On our way back from Pai we stopped in Chiang Mai for one night. The next big adventure for us- Indonesia! We met another lovely lady-boy "Opal" that ran a backpacker hostel. We stayed with her one night, and she kept some of our extra stuff for us while we were in Indonesia for the month.
While in Chiang Mai we visited Wat Chedi Luang and there was a 'monk session' going on where a bunch of jr/novice monks were in a chanting session. Lots of orange robes- very cool!
(Not sure if this video is going to work or not, so here's a few pics below)
We then walked around the old Stupa (built in 1441) that was one of the tallest structures in ancient Chiang Mai. Back in 1475 the famous Emerald Buddha was here (the one that's now in Bangkok at the Grand Palace). It was very pretty all lit up at night, lots of jr monks walking around.
The next morning Jared wanted to hang out at the hostel, so I went all crazy running around the city by myself, squeezing in as much as I could! I toured Wat Phra Singh- "Phra Singh" means lion buddha. There were some beautiful Lanna wall paintings in a side temple behind the chedi.
Then I went into another side temple and they had all of these wax replicas of famous and deceased monks. They were shockingly life like- I had to do a double take when I first walked in!
At Wat Phra Singh I walked around the old city. It is surrounded on all four sides by a brick wall and moat. Here is one of the gates to the old city.
On the streets of Chiang Mai
Next I went to the Lanna Folklife Museum to learn about Lanna culture, religion, craftmanship and daily life.
Buddha's footprint
Showing the evolution of the Lanna wall painting
We got to bed early that night as the flight we had the next morning was bright and early to Medan, Indonesia.
Up Next: Orangutan party in Bukit Lawang, Indonesia
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