Thailand Days 11 - 12: Chiang Mai

I learned today that a few students have been sharing this blog with members of their family. I hope you've found the updates helpful! Shoutout to Kamiya's grandma--thanks for reading :)

If you read the last post and were bummed that there were no pictures to accompany my description of Sukhothai history and architecture, I've updated that post (link) with pictures, so check it out.

We made it to Chiang Mai!

I'm writing this post from the balcony of my hotel room. It's a great spot from which to people watch and to soak up the sights and sounds of city life. Like the other locations we've visited, Chiang Mai is also feeling the effects of reduced tourism and pedestrian traffic, so the streets, restaurants, and markets are noticeably more quiet than the pre-COVID times...

I'm pretty excited about my balcony

Night view of Chiang Mai city life

I should back up a little bit. On our way to Chiang Mai yesterday, one of our van drivers recommended a slight detour to visit Wat Thung Saliam, a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Sukhothai (en route to Chiang Mai).

I'm going to do my best to paraphrase/interpret some history from Thailand's Directory of Tourism as the English translation is a little spotty:

Luang Pho Sila, a Buddha image, was originally enshrined in Chao Ram Cave, home to many bat colonies. Villagers went into the cave in search of bat droppings (guano is used in a lot of homeopathic treatments) and found the stone image. The villagers told Phra Aphai, the abbot of Thung Saliam Temple, and discussed bringing the image from the cave to the temple. As a result of the abbot's old age, they did not enshrine the Buddhan in Thung Saliam. Kruba Kuan, the abbot of a neighboring temple, heard of the rumor and summoned villagers to the cave. In the cave, he found the Buddha image while many bats were flying around. Kruba Kuan brought the Buddha out of the cave some time between 1929-1932. The journey back was full of hardship. Then a miracle happened; clear skies emerged after heavy clouds and rain, and a flock of bats overed over the Wat Thung Saliam before returning to the Chao Ram cave. The villagers would not allow the Buddha structure to be summoned back to Lampang, instead agreeing that the Buddha should remain enshrined at Wat Thung Saliam. The Buddha was replicated fr the Mae Pa Luane temple (where Kruba Kuan was abbot), and it was stolen in 1977. It was eventually tracked down through an art exhibit in London, and in 1996 it was returned to Thailand. 

I might have really botched that interpretation. Sorry!

View of the Wat grounds

One of the temple buildings

View of architecture at Wat Thung Saliam

Students in front of the building housing the Golden Buddha

Temple history (also from website--not paraphrased):

Wat Thung Saliam is one of the holiest Buddha temples in the Sukhothai. The atmosphere of this temple is absolutely peaceful, is the place which enshrined Stone Buddharupa or Luang Por Sila which is made of white sandstone with khmer art style in Angkorian period which influences architecture in Angkor Wat- Lopburi, was built in 11th century - 12th century. Buddharupa has 86 centimeters height and lap width at 43 centimeters, there are numerous tourists come to worship Luang Por Sila.

While we were at the temple, Noi explained how we could individually make a donation to the temple and take a candle and bouquet to offer to the Buddha as a request for a blessing. Students and faculty selected a candle that corresponded with the day of their birth (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday...) and then we had an opportunity to make our offering. What an awesome experience.

Students and faculty discussing Buddhist practices

You might need to open this image in a separate browser to be able to read it, but it gives the history of the Golden Buddha

Making an offering to the Buddha (I was born on a Wednesday)

We arrived in Chiang Mai in the afternoon. We're staying in a young, artsy part of the city, near Chiang Mai University. Lots of restaurants, cafes, shopping, etc. Folks were able to get out and explore on their own yesterday. A group of us walked around the area near our hotel and then waived down some tuk tuks (one of the two primary modes of local transportation) to take us to one of the Chiang Mai night bazaars. The tuk tuk ride was definitely a highlight--such a cool way to experience a city! Tuk tuks are basically a high-powered moped with a passenger cart attached. The other option is a "songthaew," which literally translates to "two rows." It's a truck with two rows of covered seating in the back for passengers. Some songthaews' routes can be identified based on the color of the truck. 

Students and I taking a tuk tuk to the night bazaar

We met up with most of our students in the night bazaar for a few hours before heading back out to explore the city.

Day 12: Chiang Mai, Day 2

The theme of today is "there's been a change of plans..."

As a result of heavy rain, we were not able to drive into the mountains (dangerous windy, steep roads) to visit the Wat (temple) we had planned, so we had to pivot. We started the morning off at a silk factory, where we learned a little more about the silk making process--particularly about differences in quality of silk. This factory had high end stuff that was stunning...and also out of the price range of this lowly academic's disposable income :). Sorry Kjarsten, the silk robe will have to wait until next trip.

Video of Thai Silk Village

Bolts of silk--my mom would love this place (hi, Mom!)

You can feel the difference when touching the two shirts

We ate lunch at the Holiday Garden Resort, where it seemed like the buffet of food options were never ending! We hoped to make it to the Wat in the afternoon, but rain prevented that, so instead we visited an umbrella making factory (which was really cool to see the process of how bamboo umbrellas are made) and a fine jewelry store. 

Here's some info on the Umbrella Making Centre (directly from website):

• One of the legends says that once Phra Kru Intha, the monk of Wat Bo Sang, went for a pilgrimage in the Tai Lue land near the Thai-Burma border [and] saw umbrella making. [He was] interested in bringing this knowledge to propagate to villagers to invent as a Buddhist worship and use for sun protection and rain protection.
• 1757: After returning from a pilgrimage, Phra Kru Intha began to persuade the local villagers to find materials and equipment to try making umbrellas as recorded.
• 1941: The villagers gathered together to form a cooperative called 'Bo Sang Umbrella Making Cooperative Limited Sin Chai'...[encouraging] people to make umbrellas of various sizes, including fabric umbrellas, paper umbrellas, and mix color with maca oil and apply it on the umbrella. for beauty and durability.
• 1978: Mr. Thawin Buajeen, Buak Ped villager, Ton Pao Sub-district, a professional tour guide, saw that the umbrella making profession would be of interest to foreigners and should be preserved; he persuaded 12 villagers with umbrella making experience to offer demonstrations of how to make umbrellas at every step to preserve traditional arts and crafts and develop in quality.
• 1982: The 1st Bo Sang Umbrella Festival was initiated by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, together with the villagers of Bo Sang to publicize the umbrella handicraft village...today, the Bo Sang Umbrella Festival is included in the annual tourism calendar. which will be held on the 3rd Friday of January and has 3 consecutive days of activities.
• 2005: Established as Umbrella Center (1978) Co., Ltd. on August 2, 2005
• 2006: With a long history of Bor Sang umbrella, as well as the source of production and the transfer of wisdom that has been inherited for more than 200 years, [the organization] applied for registration of the Bo Sang umbrella as an intellectual property of geographical indication.
• 2009: To ensure the production of quality umbrellas in Bo Sang and continue the production to be more modern, products are developed with the Institute of Science and Technology Research (NSTDA), such as making wood ovens for use in the rainy season, reducing chemicals such as varnish thinners in wood coatings by finding other raw materials to replace for the good health of employees and the safety of consumers.
• 2010: Researching the Lanna style of umbrella; making and adding Lanna patterns on the umbrella under the Lanna Collection project in collaboration with the Institute of Science and Technology Research (NSTDA).
• 2018: Umbrella Making Center (1978) Co., Ltd. has been in business for 40 years and continues to carry on Lanna umbrella making craft to maintain this international local wisdom to remain with the people of San Kamphaeng District and Doi Saket District. Chiang Mai Province continues according to [do business according to the following mission]. "maintaining identity and the continuation of the handicraft of Bor Sang umbrella production to be a sustainable business with the local community.”

Students entering the Umbrella Making Centre

Making the umbrella frame out of bamboo

Students had an opportunity to walk through the different stations/phases of the umbrella making process

I am personally not an avid shopper, nor do I have any sense of style, so I didn't look too closely at the jewelry options (but I'm sure they were stunning...).

We got back to the hotel in the afternoon for free time. Some folks arranged for a Muay Thai lesson, and I tried to organize an outing to one of the local rock climbing gyms in town, but we didn't generate enough interest for the climbing gym today. But I'm happy to report that we *did* get enough interest for a visit to the climbing gym tomorrow morning :)

Students and Kathryn at their Muay Thai lesson. Photo credit: Kathryn

Tomorrow's agenda is also a little tentative, pending rain. We may explore the historic district ("Old Town") in Chiang Mai tomorrow afternoon, and then most of the group is planning on attending an official Muay Thai fight (first live commercial fight in Chiang Mai in 2.5 years!) tomorrow night.