What Wat..?, Wandering Around The Thousand Temples of Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is full of temples - or wats. Many are very old and the most famous is the Wat Chedi Luang on Phrapokklao Road - the construction of which started in the 14th century.  There are in fact several buildings in the complex, some much more recent.

Buddha, of course, was everywhere.

The chedi itself is a magnificent structure.  It's incredible to think that construction began 700 years ago.  We were particularly fond of the large stone elephants that adorn its walls, but sad that tourists aren't permitted to climb it.  

We were keen to soak up the history of the place and think what it must have been like when it was the centre of Chiang Mai.

The more modern structures were well-kept and full of locals, as well as visitors.

As in other parts of Thailand, the authorities put up helpful signs to let the tourists know what you should and shouldn't do in the temples. 

It boils down to treating the wat with respect, as you would any other place of worship - but in the heat of the day, Mr Herbivore was wishing he could have worn shorts.

We didn't meet any overly friendly strangers who offered to show us around town!

At Wat Chedi Luang, each sign of the Chinese Zodiac was represented with a statue.  Mrs Herbivore sign was represented by this cute wee thing.  

These monks were amazing.  They sat so still in the evening at prayer time that they could have been statues.  The chanting made the atmosphere here vibrant but relaxing at the same time.  The cute dog was an added extra!.

Some of the temples are really dog friendly. The Monks take care and allow the dogs to stay inside the temple, two thumbs up for them. 

The wat above was a little off the beaten track.  Close to Wat Chedi Luang, but without the crowds.  It was a good place for a selfie!

At the older sites around Chiang Mai, there was an interesting mix of building materials.  As at Chedi Luang, we liked the elephants here.

We were glad that the Thais let you take photos inside the wats. There were some great shots of Mrs Herbivores and Buddha.

The history of Chiang Mai's many wats continued to amaze us as we toured the city.  We loved the traditional architecture of the wats.

Chiang Mai is an amazing place to visit.  If you visit the wats, your trip to the city can be an intensely spiritual one.  Most wats are free to visit, although donations are sought at some.  As elsewhere in Thailand, the Thais are a very helpful and friendly people (at many of the wats, the Monks even make themselves for Monk Chat on a regular basis!).

Mrs Herbivore has visited many temples in India and Nepal, and found the experience of visiting Chiang Mai's temples to be much easier and friendlier.  We rate the wats 9/10 and strongly urge visitors to Chiang Mai to tour as many as possible.

Chiang Mai, we miss you.

Our search for the Warorot Market, Chiang Mai

Mrs.Herbivore wanted to go shopping, and to see a traditional Thai market in full swing. So, the decision was made, we would get up early the next morning, and walk from our hotel in the old city to the Wararot Market to the Wararot Market, Chiang Mai's traditional-style market for food and other goods. And it was early.  We left about 5am ("come on dear, we need to see the city before it gets busy," cried Mrs H, the Morning Bird).  And so, armed with an imprecise tourist map, and some bleary eyes, we set off in search of Wararot. 5am turned out to be an interesting time to walk around Chiang Mai.  For a start, the Monks are up early, and it's a good time to see them strolling to and from their wats. Our map wasn't helpful.  We didn't know exactly where we were going, except that we were headed for Warorot Mueang Chiang Mai District, Chiang Mai.  While it was vaguely indicated on our map, we found it hard to match the map to the streets down which we were walking.   This wasn't so much an issue with our navigation skills, as that the map didn't actually show the streets properly! We ended up by the River Ping at sunrise.  An opportunity for a spot of yoga to relax after the headaches of the map, before heading off again. After our diversion at the river, we kept walking.  We asked directions a couple of times, getting contradictory advice from the locals.  It seemed either that nobody knew where Wararot was, or it was a broader description of the area, not just the actual market. We eventually found the market.  We ventured indoors into a kind of food hall. We saw a large array of dried fruits, nuts, spices and herbs.  It was a world of vibrant colour, interesting products, and chillis. Mr Herbivore was getting pretty excited by the potential for cooking exciting dishes, but alas our hotel didn't have cooking facilities, so we limited our purchases to a large bag of cashew nuts to munch on over the next couple of days (they were delicious!) We liked the dried foods section most of all.  There was a lot more to the market area though, including a fresh fruit and vegetable area, and a meat and dish area.  We didn't linger in the latter, which was slightly disturbing for herbivores.  Instead, we much preferred the array of wooden goods and handicrafts on display. We're glad we made the effort to go to Wararot.  It was a great opportunity to see a more traditional Thai market, and to get away from the throngs of tourists at the Night Market.  We recommend an early start to get there before things get busy - and also recommend a decent map!

Fancy a flying carpet ride at the Art in Paradise 3D Art Museum, Chiang Mai

One of the slightly peculiar - but worth visiting - places we stumbled across in Chiang Mai was the Art In Paradise 3D Art Museum, where you can "be part of the exhibit and create your own story".

We walked there from our hotel in the old city - it was a good walk, and quite doable, but when we stopped to ask for directions a couple of times, the locals thought we were mad to be walking. It really wasn't that far, but it seemed to be unusual for tourists to be walking.  If you are staying in the Old City though, and have kids in tow, we'd suggest a tuktuk.

The idea of the Museum is that visitors can immerse themselves into the 3D artwork and use it to tell a creative story.  You can, for example, pat a dolphin, get eaten by a shark, take a flying carpet ride, or transform yourself into a flying angel.

The Museum (more of an interactive gallery really) is located at 199/9 Chang Klan Rd, Chiang Mai.

Anyway, we found the Museum and, not quite knowing what to expect, we paid our entry fee (THB 300)  and went in. It was both kind of odd, and pretty cool.

You need a camera to make the most of it, as you are able to insert yourself into a myriad of 3D scenes that have been created within the gallery. You can ride on a flying carpet, appear as a flying angel, take a romantic gondola ride in Venice, fight a rampaging tiger, or do a spot of deep sea diving.

We enjoyed our trip to the Museum.  We'd rank it a 7/10 on the list of things to do in Chiang Mai.  If we'd had kids with us, it would have been a 10/10.  There are lots of cool pictures for snap-happy children to take.

We finished our trip with an ice cream from a cafe at the Museum.  The ice cream was good after a long afternoon of illusion art - but was pricey at THB 80 each.

Our helpful hint: take a tripod for your camera.