the bakery for the U.N. Irish Pub, one of the first restaurants to offer “western” style food in Chiang Mai over 30 years ago. I had two small cinnamon rolls and a cafe latte, and took a picture. These are as good or maybe better than at Butter is Better. Also note the flower decoration in the foam of the latte.

Next: Another hike up the mountain