Thumbs Up

Oct. 21-23

When Tommy brought us into the Old City on Friday, he took a street that was new to us. What’s this? A road that we hadn’t seen before?

So Saturday morning we set out to explore it.

We needed to go to the Three Kings Plaza, and the best way to do that takes you through the grounds of three temples and past a fourth. 

One is around the corner from us, Wat Pan Ping. I couldn’t find what the name means. The river that flows past the city is called the Ping, but I don’t know if the temple is named for that or not. 

It’s a colorful place, like all the temples in the Old City, and it has a flock of roosters in residence. 

It’s right across the street from Wat Umong Mahathera Chan. That’s the Temple of the Great Monk’s Cave, named for a niche in the ancient chedi, where a monk used to meditate.

The temple offers itself as a meditation center. Several small thatched huts stand in one corner of the yard, close the monk’s chedi. Joanna said they are places for people to meditate.

We met a monk outside the meeting hall as he walked by with his alms bowl in hand. We gave him 20 baht, and he answered us with a brief chant. That’s when Joanna snapped the photo of the day.

On the far side of the temple grounds you come to a soi that takes you to Wat Duang Dee, the Good Luck Temple. Outside, we saw a pickup truck draped with the black and white crepe mourning the king.

Several monks were inside the viharn, the main temple building. They were chatting, and they greeted us in Thai and English. “Wadee kaab” and “Good morning.”

A few young monks were arranging furnishings, possibly for a local ceremony on the 26th, the day of the king’s funeral in Bangkok.

Wat Inthakin, which is on Intrawarorot Road next to the plaza with the Three kings Monument, was busy. Dozens of people, mostly women in white, were coming out of the viharn. It may have been a service breaking up. 

Wat Inthakin is where the city pillar originally stood. And the temple is named for it: Sao Inthakin, Pali for “Pillar of Indra.”

We came to the corner of Jhaban Road. There is a great place there for chicken rice and curried chicken noodle soup, khao soi gai. But it was still too early for anything that heavy.

So far we were on familiar ground. We had walked in both directions of Jhaban Road before, but for no special reason, had not continued straight.

At this point, the road changes its name from Intrawarorot to Arak 5 and runs to the western moat.

We didn’t go that far. We walked a block or so, where across the road from the Muang Chiang Mai District Office we saw a sign that read “Hong Kong.”

A closer look revealed the full name, Hong Kong Lucky Restaurant. It looked promising, so we made a mental note of where it was

We walked back to yogurt shop in the row of food stalls on Intrawarorot Road. We took two containers billed as “grass-fed” and “organic.” 

We picked up coffee to go at Wawee. We got papaya and a banana from a street vendor. So we had breakfast back at the hotel.

Joanna went out for a massage. I stayed at the Boonthavon under the protection of the air conditioning.

Later in the afternoon, we went back to Wat Chedi Luang, the Temple of the Great Stupa. It also has the shrine to the city pillar.

I went in and still couldn’t see any obvious reason that women should be barred from entering.

I had wondered if the pillar has sexual connotations and the monks were being prudish.

Nothing like that. The walls are covered with very colorful historic murals, including a depiction of the earthquake that damaged the Great Chedi. In the center, raised above an altar, is a royal figure, possibly King Mengrai who founded Chiang Mai and installed the pillar at Wat Inthakin.

Joanna found the reason while I was inside sneaking photos of the shrine.

A sign in Thai, English, and traditional Han characters explains that women are barred entry because they menstruate. As in many Asian cultures, menstruation is considered unclean.

A menstruating woman entering the shrine would harm the sanctity of the pillar and lead to social disorder. The pillar itself “is now enshrined underground,” the sign says.

We hadn’t eaten Cantonese for a while, so dinner at Hong Kong Lucky was in order—pork with preserved mustard greens, roast duck, and gai lan, a kind of Chinese broccoli, with ginger.

It was all delicious. The pork was soft and rich, and the pickled greens were excellent with the rice. The duck was tender enough, sliced thin, like the pork.

Gai lan has an iron-rich taste and the ginger gave it a great bite.

We took a walk on the same route Sunday morning, too. This time, we got as far as the road with Wat Phra Singh, which may be the largest temple in the Old City. I’m not sure of the road’s name. Google Maps has it as Samlarn at one end and Singharat at the other.

In any event, it was after nine and getting very hot. We hid in the shade outside the August Hostel to cool down. 

We were next to a sign with an arrow pointing the way to a coffee shop called Tree Sis. We originally misread the name as referring to three sisters. It could be that, in heavily accented English, or it could be something else, maybe a Thai phrase. 

It was dangerously late in the day for me to have gone without coffee, so we went to the Tree Sis. I had a large iced coffee and Joanna had a rich yogurt smoothie with blueberries.

It was time to eat, too. Joanna chose something new, a dish of chicken with Thai basil. I had an omelet made with tomato and pork. 

They were both good, but the Thai basil was the star of the show. Its flavor is much stronger than the basil we get at home.

We visited Wat Phra Singh. According to information at the wat, the name comes from a Buddha image in the main hall: the Lion Buddha. 

No one seems to be sure about it.

Wikipedia is inconsistent. It sometimes refers to the image as Phra Sihing, and says the name doesn’t refer to a lion at all. At other times, the entry refers to Phra Singh.

The statue may have come from India, maybe by way of Ceylon. Its head may have been stolen in the 1920s. The head, or perhaps the whole statue, may be a replica.

According to the China Buddhism Encyclopedia web site, the Buddha is sometimes called a lion. He is often depicted on a lotus throne supported by eight lions. So Phra Singh (literally “Buddha Lion”) would be not unprecedented. 

Foreigners pay 20 baht to enter the main hall to see Phra Singh. Thais get in free. It is a very popular place, and people often pose for photos in front of the altar.

The other halls, including a small shrine with a reclining Buddha, are free to everybody.

There is a market next to the main hall. Joanna found something she has been trying to find for some time now, a pair of large ball earrings in silver.

After walking barefoot among the temples, it was time to take a break. I needed more coffee. 

We hired a tuk-tuk to the corner of our soi—a straight run along Ratchadamnone Road from the wat to the Tha Phae Gate. I got another iced coffee, this one in the air-conditioned confines of the Top Coffee shop in the Hotel M.

We picked up the laundry on the way up the soi to the Boonthavon. Then it was time for a nap.

We went to Lert Ros for some of that almost addictive grilled fish and some stir-fried vegetables. 

Then we ventured out to the Sunday Walking Street. This is the name of the market set up along Ratchadamnone Road every Sunday night.

It is so crowded, though, that it becomes a job just to walk there. We lasted one block and then strolled up Ratchapakkhinai Road to Archer’s for a half pint of Little Creatures IPA.

After that, we walked two doors farther to Annie’s. Trevor, the owner, told me that he had just added West Coast IPA from the Green Flash brewery to his draft beer list.

We sat at a table chatting with one man we knew, David, a Scotsman who told us he had lived in Australia for a while and had been a cowboy there. The other man introduced himself as Michael, who has an accent I couldn’t identify.

Michael said he is originally from southern Florida. He claims to come from Redneck stock, but his accent didn’t sound like it. Perhaps because he has lived outside the States for a long time.

The Green Flash IPA was terrific. I’ve had it from the bottle, but this was the first time I tasted the draft version.

I may have taken a few too many. I had a fall when we got back to the hotel. Most of my weight landed on my thumb. 

I don’t think I broke it, but did manage to sprain it pretty thoroughly and break the skin. So now I’m walking around with a Band-Aid wrapped around the knuckle.

Simple things, like putting on my trousers or socks, are a challenge today. It reminds me why cats put up with us. When we have opposable thumbs, we can open food cans.

It’s Monday and I’ve stayed inside all day. It’s about time to step out for dinner.

Good night, all, and don’t forget take care of your thumbs.

Harry