Tuesday 17 December 2024 A birthday hike to Wat Phalad on the Monks Trail Today is the 121st anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA on 17 December 1903. Their first flight was 12 seconds covering 120 feet at a speed of 6.8 miles per hour, and on their fourth flight that day, they covered over 850 feet in 59 seconds. I contemplate this when I am in an […]
Saturday 21 December 2024 Revisiting the Klong Mae Kha in the evening When I first visited the renovated part of the Klong Mae Kha back in late November, I said I would return at night to get a few photos of how it looks with the decorations lit. Today, four days before Christmas, on my sister Carol’s birthday (she was a Christmas “Carol”), I took an evening walk down to Kamphaengdin Road, then onto Ragang […]
Friday, 27 December 2024 Western meals in Chiang Mai, Thailand I am often asked why I eat western-style food while I am in Thailand. The answer is simpler than you might think: because it tastes so good. There is a difference in the food chain in Thailand and at home in the U.S.A. Here, the distance from the farm to your plate is very, very short. The egg I ate for breakfast might have been […]
Thursday 19 December 2024 The Labyrinth at Wat Jedlin I walk by Wat Jedlin almost every day when going to Wild Rose Yoga or to Pump Fitness 2.0 for strength training with PT Ning. Every holiday season there is a labyrinth set up in the parking area of Wat Jedlin. And every year a different labyrinth is built. Walking back from a workout with Ning, I stopped to see this year’s labyrinth. I’ll cover more […]
Thursday 12 December 2024 Wat Sriping Mueng in the Hai Ya district After seeing the Klong Mae Kha renovation project, I headed west along See Ping Muang Road Soi 4, the only east-west road outside the Klong Mae Kha near me. This is larger than most sois (like Suriyawong Alley is a road, not an alley) and a little busier than I had expected. This will connect with See Ping Muang Road, then I can […]
Thursday 12 December 2024 South of Chiang Mai Old City and Klong Mae Kha construction. I am fascinated with the Kamphaengdin (as long-time blog followers already know). This was a second wall made of earth, clay, and some bricks added in the 16th century to protect the parts of Chiang Mai that had expanded beyond the square, fortified city from flooding. The Kamphaendin was built just inside the Klong Mae Kha. A “klong” is a […]
Thursday 12 December 2024 South of Chiang Mai Old City and Wat Yang Kuang Revisiting Wat Yang Kuang in the Hai Ya sub-district of Chiang Mai. I was walking south down Suriyawong Alley. After passing the two old standalone chedis (see my previous blog post), I came to the entrance of Wat Yang Kuang, sometimes written as Wat Yang Guang. There are two entrances, an old pedestrian entrance, and an entrance into which cars can […]
Thursday 12 December 2024 A walk south of Chiang Mai Old City Returning to the Hai Ya sub-district of Chiang Mai, south of the old city. Started the day with a strength training session with personal trainer Ning. Ning is very experienced, having been a personal trainer for more than 12 years. She posts short videos on Instagram of her and clients in the gym, including a few of me (Ning’s Instagram is pt.ning). After […]
Tuesday 10 December 2024 Flowers on the walk to Story 106 This blog entry is all flowers, the flowers I see when I walk from The 3-Sis to Story 106. The afternoons are hot in Chiang Mai. I don’t want to be out exploring or hiking in the heat, so I get out of my room at the 3-Sis and go to Story 106, a co-working space, have an iced latte and work on my […]
Sunday 8 December 2024 Changklan Road and the Flood Area Sunday walk to see remaining flood damage Being not quite as hot this morning, I thought it would be interesting to walk down the two roads close to the Mae Ping River south and east of the old city. This area was more than 2 or 3 feet deep with water during the floods of late October and early November. I had seen this area […]
Friday 6 December 20204Three temples in Chiang Mai Old City Wat Lam Chang Leaving Wat Chiang Man and turning right on Ratchapakhina Road, Wat Lam Chang is only about 80 meters away. Its name translates to “Temple of the Tethered Elephant,” derived from its historical location where the royal elephants were housed and fed in medieval times. These elephants were used to carry members of the royal household and were very unlikely to have been […]
Friday 6 December 20204Three temples in Chiang Mai Old City Wat Chiang Man Leaving Wat Saen Muang Ma, I went east through a soi (Ratchapakhina Soi 1) connecting Prapokklao Road and Ratchapakhina Road, two of the major north-south roads in the old city. I was happy that I had missed another connecting soi, because that one (Prapokklao Soi 13) is home to several “soi dogs,” dogs that live in the sois and are fed by […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 