Tuesday 30 January 2024 Prapokkloa Road The walled old city of Chiang Mai is approximately square, very close to 1600 meters square on each side. It is remarkable how accurate the layout is, given that this was constructed more than 700 years ago. And 1600 meters is very close to 1 mile. Within the 1 square mile of the old walled city of Chiang Mai are at least 50 Buddhist temples. I pass by many […]
Sunday 21 January 2024Three temples on Tha Phae Road Wat Chetawan About 200 meters east of Tha Phae Gate on the north side of Tha Phae Road is Wat Chetawan, directly across Tha Phae Road from Wat Mahawan. Wat Chetawan seems to be in a constant state of renovation and/or reconstruction for as many times I have noticed this temple in my many visits to Chiang Mai. The sign over the main entrance appears temporary […]
Sunday 21 January 2024Three temples on Tha Phae Road Wat Mahawan About 200 meters east of Tha Phae Gate on the south side of Tha Phae Road is Wat Mahawan, directly across Tha Phae Road from Wat Chetawan. Wat Mahawan is a little rustic and appears well-worn, and while some cleaning and/or restoration might be in order soon, the temple is quite appealing. There being many plants gives the temple a larger, garden feeling, while […]
Wednesday, 10 January 2024 Return to Wat Phra That Doi Kham After my adventure to Lamphun I decided to return to a temple just a little outside Chiang Mai to the south and slightly west. I last visited Wat Phra That Doi Kham four years ago in 2019. Being more than 12 kilometers away, I arranged for a driver to take me there, wait while I viewed the temple, and return me to The 3-Sis. […]
Tuesday, January 9, 2024 In the City of Lamphun On the way to Lamphun, the songtaew driver allowed me to sit in the cab with him since I was the only passenger and there would be no pickups along the way. The fastest way to get to Lamphun is a road running parallel to the train tracks, the same road I walked down almost three weeks ago (although while I was walking, I did not […]
Sunday, December 7, 2024 Sunday Hiking A missed adventure turned into a new adventure. Another good day in Chiang Mai, Thailand. For several years in my visits to Chiang Mai, I have heard about the Chiang Mai Hiking Club, an informal group of people who get together every Sunday for hikes in the general Chiang Mai area. I finally found their website and told Rudy about the group. Rudy is a friend from France whom […]
Saturday, December 23, 2023Hiking up to Wat Phalad and Wat Phra That Doi Suthep The morning temperatures have cooled a bit, and the afternoons, while still warm, are also a few degrees cooler. With no yoga class and no strength training scheduled today, it seemed like a good day to return to the Doi Suthep mountain and hike the monk’s trail for the first time this winter. “Doi” in Thai means mountain, and “Suthep” is […]
Thursday, December 21, 2023Temples nearby Akha Ama Coffee Shop Akha Ama is a coffee company that gets its coffee beans from selected small, organic, mostly hill tribe coffee growers in Northern Thailand. There are a few Akha Ama coffee shops in the Chiang Mai area, and one is easy walking distance from The 3-Sis guest house where I stay. Akha Ama is one of John’s favorites, as well as mine, so today we met there […]
Wednesday, December 20, 2023Walking east of the Old City Wat Muang Kai I continued my walk west along a road called “Rat Uthit Road.” A note about the English approximations of Thai words. The Thai language has 44 consonants and 12 vowels, so many of the sounds are approximated in English, and those approximations are inconsistent when there is no direct sound translation. For example, at Wat Ket, the English on the signs also show […]
Wednesday, December 20, 2023Walking east of the Old City Wat San Pa Khoi Walking along Charoen Muang Road towards the railway station, I passed through the neighborhood known as San Pa Khoi in the Wat Ket district of Chiang Mai. There is a neighborhood temple here, so I went to have a look. This temple is clearly not as clean, polished, and restored as some of the busier temples, but a nice local temple. And there […]
Wednesday, December 20, 2023Walking east of the Old City With the weather not quite as hot as it has been, I decided to get out for a longer walk. I have not explored east of the Mae Ping River except right along the river, so I headed east thinking I might walk to the Chiang Mai Railway Station. I have been there only once, in 2012 when I arrived in Chiang Mai after taking the […]
Wednesday, December 13, 2023Walking back from Chiang Mai Ram Hospital Wat Lok Moli Being one of my favorite temples, I have posted about Wat Lok Moli (sometimes spelled Wat Lok Molee) many times. The staff at The 3-Sis where I have stayed almost every year for 10 years, knowing that I like to visit and learn about the Thai temples, sometimes ask me what my favorite temple is today. After more than ten years, I […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 