Back when I was a kid I used to think of riding in the back of a pick-up truck was a treat, now here in Thailand it’s just another way to get around. Across from me an English girl, Flow, sat looking intently out the back trying not to be sick after taking some anti-malaria pills as we sped around hairpin curve after hairpin curve. The hot sticky air of the city which had clung to every pore of my skin was quickly being washed away by the cooler dry mountain breeze that made its way through the sides of the enclosure. My eyes wandered around the inside taking in advertisement after advertisement for things like a tiger park, a climbing adventure, and white water rafting. Half an hour and counting, would we ever get to Doi Sutep?
Just hours before I had arrived in town after a 15 hour train trip. The attendants had been nice enough to wake all of us up at 6am with a, ‘Does anyone want breakfast?’ shouted out as they wandered through the cars. It wasn’t one time either. From that first call until they actually served something at 8am they would wander at random intervals asking every birth if they’d like coffee or something to drink. Even a closed bunk curtain was no barrier to them.
The train pulled up to Chiang Mai only 30 minutes behind schedule and dumped us out with little fanfare. Backpacker after backpacker made their way out and into the gauntlet of eager cab and tuk-tuk drivers. You could barely hear yourself think through the calls of ‘tuk-tuk?’ and ‘do you want a cab?’
I forced my way through their line and out on to the hot street (yes, there was an actual line of them blocking the way out of the station). There was no way I was going to pay the ‘off the train newbie’ prices to get the short 5km ride to town.
On the street I stuck out my hand and caught a ride with a ‘red truck.’ Chiang Mai has a fantastic pubic transportation system, trucks with bench seating in the back with a roof. Red trucks run one route, green another, yellow yet another and all are run by semi-independent drivers. Prices are pretty much set at 20-40 baht (depending on quick negotiation skills) and where on the route you want to go. The great thing is that there is always a steady stream of them plying the roads so if you’re lazy you’ll never be without a ride.
My hostel took a little while to find. With directions like, ‘3 minutes walk north of the east gate, take a left at Siam bank, and go down Lane 1,’ it was twenty minutes before I stumbled upon the winding alley that led me to A Little Bird guesthouse (highly recommended) and got my dorm bed for 100 baht (about $3.50).
Lunch was an interesting experience. You know how they say never go down dark alleys or into suspicious looking buildings? Well, that’s exactly where I had lunch (and a really good mango/passion fruit/pineapple shake).
You would never have thought it from what you saw while standing at the entrance to The Little Bird but the shifty looking garage-like complex was actually the backside of an awesome food market. During the day you could grab a cheap bowl of noodles for 20 baht ($0.80) and a shake (another 20 baht) at some of the small one-man (or rather 1 woman) tables set up inside. For protection from rats a couple guys during the day would sit in the back with laser sighted pellet guns knocking off any that stuck their tiny little heads out of the giant pile of garbage. Whether they actually killed anything or not I have no idea but they looked like they were having a bunch of fun.
Chiang Mai itself, or rather the old city in Chiang Mai, was quite small and had a rustic feel to it. In the 3 hours I wandered about in the hot afternoon sun (dumb idea…) I managed to cover most of the major sites. It seemed, like Kyoto, that each street had a temple or site of interest to spend time at. One of the interesting points to the old city is that it has four gates, one at each cardinal point, replicas of the old one that used to stand there when Chiang Mai was at its prime. By the end of my meanderings my stomach was once again full of temple and culture. There is only so much you can look at before you begin to wonder where there’s a nice café to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee at. I must be getting older…
The fifteen hour train ride had taken its toll. Despite having had a bunk to sleep in I was still groggy and though my body wished for some rest I refused. The weather was fine (a rare state since it was the rainy season) and I had learned from many experiences in the past that you should do things when you can because you never know what it will be like tomorrow (which turned out to be for the best because it rained pretty steadily for the rest of the time that I was in Chiang Mai).
So, with a weary groan I once again headed out, this time with a young girl I had met earlier, Flow.
I have to say, negotiating is fun, especially when both sides get into it and are in good humor. The older gentlemen that drove the red truck that picked us up took us for tourists at first but after the first rounds of banter he began to negotiate in earnest to more reasonable rates. What started as a 400 baht round trip for the two of us with a short wait while we looked around turned into a 300 baht trip and he would wait as long as we wanted. Nods of agreement on both sides and we were off to Doi Sutep. (Note: the trip to Doi Sutep from Chiang Mai city center is about 45 minutes each way, though we didn’t know that at the time).
The golden dome that dominated the center of the small courtyard at Doi Sutep was impressive, even with the scaffolding around it (my luck as usual). It shone brightly as bits of sunlight made their way through the quickly clouding skies. The few tourists who were left after the rush of the afternoon crowd walked about in tranquil silence drinking in the experience. It was 5:30pm and the perfect time to be there.
Along the walls that surrounded the main dome the story of Buddha was laid out in vivid color and imaginative scenes. His fight with the lord of the underworld, the period of aestheticism, his enlightenment under the bodhisattva tree, it was all there.
Two largish halls sat on opposing each other, both containing a giant statue of Buddha sitting in lotus, serene faces looking out on to the world. I stepped into one and moved quickly into seiza (a style of sitting on your knees).
The air was thick with the scent of incense and laden with feelings of peace. Things moved, but slower than normal. Occasionally the sound of a tinkling bell could be heard as the wind moved through the temple.
I stared at the statue of Buddha, its face carved into an immobile and understanding look. What knowledge had this man possessed? What special quality had made him stand out from all the rest? What did he know that I did not? How had his simple teachings under a tree turned into a worldwide phenomenon?
Behind me three people entered and knelt before the statue, saying quiet prayers to the image. After a few moments they moved quickly to where a monk sat on a slightly raised platform wearing bright orange robes and asked for what I do not know. With a gesture the wrinkled monk waved me over to join the ceremony, a smile lighting up his eyes.
His voice was low and monotone reciting something long ago carved into his mind. One hand held strands of horsehair (I think) bound together and doused in water. Chanting he waved the wand over the four of us sprinkling us with numerous small drops. Finished, each of us went before him in turn and had a thin white string tied around our wrist, the meaning of which I have no idea.
I went back to my place in the middle of the room and resumed my thoughts now affected by what had just happened. But what had just happened? My mind turned that question over in my mind like a cat with a ball of string.
The three walls around me compressed and brought me face to face with Buddha. Who, what, how, why?
I took a deep breath, stood, and backed slowly out of the room, casting one last long look inside. Questions abound yet answers remain hidden…
The ride down felt longer than the ride up and by the time we finally arrived back at the hostel I was ready for some rest. I felt drained, wrung dry of every bit of energy, and hungry as hell.
Dinner, a real Tex-Mex style burrito with fried chips and guacamole, yum, yum, yum. Thank you Chiang Mai and your big ex-pat community.
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