July 20 - Doi Suthep

This morning Jo, our guide, picked us up and took us to an old temple inside the walled portion of Old Chiang Mai. The grounds were covered with school children who were opening the Buddhist Lent holiday. Tomorrow is the first day of a 4 day holiday beginning the Buddhist Lent. During this several week period the monks are required to stay at the temple to pray and meditate. Large yellow decorative candles are presented as gifts to the monks as symbols of the days they would have needed the candles to pray and study.

Jo then drove us up the mountain called Doi Suthep to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the most revered Buddhist shrine in northern Thailand. A white elephant is believed to have carried a sacred relic of Buddha up the mountain to this spot. The temple was crowded with people lighting incense, receiving blessings from the monks and giving the monks gifts of food for the Lenten season. The temple had many Buddha statues, numerous carvings and a pagoda covered in gold leaf. Normally there is a great view of Chiang Mai from the temple grounds, but low clouds prevented our viewing of the city from above.

On our way back to the car we stopped at a jade factory. We watched a short movie about the different kinds of jade and then saw several workers carving statues and setting jade stones in jewelry. There was a large jewelry store connected to the factory. Jade is mined in many colors, from the green we normally see to lavender, gold and white. We looked at several pendants and earrings combining lavender jade with blue sapphires. They were very beautiful, but the cost was more than we wanted to pay.

We left the jade factory, and drove down the mountain, stopping at a small waterfall. It started to rain, so we didn’t stay long. It was close to noon and I was getting hungry. I had eaten only toast and tea for breakfast as my first food since my bout with intestinal trouble. Jo suggested a small restaurant. I was leary as Thai food didn’t sound, wise at this point. We went and Jo helped me order a clear soup with broth, coconut milk, chicken and vegetables, but no spices. The waitress looked at me a question in her eyes, but wrote it down. The manager came over and asked if we were sure we wanted no spices. Alan had Pad Thai and Jo has a basil dish with fish. The soup was very good and was not spiced, except for slices of ginger, with I could avoid. With a side of rice it was filling and bland, which was good. Alan enjoyed the Pad Thai as well. Of course, we had the fruit shakes as well.

The afternoon tour was to cover the factories producing the various traditional Thai crafts; sapphire and ruby jewelry, silverware, and silk weaving. We have heard from several people that you needed to buy from the factories to make sure you were buying authentic items. We quickly discovered the factory tours were quick surface looks at the production process on the way to large showrooms of merchandise for purchase. We came to Thailand hoping to find sapphire jewelry for my upcoming “special birthday”. We saw a very beautiful pendant with blue, yellow, pink and white sapphires that we came close to purchasing. While it was truly unique with sapphires of clarity better than I’ve ever seen, neither of us could spend the money required. I would have only been comfortable wearing it on very special occasions! We visited the other showrooms and purchased a couple scarves and a pearl bracelet, both inexpensive thanks in part to the rising value of the dollar in comparison to the Thai baht. We specifically asked to see the weavers and were able to see the silk woven on hand looms.

Purchasing anything at a market or in a factory showroom is quite an experience. No prices are marked. At a market, the attendant of each stall speaks to you and picks up anything your eyes land on for more than a few seconds. They open packages and lay the item out fully for you to look at. Any excuse is used to tell you the item is discounted, such as you are their first customer of the evening, if you buy, they will be lucky, etc. If you refuse the price, they ask you what you will pay. You need to be careful here, as you need to be sure you will pay what you say or go considerably lower so they will counter. At the factory showrooms, you have one, two, or three personal attendants that follow you around the store to show you anything you show the slightest interest in and suggest other colors if you put something back and start to walk on. Prices are supposed to be fixed, but almost every time, our attendant would tell us that, but say she would talk to her manager. The manager comes over and gives you a lower price. If you say no, you praise the item and thank them for the price, assuring them you know the item is worth the price, but it’s still more than you can pay. As you leave, your attendant will stop you near the door, tell you they want you to be happy, and ask you to give them a price to take back to their manager. The next time I become frustrated in a US store when there is no one available to help me, I hope I remember to stop and appreciate the ability to look and think about potential purchases in silence!

After the factory tours, we went back to the hotel for a short nap. We then visited the night market for a few final gifts. We decided to eat at Burger King as we had eaten Thai food for lunch. The milkshake was a familiar treat. We washed out some clothes to dry over night and packed as we leave Chiang Mai early tomorrow morning.