Today I had originally planned to travel up to Pai and had my hostel booked and everything, but when I awoke, it was a grey and cloudy day. I was looking forward to the drive the most and I decided to wait one more day to get the fun in the sun. Instead, I went on a self-guided Buddhist temple tour.
There are over 300 temples in Chiang Mai, which I think is more than any other place ever? These temples are called “Wats” and can sometimes be so small, just a tiny hut, or sometimes so large, like a church. Anyone is free at any time to just walk in and sit and meditate or pray. Most did not have seats, but the bigger ones did. I popped in my AirPods, put on my favorite lo-fi Spotify playlist for my walk, and visited 6 or 7 of these Wats in Old City.
They all more or less followed the same pattern. There was an entryway and a hall (short or long) that led to a statue or statues of Buddha or other important figures that I did not recognize. There were monks on site, but they were mostly doing their own thing. At one of the Wats, there was a “sit and talk to a monk” program which looked cool, but I did not participate in.
Wat Chedi Luang is the oldest and looked different than the rest. It was more of a large pyramid with stairs that you could (in the past) ascend. Wat Phra Singh is central to Chiang Mai and the biggest. The whole compound was large.
These Wats are all over Thailand and are quite beautiful. It was nice to sit and enjoy.
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