Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, a jewel in Chiang Mai's crown
Inside the Wat Phra That temple grounds on Doi Suthep
If you're ever in Chiang Mai and can only choose one temple to visit, choose Wat Phra That on Doi Suthep. Doi Suthep is the mountain West of Chiang Mai, the smaller of the two in that area. The other being Doi Pui and together make up the Doi Suthep-Pui National Park. Although I haven't been to every single temple in Chiang Mai, I have been to several and what makes Wat Phra That so special? It's reportedly the temple that has a Buddha Relic, a piece of his shoulder, if I heard correctly. Now I didn't get to see the Relic but this wat, to me, has a tranquil/serene "feel" to it, more so than any of the other temples I've been to in the Chiang Mai region. I truly lack the words to describe that feeling. No, it's not like a life changing OMG Hallelujah kinda feeling...it's more like a peaceful at ease feeling. I imagine "resting in peace" would feel like this. I'm not particularly religious but I do believe in certain principles from different religions. Yes, I'm a "confused child" haha.
Back to the Doi Suthep and one of Chiang Mai's crown jewels, Wat Phra That. I'll just do what the locals do and refer to the area as Doi Suthep. So how can one get to Doi Suthep? There are a number of ways both public and private. If you choose the private way, have a read of my post "Did I get scammed in Chiang Mai" for my recounting on private hire fiasco/scam that was run on me whilst going to a different "must see" Chiang Mai crown jewel. The most convenient way is to take a red songthaew to Doi Suthep. It can be as easy as flagging one down anywhere around the old city. A songthaew is a pickup truck with the back converted to bench seating. They operate like a public bus/shared taxi but with negotiable fare. The way to get a ride is you flag one down (like flagging a taxi) or they will honk at you, in which case just wave back if you want them to stop. Before you hop in, you have to negotiate your fare. The price will depend on where you're going, how many passengers already in the songthaew and probably the way you look. So the better dressed you are, the less they will be willing to drop the prices. The number of people already on board will help decrease the price as well and/or if there's no one already on board, you can pay a bit more and the driver will not pick up anyone along the way to your destination. Trips within the old city are $30-$40 TBH (as told to me by the hotel staff and $30 TBH is written on all the red songthaews (I can't read Thai so don't know what the context is) but as soon as you get outside the walled city they will start at $100 TBH (at least that's always been the starting point whenever I asked). There are also different marked songthaews, the markings will indicate which attraction they are going to, so you can look out for those as those may have people in them already going to the same place making it cheaper for you to tag along (or at least you won't be "forced" to pay the full single rider fare). If you prefer to hire out a songthaew (have it all to yourself) you can probably negotiate a price for him/her to wait for you and give you a ride back. If not, there are a lot of songthaews waiting up there to give passengers rides back into town. The only drawback is that they will not leave until the songthaew is full with 8 passengers so if you're first on, there may be a wait. For me, I was lucky, I was the 8th. As I was about to pay the driver, 1/2 the other passengers started to negotiate a lower fare but to no avail so ya that's something to consider too. Just to give you an idea, hiring out a songthaew cost me $350 TBH, I needed to get there as fast as possible but coming back only cost $80 TBH. The other public way are guided tours. Your hotel lobby will have info and be able to help you out, or you can find tour agent kiosks everywhere, seriously you can't walk a block without seeing one. These are convenient if have minimal time and need a guide to show you around and/or rush you plus you won't have to worry about haggling prices everywhere, where to go to the ticket booth etc. The private vehicles are in the form of metered taxis although you have to specifically book one from somewhere as they are nowhere to to be found on the streets. The only time I saw any were at the airport and twice in town dropping guests at a hotel. I'm pretty sure they will be the most expensive private car option with Grab taxi being the second most expensive. The least expensive is the non grab, private hires which the hotel can arrange for you and the tuk tuk's (they look like motorized rickshaws) which you can flag on the street. Note: if you get motion sickness then take some motion sickness pills if you plan on taking the songthaew or tuk tuk. Also try to get on a newer model vehicle or at least one that doesn't look beat up as that will affect the bumpiness of your ride as well as the amount of exhaust (if any) you'll be subjected to.
Stairs leading up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep adorned on either side with giant King of Nagas' |
Local tribes girls on the stairs leading up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep adorned on either side with giant King of Nagas' |
Local tribes girls on the stairs leading up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep adorned on either side with giant King of Nagas' |
Local tribes girls on the stairs leading up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep adorned on either side with giant King of Nagas' |
Stairs leading up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep adorned on either side with giant King of Nagas' |
Stairs leading up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep adorned on either side with giant King of Nagas' |
Pavilion area provides shade and benches for rest and removal of shoes.
SO MUCH GOLD!!! Was my first reaction as stepped through the entrance into the wat. I don't know if it was gold leaf, gold paint, gold plated or what but boy was it impressive. Pretty much in the center of the temple grounds is the gold stupa with the prayer path around it. There are flowers you can buy and hold as you walk and pray on this path and then offer them to an altar of your choice. This prayer path is in between the stupa and a stone fence that has opening at the corners for entering and exiting the prayer path. On top of this fence, on two of the sides, are various statues and religious relics. Lining the walls to the temple complex are altars, prayer halls, statues and other religious artifacts. There are monks walking around doing various duties as well from what I saw when I was there such as "monk chats," blessing ceremonies, sweeping of the grounds, putting up decorations etc. Along the walls that define the Wat grounds are open air but sheltered corridors with religious statues and artifacts and enough space for visitors to pray in front of. These corridors are sometimes broken up by rooms housing religious statue(s) with all the prayer amenities like kneeling mats, incense pots etc. There is also a larger prayer hall which more detailed and ornate and is where the monk chats/blessing were held. If you want the on location tourist shot, look for the golden tree/umbrella statue. This is the designated spot where an "in house photographer" will take the "tourist shot" that all the marketing shots were taken. The spot features a golden umbrella (or maybe it's a bamboo tree), under which you'll stand with the golden stupa in the background and hopefully a blue sky with a fluffy cloud or two. There will be assistants walking around that area trying to drum up business. If you don't want to engage their services you can just wait until the umbrella is vacant and go get your shot. Although I planned to photograph everything, I kinda forgot to or maybe just too "taken in" by beauty, splendor, calmness and serenity of this place I really don't have the words so here's a few shots:
Inside the Wat Phra That temple grounds on Doi Suthep |
Inside the Wat Phra That temple grounds on Doi Suthep |
Inside the Wat Phra That temple grounds on Doi Suthep |
Inside the Wat Phra That temple grounds on Doi Suthep |
Inside the Wat Phra That temple grounds on Doi Suthep |
Inside the Wat Phra That temple grounds on Doi Suthep |
Inside the Wat Phra That temple grounds on Doi Suthep |
Inside the Wat Phra That temple grounds on Doi Suthep |
Walking around Doi Suthep just outside Wat Phra That |
Walking around Doi Suthep just outside Wat Phra That |
Walking around Doi Suthep just outside Wat Phra That |
Walking around Doi Suthep just outside Wat Phra That |
Walking around Doi Suthep just outside Wat Phra That |
Walking around Doi Suthep just outside Wat Phra That |
Consider following me for updates to find not only my other travel bloopers, blunders and shenanigans but also photography related news/reviews and the occasional contest entry.
All the photos (unless otherwise noted in the post) were taken by me and are available for sale. If you're interested in buying an image or three, 😃 please don't hesitate to contact me for more details. Thanks in advance!
Comments & Critiques are always welcome, as are upvotes and resteems.
Thanks for viewing and best wishes!
PS. If you want to check out my other 'works', you can find them here:
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://newbiephoto.net/wat-phra-that-doi-suthep-a-jewel-in-chiang-mais-crown/
As member of the @Council - Community Upvoting Service, this post has received a 100.00% upvote from @council another project managed by @Yehey [ Witness ].
Members of the community can all chip in to Power UP. Become a member, delegate as low as 10 Steem Power (SP) to @Council to receive upvote and resteem. Here's the link to delegate https://on.king.net/council10sp it will redirect to Steem Connect for a secure connection. We share the Steem Power of all members that delegate to @Council Community Upvoting Service, sharing our SP for a stronger upvote. Vote like a Whale.
Please join us at https://SteemChat.com Steem Community discord server if you have questions.
Thank you.
@Council - Community Upvoting Service. Powered by Steemians
Posted using https://Steeming.com website.
Awesome, thanks! 😄👍
Congratulations, Your Post Has Been Added To The Steemit Worldmap!
Author link: http://steemitworldmap.com?author=rayshiuimages
Post link: http://steemitworldmap.com?post=watphrathatdoisuthepajewelinchiangmaiscrown-pa4ah7k8ja
Want to have your post on the map too?
Awesome, thanks! 😄👍
Hi, @rayshiuimages!
You just got a 0.02% upvote from SteemPlus!
To get higher upvotes, earn more SteemPlus Points (SPP). On your Steemit wallet, check your SPP balance and click on "How to earn SPP?" to find out all the ways to earn.
If you're not using SteemPlus yet, please check our last posts in here to see the many ways in which SteemPlus can improve your Steem experience on Steemit and Busy.
Thank you so much for the recognition and support! 😄👍
Hiya, @itchyfeetdonica here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made into our Daily Travel Digest #539.
Your post has been manually curated by the @steemitworldmap team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider upvoting and supporting us.
Thank you so much for the recognition and support! 😄👍