Doi Suthep/Bo Sang

Thursday, May 1, 08
Chiang Mai is old. Built in 1296 by Thai king Phaya Mengrai, the old city is enclosed in a moat and was walled. Parts of the walls are still visible. Walking to the edge of the old city, and riding a sawngthaew, a small pickup with a camper shell (see photos) to the zoo, I catch another sawngthaew to Wat Phra Doi Suthep, a temple and monastery at the top of a hill (1676 m), 8 km out of town. First order, some good - it's 10:45. Certainly, I can do such things as getting here much faster. But, this way I can sit in the back with 10 others. One young man is hanging on the back. Across from me, a young girl and her mother are talking. It mostly centers, I can read this through their gestures, around how to clear your ears as we climb through the winding curves. Next to me, a man doesn't like the exhaust fumes. Back at the zoo, I would have missed my ride if a kind man hadn't called and pointed. They must wonder how I ever got this far. Food is vegetables and chicken on rice. An egg tops the mound.
At the top of the 306 steps, is a copper-plated chedi topped by a 5-tiered gold umbrella -one of the holiest chedi in Thailand. I stop at the border rooms and watch ceremonies of blessing. Devotion is being shown by walking around the chedi and then placing the three symbols in their appropriate places - flower, candle and incense stick. On the way out I pay 10B and pick up a packet of three incense sticks and two yellow candles. Retracing my steps down the staircase I find a toilet. Stepping to the urinal, the packet of incense and candles slip out of my grasp toward the porcelain. Grabbing hurriedly, I am successful, but wonder what the meaning of that would have been! A sawngthaew drops me within walking distance of my room.
Following a shower and nap I head out. It's 2:30, I should know better than to start something new mid-afternoon, in the heat of the day. I walk to the flower market - 30 minutes, and wait for a sawngthaew to take me to Bo Sang, about 12 km east of town. I ask a man to show me which one - it's the white one, red this morning. This mode of transportation has a fixed rate, works on the same order as a city bus. Here it comes. It's packed! I'll have to hang on the back with two others. Clinging to the left side, I get a good left foot grip and a toe hold with my right. Wrapping my arm around a ladder and my right digging into a top rack, we are good to go. It's hot as a stocked fire, the sun beating down on us. The tops of my feet, I'm in flip flops, are feeling a burn coming on if this continues. It does! We pull overand insiders are exiting the sauna. 11 are inside, 3 hanging on the back and 3 large containers down the middle, seating is along the sides. Halfway there, I adjust my daypack and it slides off my shoulder. A mad attempt is made, but it kerplops into the street - we're in the slow lane. With hollers and pressing of the buzzer, the driver brings us to a stop. I run back, grab it from the dodging traffic and return to regain my perch. Putting the pack on properly, on my back, with the belly strap fastened, rather than casually over my shoulder, as previously, I have a chagrined look on my face. I had chosen to carry it that way because of the heat. No longer! We're close, 5 km, 2 km, 1 km. I see a sign for the craft fair and press the buzzer. I must be a curious one to my fellow passengers. All wave and smile. Or, maybe, I'm fitting right in. Lord, and to think I'll be riding back!