its Christmas eve in Chiang Mai, about 2:20 in the afternoon. I'm about to go to Wat Suan Dok (a temple and monastery) where I am spending the night with monks, mediation will be the only activity.
Last night, we arrived after a 5 hour bus ride from Sukuthai (birthplace of Thai civilization/culture) and we found a bustling night market on a street a couple of blocks away from our hotel. lots and lots of shopping, the best fabrics, thai pants and scarves I've seen.
Sukuthai is my favorite town so far.. it has the most beautiful historical park with a mix of palms and pines and lilly flowers in ponds with temples and buddhas sprinkling the landscape. I headed out with my motor bike yesturday on a ride around the countryside after I dropped Caroline off at a Thai Massage hut where she spent most of the day learning the nessesary skills. It was gorgous out. we have been hanging out in with a german couple and an 18-year-old israeli guy and a dutch girl we met on the bus there.. the town is small enough that you run into the few tourists there all the time. The Coffee Cup is a cafe around the corner from our Old City Guesthouse where they served some amazing food. Food has been a theme on this trip, lots of eating, I love thai food. I had a red curry dish my first night in Sukothai that makes my mouth water when I think about it. the street food there was the best. that town had an incredible market with cheap yummy eats.. so much to say about the food (the good, and the bizarre)...
before Sukothai we were in Lop Buri, a town overtaken by monkeys who have lost any fear of humans.. it was great, strange, had a few funny incidents that Caroline will elaborate upon in our Thailand trip blg (www.49daze.blogspot.com) including getting in the back of a pick-up truck then going into a panic because we thought we were being kidnapped.
LopBuri was after Ayyutaya were the conference closing dinner was. we stayed there the night and spent the following day on bikes checking out the historical park shock full of temples and more temples.
its hard for me to have as much of a spiritual experience as usually happens when I travel alone because I am with caroline and we are always talking and laughing but its a different experience, I like it as well.. I just wish I can remember all the details.
just a quick note on architecture.. there is very little architecture in the traditional sense.. as in clearly defined plots with buildings set on foundations with some sort of regulatory structure.. most of what is built along the roads and in the smaller villages are hap-hazord wood and aluminum sheet structures, some of them are well-done and some are just frightening. most of the houses are on stilts. the aesthetics are entertaining with plenty of exaggurated columns and collaged facades. the ancient architecture is .. difficult to grasp. almost all of it is mass-oriented, more like sculpture with almost never any habitable space. they are like objects in fields, massive brick structures with a smooth skin. to my surprise most of it is not that old, the majority has been 400-500 years old however they look like they are prehistoric because of their primitive forms, and the serious damaged condition they suffer. there is something really beautiful about their age appearance but I have yet to be impressed. the buddha images almost always have no heads, and a buddha image is still holy even if all that is left is its lap.
I have to go pick up our plane tickets to Ko Samui (island in the south), we fly there on the first so we can attend the first Full Moon Party of 2007 on Jan 3rd.
exciting stuff!!!
From Chiang Mai with love.
49daze.blogspot.com
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