Temple Hopping in the Heat

This morning we got up at half 9, got ready and hailed a songthaew (taxi - see photo) from outside the reception to the zoo for 40 baht. Then from the zoo we waited until there were ten people, and got another Songthaew up to Doi Suthep temple. It wasn't a very comfortable journey but it wasn't too long. We walked up 300+ steps from where we were dropped off up to the temple. It wasn't the most magnificent temple we've seen but it was quite nice. At the back there was a balcony that offered excellent views of Chiang Mai and it's airport. It was a little bit hazy so the view wasn't the clearest but it was still nice. Walking over to the balcony was weird as it was down some stairs so it looked like there was just nothing beyond the edge. It looked like we were walking into the sky. We took photos and stood and admired the view for and snores while before heading back down. Before getting a songthaew back down we discussed going to some waterfalls but decided it wasn't particularly economically efficient what with distances and national parks fees so just caught two songthaews back to the hostel.

It was very hot today, around 35°, so when we got back to the hostel we collapsed in our airconditioned room for a while. At around half past 3 we went back out to see some more temples. We saw Wat Phan On, went inside and stood by a fan and then moved on to the next one. Wat Phan Tao was originally living quarters for Wat Chedi Luang next door, but now it's it's own temple.  Wat Chedi Luang was quite impressive and fancy. There was also a ruined building at the back but I'm not sure it was and we couldn't go into it.

After Wat Chedi Luang we got a drink before heading on to our final temple of the day, Wat Phra Singh. There was some religious ceremony going on and there was as lots of monks chanting and praying in the temple, which was quite cool to see. We couldn't go in as we were wearing shorts and strap tops and there were no coverings available like at the other temples.

After Wat Phra Singh we got a tuktuk back to the hostel as we were struggling in the heat and chilled for an hour before heading out for dinner. We went to little restaurant close by, where I had chicken satay and fried rice and Lauren had spag bol. Then we returned to the hostel to shower and chill. 

Inside Chedi Luang

Wat Phra Singh