Monday, December 4, 2023
Walking south of the Old Chiang Mai City

As I mentioned yesterday, mornings are cool with afternoons and evenings hot and humid, so getting out for a walk earlier is better. Despite good intentions, I seem to not get out walking before 9:30. Since I made my blog post yesterday with the quotes from the naturalist John Muir and the philosopher Kierkegaard, those quotes have stayed in my mind.

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.” -John Muir-

The final phrase, “for going out, I found, was really going in.” resonates with me in my walking, my cycling, and my yoga practice. And of course, the quote from the philosopher Kierkegaard:

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk … I have walked myself into my best thoughts.”
-Kierkegaard-

Walking is very much “going in” or introspective. There is also a component of acceptance, and I, too, have walked myself into my best thoughts.

And while I am thinking about such things, I am also reminded of a quote from Alert Einstein:

“There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.“

So many things seem like a miracle: that I’m here in Chiang Mai, Thailand for my eleventh winter, that I’m walking around the ancient city of Chiang Mai every day, and that I walked over 700 kilometers (435 miles) this past spring in Spain on a Camino de Santiago route. So much seems like a miracle. And for all of those miracles, I feel lucky to have had those experiences, humbled by them, and am very grateful.

But I digress – this post is about my 6-1/2 kilometer walk south of the old Chiang Mai city today. Where did I go? South of the old Chiang Mai city following the route shown on the maps from Google Fit and Samsung Health:

These two are much more similar, and of these two, I think I like the right, Samsung Health map a little better. I have not yet found a way to turn off the kilometer markers on the Google Fit app’s map (or maybe I shouldn’t).

I left the old city through Chiang Mai Gate and proceeded to where Wua Lai Road turns diagonally off from the outer moat road (Bumrung Buri Road along the south), the left to where Suriyawong Road and Nantaram Road split. At the split is a fairly large motorbike shop. It almost amazes me how many they have in stock, but this is the principal form of transportation for most people here, so there is a demand. The photo only shows the first two rows. There are four more rows inside of the green roll-up doors.

I walked down Suriyawong Road to the left. I remember two old chedis and two temples and wanted to see what, if anything, had changed. I came to the first of the two chedis. This is most likely the site of a temple that was moved or became unused. The chedi is all that remains. I walked around the chedi and saw no evidence of what might have been there in history.

Wat Thatkam

Next I came to Wat Thatkam. This is famous for the “Pra Choa Ngern Larn” Buddha, a Buddha statue made of silver. This is kept in a special building that was replaced in 2019. In none of my visits to this temple has either the old or the new building been open, so I have never seen this Silver Buddha.

The general feel of the temple grounds and buildings is that they are richly decorated. Here is a line of thewada in a garden. A thewada is an angelic being that lives in the heavenly realms, and is without gender, but can look male or female depending on the artist, and perhaps other factors I do not know.

Here is the building housing the Silver Buddha, nicely decorated, and the doors closed.

There are a couple of levels to climb to get to the main viharn (worship hall). Here is a very nice statue on the wall just below the main entrance.

After climbing the last level, I arrived at the entrance to the viharn, which is also closed today.

Wat That Klang

After leaving Wat Thatkam and continuing south, I saw the second of the two standalone chedi in this area. [I have been told that there are many of these all around Chiang Mai.] This one is much larger than the first, and again, after walking around, I saw no evidence of anything else that might have been here. I did learn that this isolated chedi ruin has been given the name Wat That Klang. In Thai, “That” means a type of chedi or stupa, and “Klang” means “middle”. Although it is located outside the southern part of the Chiang Mai city wall, it lies in an area directly between Chiang Mai gate and Pratu Khuokum (literally translated as “small bridge gate”), which was the southern gate in the earthen wall of the city, the Kamphaengdin.

Wat Yang Kuang

Continuing southward, I came to Wat Yang Kuang (sometimes written as Wat Yang Guang). Over the past several years, I have seen significant construction and renovation at this temple, most notably the pavilion for the new large seated Buddha statue, and the new, very modern, and very white chedi to the right of the seated Buddha. The renovation started in 2017, and construction was delayed after the ruins of a much older temple at this site were discovered, triggering an archeological excavation by the Thai National Department of Fine Arts. One fairly modern building had to be dismantled to allow the archeological excavations to continue. I read that some archeological remains are on display behind the large seated Buddha, but I did not explore there.

A closer view of the large seated Buddha shows a smaller statue of what I believe to be King Mengrai.

To the right, past an open-air pavilion (often called a “sala”) are steps leading up to the new or newly restored and very white chedi, a bit too stark for my taste and almost devoid of character (in my opinion).

While the designers of this temple’s renovations seem to like a modern look, they did leave what looks like an old pedestrian entrance. I prefer the more rustic look than the modern look.

Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kad Gorm

A little further south I passed Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kad Gorm, a very popular khao soi restaurant in Chiang Mai. There are many of these in Chiang Mai. They are very popular with Thai people, are open only until mid-afternoon, and are really one step above street food. Two years ago, I wanted to celebrate and asked a friend who lives here where he would recommend for khao soi. He sent me a link to a YouTube video by Mark Weins in which he and two friends went to what they considered the five best khao soi restaurants in Chiang Mai in one day, Khao Soi Tour. I tried four of the five that were close to the old city (one on their list is about 15 kilometers north near Mae Rim). Khao Soi Lung Prakit Kad Gorm was my least favorite by far. So here I am, passing this khao soi restaurant late in the morning, and they are already very busy. It is not a restaurant to which I would return, but it is still popular with the Thais.

Klong Mae Kha

Continuing south, I came to the road crossing over the Klong Mae Kha. This is approximately where the Pratu Khuokum (“small bridge gate”) would have been allowing access through the Kamphaengdin.

I took a little detour on a path I saw to the west, and found myself on what might have been the top of the Kamphaengdin. This path is not really a public pathway, allowing access to people’s homes, so I did not explore much and returned to the road.

Nantaram Road

I went west to meet Nantaram Road, and stopped at Wat Nantaram for a few minutes. I’ll cover this temple in the future, or perhaps in an addendum to this post (essentially a second post). There are many very territorial dogs at Wat Nantaram, and they seem to really dislike foreigners, so I do not explore as much as I want to.

Walking north on Nantaram Road, there was not much of interest to photograph. I walked along the moat to Suan Pung Gate, the second of the two south gates in the old city wall. Passed the Samlaan Barber where I always get my hair cut while here.

Then I walked through the sois keeping off the busy main road, and was soon back at The 3-Sis after an interesting and enjoyable albeit sweaty 6-1/2 kilometer walk.

Next: More adventures in Chiang Mai