James the Intrepid Pilgrim

Saturday, January 26, 2018 A Last Walk Around the Old City and Wat Saen Muang Ma Luang Today is my last day in Chiang Mai for this visit. My ride to the airport comes to See You Soon at 8:00 PM, and the flight to Incheon, S. Korea (the airport for Seoul) is scheduled to depart from Chiang Mai at 11:55 PM. I skipped yoga this morning, and spent some time packing and preparing for the […]

Wednesday, January 24, 2018 Walking from Wat Nantaram to Find the Old City Earthen Wall Chiang Mai has a long and rich history having been founded over 700 years ago. In my perusing the internet to learn more about the city’s history, I have learned that there was a second wall around much of the city, an outer wall of earth, said to be over 3 meters (10 feet) high. My guess is that after […]

Monday, January 22, 2018 Return to Wat Phra Singh There are over 33,000 Buddhist temples in Thailand in current use. Of those, 272 are classified as Royal Temples, and only two temples in Chiang Mai are classified as a Royal Temple of the First Class. The first is Wat Srisuphan, and the second is Wat Phra Singh. Other temples in Chiang Mai are very important to the Thai people and are classified as Royal Temples, […]

Thursday 18 January 2018 Return Visit to the Silver Temple, Wat Srisuphan I am a computer system administrator. During my visit to Chiang Mai, the agreement I have with my manager is that I will work half-time while I am here doing yoga every day and enjoying being in a different culture. This works fairly well because the computers I manage do not really care where I am, and internet access is very good in […]

Tuesday 16 January 2018 Hiking to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep With the weather expected to get warmer over the next few days, I thought today would be a good day to make a hike up the mountain to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. A week ago I hiked up to Wat Phalad with my Australian friend Tom. Wat Phalad is a little less than half-way up the mountain to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. […]

Monday 15 January 2018 Walking to the Flower Market and Wat Kate Karam My typical routine each morning is to go to Wat Chedi Luang for my morning meditation, have breakfast, then go to yoga at Wild Rose Yoga. After yoga today, I decided to make the walk to Wat Kate Karam over the new walking bridge from the flower market. Most of the walk is outside the old city, or as locals would say, […]

14 January 2018 Sunday A Walk along the West side of the Wall/Moat Today my Australian friend Tom is leaving Chiang Mai for his home after yoga and lunch. We met at Amrita Garden restaurant in the old city after yoga at Wild Rose Yoga. I had to rush up to 3-Sis to change clothes and check-out, as I am moving to See You Soon today. The 3-Sis is owned by a family of three […]

13 January 2018 Saturday Visiting the Chiang Mai National Museum Today is my Australian friend Tom’s last full day in Chiang Mai. He starts his journey home tomorrow after yoga and a farewell lunch. After our exposure to a less-known part of Chiang Mai’s history with our visit to Wiang Kum Kam, Tom asked me if I had been to the National Museum next to the Wat Jed Yod grounds. I have been to Wat […]

Thursday 11 January, 2018 Exploring Wiang Kum Kam My Australian friend Tom and I decided to visit Wiang Kum Kam. I had been to a few of the sites three years ago, and I knew that Tom was interested in history. And, Tom has a motorbike, and will only be here for a few more days. Before the current old city of Chiang Mai was built by King Mengrai and his two friends, in 1296, […]

Wednesday 10 January, 2018 Hiking up through the jungle to Wat Phalad Wat Phalad (sometimes spelled Wat Pha Lat or Wat Palad, the formal name is Wat Skadagamiwanaram) is a peaceful temple in the jungle a little less than half way up the mountain to the famous Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. I will go up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep another day and share pictures. But in the jungle, near the main road leading […]

Saturday January 6, 2018 First Walk Around the Wall/Moat Chiang Mai was built starting in 1296 as a walled city, also with a moat around it. The earth excavated from the moat was used as the foundation for the wall, ultimately covered in brick. Some, less than half, of the wall still exists, and almost all of the moat still exists. The wall is approximately square, about 1.5 kilometers on a side or about one […]

Sunday 31 December 2017 The Lanterns of New Year’s Celebrations One of the things Thailand is famous for is the lantern festival in November and also the lanterns used in the New Year’s celebrations in various parts of Thailand. And in Chiang Mai, there are hundreds of lanterns floated into the sky on New Year’s Eve. Here is a picture of a few of the lanterns in the sky – this was early in the […]