Doi Suthep

Yesterday, Rozie and I went on a real outing, and climbed the mountain called Doi Suthep -- with a motor bike. Those of you who read the first round of this blog (in 2006) will recognize the mountain has the same name of the Buddhist temple that sits above Chiang Mai.

I think Rozie’s shots of the naga, the dragonlike guardians of the temple, do them more justice.

I especially like this one because it looks like she's developed a case of typhoid and hasn't yet gotten the antibiotics on board.










Rozie found Wat Doi Suthep to be an odd experience. First of all, there were no monks there, other than one monk in each of two little meditation halls, giving out blessing strings for a donation. We did see a mae jin, which is a woman who has renounced worldly life for religious vocation, and dresses all in white with a shaved head. Rozie had read about them -- they have no status in the stratified Thai society as there is no tradition of female ordination there, and they have very little material support, but some abbots allow them to live within their Wats in return for doing chores. This particular mae jin was working the gift shop, where you could buy Buddha key chains.

In front of the stupa and golden Buddha representations, Rozie made offerings of incense, candles and silk flowers for the both of us, in the Thai manner, and then watched amusedly, as the Wat attendants (laypeople) gathered up the flowers and brought them back to the vending area to be resold to the next batch of visitors. The stupa was still under restoration scaffolding (as it had been 2 years ago), but it was very nice to circumambulate it - a new experience for these westerners, and it is indeed very meditative. It was beautiful and peaceful up there, even with the throngs of visitors and the lack of any active Dharma.


On our way down Doi Suthep we checked out a local waterfall. I have to admit, living in the northwest, I'm a little jaded when it comes to waterfalls, but this one is notable because we actually got a shot of two of us together.

Looking at this photo I guess I must have have lost some weight. But in case any of you are tempted to use either of these diseases as a weight loss method, let me assure you that you only lose weight in your face. (Rozie says that's not really true, we both look rather sickly all over.)