Thursday 9 January 2025 Revisiting a large remaining part of the Kamphaengdin I have been fascinated with the Kamphaengdin ever since I learned about it. The Kamphaengdin was a second wall made of earth and clay built in the late 1500s to protect the expanded parts of Chiang Mai to the east and south of the square, walled city. The Kamphaengdin was built inside the Klong Mae Kha so that the klong (small river or […]
Sunday 5 January 2025 First Hike with Rudy from France I met Rudy from France at Wild Rose Yoga the first winter after the global pandemic. He is typically in Chiang Mai in January, and we often hike together on weekends. We have had many hiking adventures together over recent years. Rudy just arrived in Chiang Mai after a month in Hua Hin, a town on the coast southwest of Bangkok. Since Rudy had just […]
Saturday 4 January 2025 Checking out the decorated Wat Chedi Luang I have visited and written about Wat Chedi Luang many, many times over the years. In many ways, it is my favorite temple. I used to sit at the base of the large chedi every morning for a short meditation. [I stopped when they started charging foreigners 50 baht to enter the temple grounds.] The King of Thailand, Vajiralongkorn or King Rama X, the […]
Sunday 29 December 2024 Visiting temples north of the old city of Chiang Mai Wat Santitham Wat Santitham is an old temple. Despite a good amount of research, I could not learn just how old the temple is. Over the twelve years I have been visiting Chiang Mai, I have seen many renovations take place at Wat Santitham, including the construction of an all-wood building, and I have watched the completion of the large chedi. […]
Sunday 29 December 2024 Visiting temples north of the old city of Chiang Mai Wat Ku Tao Wat Ku Tao is a Burmese temple north of the Chiang Mai old city. The temple, which supports the Shan community, was built in 1613 to enshrine the ashes of Nawrahta Minsaw, a Burmese prince who successfully invaded the Kingdom of Lanna and reigned as King from 1579 to 1608. The temple is very colorful in a different […]
Sunday 29 December 2024 Visiting temples north of the old city of Chiang Mai After visiting Wat Chiang Chom, I made my way through a few twisting sois to get to Chang Phuak Road and turned right to go south towards Wat Ku Tao, a Burmese temple I may have never visited. In Chiang Mai, there are a number of very old chedis (pagodas) standing by themselves. These are probably from temples that are now […]
Sunday 29 December 2024 Visiting temples north of the old city of Chiang Mai Today I have no yoga, strength training, or a specific hike planned. I decided to revisit a temple quite a distance north of the old city, Wat Chiang Chom with an especially appealing chedi. On the walk back, I’ll stop at a Burmese temple I have not seen for a while, Wat Ku Tao, and then have another look at Wat […]
Sunday 22 December 2024 Hiking the Monks’ Trail to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep It is December 22 in Thailand and still December 21 in the United States, so it is my sister Carol’s birthday (she was a Christmas Carol). In honor of her birthday, I decided to hike up the Monks’ Trail all the way to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. “Doi” in Thai is “mountain” and “Suthep” is the name of the mountain. […]
Sunday 15 December 2024Excursion to Mae Rim to Wat Pa Darapirom and Darapirom Palace Museum I covered the summary of Princess Dararasmi’s life in my previous blog post where I visited the temple honoring her. This post covers my visit to the Darapirom Palace Museum. From what I have learned and surmise, the name of the palace home in which Princess Dararasmi lived is “Darapirom.” Princess Dararasmi, originally from Chiang Mai, was a preferred consort […]
Sunday 15 December 2024 Excursion to Mae Rim to Wat Pa Darapirom and Darapirom Palace Museum This is a long post with many pictures, so it will be in two parts. First some background history followed by many pictures.Also note that the Princess’ name is commonly written in English four different ways: Dararasmi, Dararasmee, Dara Rasmi, Dara Rasmee. I will use the first, Dararasmi. Princess Dararasmi History Princess Dararasmi was the daughter of Prince Intavichayanon […]
Tuesday 16 December 2024 Walking east to see flood damage Walking away from the railroad I was going west towards the road to the Iron Bridge to get back to a more familiar part of Chiang Mai. I forgot to mention in my post about the Railway Station that the State Railways of Thailand is facing a challenge with the railroads regarding gauge. Railroad gauge is the distance between the insides of the two rails. […]
Tuesday 16 December 2024 Walking east to see flood damage Chiang Mai Railway Station I have arrived! The Chiang Mai Railway Station. The station was first opened in 1922. In 1943, while the Japanese occupied Thailand, Allied bombings destroyed it. The current station was finished after the war in 1948. The station: Inside a picture of Chulalongkorn, King Rama V (fifth king of the Chakri Dynasty), is seen: Chulalongkorn was a significant king, reigning from […]
James the Intrepid Pilgrim 