Imagine that you're a young woman choosing what to wear to church on Sunday morning in Anytown U.S.A. Do you go with the halter-top and the shortie-shorts? No? Then why the heck are you flouncing around in your beachwear at one of Thailand's most sacred Buddhist temples?
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| 309 steps up to the temple |
Founded in 1383, the grand
Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep sits atop a granite mountain overlooking Chiang Mai. Sunday is a Buddhist holiday and many locals are making the pilgrimage up Doi Suthep (the name of the mountain) to worship. Lian and I rent a
songthaew for the woozy 15-kilometer uphill slalom that puts us at the base of the temple, 309 steps above. We brave the gauntlet of food vendors and trinket sellers to make the climb.
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| Adorable hill tribe child in native costume |
The ornate temple buildings, the golden
chedi (a mound-like structure used for worship), the view of the city, the monks and dancers and worshipers -- it's almost sensory overload. Lian, a practicing Buddhist, is here on business; she buys a few offerings for her god -- "to give me good luck," she says -- while I hang back and take it all in.
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| Loaner sarongs for the culturally challenged |
I should mention, admission to
Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep is free for Thai people and 30 baht for foreigners ... probably to cover the cost of sarongs and shawls to drape over the clueless white girls who show up dressed for beach volleyball. Did they, or the t-shirted, baseball-capped dudes who brung 'em, read ANYTHING about Thai culture before they came here?
After an hour or so we descend to the parking area and locate our
songthaew driver, who agreed to wait for our return trip down the winding road. Lian's god apparently is in a pissy mood today and does not bestow good luck: instead Lian gets carsick and spews extravagantly and publicly all the way back to town. I tip the
songthaew driver an extra 50 baht for the many emergency stops.
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