Chiang Mai Day 2: Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep and iberry

On our second day in Chiang Mai, we set off to see the famous Buddhist temple Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep (Doi Suthep being the name of the mountain on which the temple is located). To get to the temple, we crammed ourselves in the back of a songthaew (red taxi truck), where we tried not to sit on the laps of elderly french people or fall out of the truck.

Once we arrived, we headed up a huge staircase flanked with Nagas, or mythical sea serpents. At the top, we purchased our tickets at from the "foreigner" booth. The ticket conveniently listed the Do's and Dont's of temple etiquette, and I found out that wearing a short skirt to a Wat is a bad idea. Not to worry though, with a small deposit I was able to borrow a sarong from the temple.

Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, built in 1383, has many legends surrounding it. Perhaps the most famous is the legend of the White Elephant. According to this legend, a Lanna king wanted to build a temple. To locate a holy sight, he mounted a vessel containing a holy relic on the elephant's back and set the elephant free. The elephant climbed up Mt Doi Suthep while monks followed behind. Once the elephant reached the mountaintop, it trumpeted 3 times, turned around, and dropped dead. At the Wat you can see the White Elephant Monument, artwork depicting this legend, and the vessel which contained the holy relic.





Later that day, we followed the advice of the owner of our guesthouse and paid a visit to iberry homemade, a gourmet ice cream shop owned by two siblings, one of whom is an artist and comedian.

Perhaps the best part about iberry in Chiang Mai is the surrounding garden area which contains artwork by the artist/owner, as well as lovely little areas to relax and enjoy a tasty treat. The most striking piece of art is the huge yellow sculpture that resembles a dog with a man's head, or a man with a dog's body, depending on how you look at it.

The interior of iberry is equally as funky. There are light fixtures made with drinking cups, pop art paintings, and creative decor. iberry would have been a great culinary experience if they would have actually had ice cream. Unfortunately, when we arrived on a late Monday afternoon, they had sold out of all but one of their 100+ flavors (the remaining one no one bought any scoops of --Dave.)

After walking 40 minutes in 80-something degree weather with thoughts of delicious homemade ice cream keeping me going, I was pretty disappointed when I found this out. Luckily, we happened to find another iberry shop in Bangkok a few days later.  Although the decor wasn't quite as hip and there was no garden, they did have ice cream.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The learning curve

When learning a foreign language, I'm certainly spoiled. I was educated in French from kindergarten (grade 0) through grade 10. The first six years of that education were in an immersion program. Half of a day of class was spoken and written entirely in French. My middle school years (grades 6-8) were at a bilingual school that tried to place multi-lingual teachers in common subjects, such as math and science. That's how I found out that the Belgian way of counting is different than French, but only in certain sets of 10 (70,80,90.) The confusion about what to call dinner is another interesting difference. Now, in Taiwan, I see that the playing field of language is even further mingled. The mainland Chinese way of saying 一 or 1 is pronounced differently in some cases than it is in Taiwan, but not in normal counting. I've even heard that 0 is pronounced differently. In Chinese, the number 二 (er4) or 2 is pronounced differently once you count above 100, or when you are a...
Read more

I'm reminded of my childhood...

Image
In Taiwan, there's the official end of the new year (Chinese new year, that is) and its celebrated with a lot of fireworks, and attempts at seeing how many people can fit into a city bus. Its also known as Lantern Festival. From the questionable resource, wikipedia: "In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, for only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones; in modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in shapes of animals." We can now all be emperors. Along with all the bureaucratic nightmares that ensue. "The Lantern Festival is also known as the Little New Year since it marks the end of the series of celebrations starting from the Chinese New Year." As I was advised by our friend Jack, its the time after which you no longer say "新年快了" (happy new year, or for the literalists, new year happy.) Of note, it is still acceptable to be happy after this ti...
Read more

Things to remember on New Year's Eve

Image
When travelling, its best to remember a few simple safety tips on New Year's Eve.  All the fun and enjoyment is great, but without some careful planning, you might end up in a bad state of affairs. 1. Know where your toilets are. They're usually hiding, inconspicuously, trying to blend into the crowd, occasionally dancing, and in rare cases, getting horribly intoxicated and flipping over.  You should probably stay at least 50-100 feet away from them at all times.  I recommend using an air horn for storing urine.  You'll find them everywhere. 2. Avoid Zombies New Year's Eve is a prime time for zombies.  They will usually hang out near the bathrooms.  Some of them may pretend to be "into the music" or "really like this guy on stage," or even be so bold as to "have no idea who that guy is hosting."  Remember to carry appropriate defense items such as crow bars, axes, and windshield washer fluid.  Zombies hate being clean. ...
Read more