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Chiang Mai has in excess of 300 temples (121 within the thêtsàbaan or municipal limits) - almost as many as are in Bangkok - a circumstance that makes the old city centre visually striking. A tour of some of the more interesting temples begins at Wat Chiang Yeun on Th Mani Nopharat, outside the northeastern corner of the old city, east of Pratu Chang Pheuak. Besides the large northern-style stupa here, the main attraction is an old Burmese colonial-style gate and pavilion on the eastern side of the school grounds attached to the wat.
Turning south on Th Sanam Kila, you come to Wat Chiang Man on Th Ratchaphakhinai. A stone slab engraved in 1581 and erected here bears the earliest known reference to the city's 1296 founding. It's a typical northern Thai temple, with two important Buddha images kept in a glass cabinet inside the smaller sanctuary. Several blocks to the southwest is Anusawari Sam Kasat, or Three Kings Monument - not a temple but three bronze sculptures portraying men in 14th-century royal costume. They represent the three northern kings most associated with Lanna history. Nearby on Th Phra Pokklao is the Chiang Mai Arts & Cultural Centre, a masterpiece of post-colonial Thai architecture.
Heading west along Th Inthawaroot you eventually come to Wat Prasat, one of the oldest unreconstructed temple structures in Chiang Mai. Its multi-tiered roofs and wood-and-plaster walls are characteristic of traditional Lanna-style architecture. Chiang Mai's most visited Buddhist temple, Wat Phra Singh, is just opposite on Th Singarat. It owes its fame to the fact that it houses the city's most revered Buddha image, Phra Singh (Lion Buddha). Architecturally it's a perfect example of the late 14th-century northern Thai or Lanna-style temple.
Heading back east along Th Ratchadamnoen, Wat Phan Tao (on Th Phra Pokklao) contains a large, old teak wíhǎan (large hall in a Thai temple) that is one of the unsung treasures of Chiang Mai. Diagonally adjacent is Wat Chedi Luang, a complex enclosing a very large and venerable Lanna-style stupa (conical shaped Buddhist monument) dating from 1441, now in partial ruins. Head south along Th Phra Pokklao towards the Night Bazaar for some refreshments.
A Top Day in Chiang Mai
The Thais are growing excellent coffee these days, so I like to start the morning off with a steaming mug of fresh-roasted arabica and a plate of French toast at the Libernard Café. After reading yesterday's Bangkok Post and watching local monks shuffle by on their morning alms rounds, I'll pedal my bike across the street as mist rises off the 150-year-old moats surrounding the old city. Once past the restored brick remnants of Pratu Tha Phae, I aim my handlebars for the geographic and cultural heart of Chiang Mai. First I stop at the Three Kings Monument to pay my respects to the founding fathers of Chiang Mai's Lanna kingdom. Afterwards I bike into the compound of the 1924-vintage provincial hall, a masterpiece of post-colonial Thai architecture now serving as a space dedicated to northern Thai art and culture, to check the latest exhibits. If I'm in the mood to contemplate more fine architecture, I'll head for one of the 33 historic Buddhist temples located inside the old city quadrangle. The side-by-side Wat Chedi Luang, home to the tallest stupa (conical shaped Buddhist monument) in Chiang Mai, and Wat Phan Tao, assembled from exquisitely carved wooden panels taken from a Thai palace, never fail to inspire. Dodging traffic in the old city incites hunger, so I'll stop in at either Si Phen or Heuan Phen for a lunch of Chiang Mai sausages and flaming green chilli dip. Fuelled for further city explorations, I'll scoot through the narrow, winding soi (lanes) at random, ever marvelling at Chiang Mai street life, the noodle vendors, the laughing schoolchildren, the European backpackers searching for a guesthouse and young housewives hanging out their laundry. As the late afternoon traffic and heat get to be a bit much, I'll pack the bike into the back of a red săwngthăew (pick-up truck taxi) and ask the driver to head for the lower slopes of Doi Suthep, just west of the city. At the Huay Kaew Restaurant I'll enjoy a cold Singha while watching a waterfall tumble over tree-shaded rocks.
Author: Joe Cummings
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