Monday, 5 December 2025
Recent views and sights around Chiang Mai

Getting around Chiang Mai for me means walking, at least most of the time. If it is too hot in the afternoon or where I want to go is too far, I get a motorbike taxi. But much of the time I am walking. So I see familiar and new things around town. And sometimes I pull out my phone and take a photo. When I am out walking, I am often reminded of a quote from John Muir (American Naturalist, Writer, Founder of the Sierra Club 1838 -1914)

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

I typically do not stay out “till sundown,” but I don’t hurry and almost always enjoy the walk. Much has been written about walking and its value. I experienced much of the “going in” while walking each time in Spain on the Camino de Santiago routes. And about walking, the philosopher Kierkegaard said:

“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts.”

Tourism Authority of Thailand

Walking back from somewhere along the Mae Ping River, I passed the front doors to the Chiang Mai office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (known as the TAT). They typically have an elaborate decoration for the year end holidays. Looking across the street, I saw that they, too, have a display honoring the passing of the Queen Mother Sirikit. Very nice. It is unclear how that relates to what looks like a photo of a Songthaew (Red Truck) and Samlor (three-wheeled bicycle, predecessor to the motorized tuk-tuk) in the lower left.

The Iron Bridge

Across the street from the Tourism Authority office is the Iron Bridge. In Thai, the term is Saphan Lek, Saphan Khua Lek, or just Khua Lek. Saphan means “bridge” and Khua sort of means connector. It seems that Khua Lek is essentially a nickname for Saphan Lek. I’ll take more photos of the Iron Bridge after or if it gets decorated to the holidays. In recent past years, the bridge has been beautifully decorated. Here is a photo as I was about to cross. The sign over the bridge says, “Chiang Mai Municipality.” There are no spaces in phrases or sentences in Thai, a space delimits a sentence. (How do they know where the words are … it’s their language, they know.)

Tha Phae Road

In recent years, Tha Phae Road has been highly decorated for the holidays. This year, with the Kingdom still in the official year-long mourning period for the passing of the Queen Mother Sirikit, the decoration honors her, with her photo and what look like angels. Quite dramatic. I took photos on two different evenings. The color of the lights changes, so I got two different looks.

Street Pizza and Wine House

On one of those evenings, I walked down to Street Pizza and Wine House. The interesting photo is not the pizza (it is a very good pizza), but the almost chandelier light made up of at least 100 clear wine bottles. I have tried to count the bottles in the past, but always lost count. I do like the this light.

Finally, a photo I took of myself when I recently visited Wat Chedi Luang. I am really in Chiang Mai, alive and well.

Next: Hike up the Monks Trail to Wat Phalad