Happy Thanksgiving!
There were two things I wanted to make sure we did within the old city walls - get a Thai massage at the women's correctional facility and go to Wat Chiang Man.
So we started with some morning beverages (coffee something for Alisa and Thai milk tea for me) and walked to the prison!
The inmates get trained, then the money they make from their massages is put away for when they are released. We're assuming these aren't violent criminals - though a Thai massage is pretty violent.
We spent an hour getting pummeled ("I literally had to try and think of happy things during parts because it hurt so much," said Alisa. I wasn't in that much pain, but especially the back bends were close) then were given some tea to enjoy in the garden outside. If convicts is a little to real, the ex-cons are down the street.
Next was the walk to our planned wat for the day. The walk to the temple was long enough for me to find a banana shake on the way! My Thanksgiving success.
Wat Chiang Man has a reference to the 1296 founding of Chiang Mai, so is thought to be one of the oldest temples at about 400 years. It also has a couple Buddhas of note - one with a crystal platform and a marble bas-relief. It was quiet and cute, and good for planning our next move.
There was a mile or so walk that seemed to include some mildly interesting things (one of the bridges over the canal surrounding the city, the White Elephant Monument, Wat Chiang Yeun). Mostly, the walk was hot and through some industrial (real world) sections of Chiang Mai outside the old city. There weren't great sidewalks, but we managed to stay mostly in the shade. The bridge was fine, the monument was lackluster, and the wat was confusingly behind a school and worth only a couple minutes.
So, hot and hungry, we stumbled into the first restaurant across the canal, a Chinese place. I went for the dumpling balls (pork, red bean, date, and other pork - they were out of egg custard!) while Alisa had a noodle dish.
There are pros and cons to planning your days as you go. It means spontaneous island-hopping adventures. It also means if it is hot or I'm feeling lazy that it's easy to lapse into apathy. I didn't want to shop, didn't want to eat, didn't know of another wat, wanted some air conditioning, but didn't like the majority of the museums suggested. Alisa didn't have an opinion, but wasn't too keen on my suggestion of a contemporary art gallery.
But, lack of other ideas spurred us on. Wattana Art Gallery was tucked away outside the city, a bit beyond Chiang Mai University (another CMU like my alma mater!) and past Wat Umong.
This art gallery is really just Wattana's personal residence and art space. It is a gallery, but of his works. Despite the slightly awkward expectations versus reality, he was a dear and talked me through some of his newer work. He took the art of making paper with a local fiber and superimposed it on fabric from the hill tribes. We chatted about the symbolism, then Alisa and I scoped out the upstairs. I bought a book of his and had him sign it - the $2000 pieces weren't really what I was looking for.
We walked over to Wat Umong. A forest wat, it was much more peaceful than its city counterparts. Except for the roosters. A few, like the one at our guest house, enjoyed being heard a little too much.
There was a tunnel system with different shrines that eventually led to a staircase up to the chedi. A monk on his cell was pacing around it, but otherwise it had a regal mood.
Also in the complex were buildings of men chanting (maybe students) and bookstore/museums. But who needs knowledge when you can just have luck? We headed to the fish pond.
It was those same slimy, sinuous brown fish with whiskers. Alisa says catfish, and I guess they are, but they have one continuous backfin that makes them so snake-like. There was also a couple gold koi and a turtle. And a million pigeons.
We managed to harangue a tuktuk into taking us back to our guesthouse for some A/C.
And then, in true Thanksgiving fashion, it was time for a feast!
We took a tuktuk to the Riverside, our Thanksgiving feast.
I'm so thankful for this wonderful travel partner, that ruby fish cooked two ways, and my banana dessert.
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