But I Would Walk 500 Miles

And I would walk 500 more. With all this talk of eating and eating and more eating, we thought we’d balance that out with exactly one post as proof that we are also exercising.

We had a free morning in Chiang Mai and we both thought to take advantage of the day by hiking Doi Suthep to Wat Phrathat, a temple that glistens in the sun on the side of the mountain overlooking Chiang Mai. It can be seen from practically any point within the city. We got up early, packed some snacks, filled the Camelbak with water, and scootered our way to the trailhead.

The hike was relatively easy for the first twenty or thirty minutes. At around that time, we happened upon Wat Pha Lat, which is another temple along the route. Smaller in size, it’s nestled right next to a wide, but shallow river stream with lots of large rocks that allow you to hop over to the other side. It also has a cave with many old Buddha statues. We stopped to enjoy the quiet peacefulness the place offered, as well as the cooler temperature.

Leaving Wat Pha Lat, we discovered that the hike suddenly got a lot steeper. Like vertical steep. But not for long because the trail soon runs into the main road. From what we’d read online, you are supposed to cross the street and look for the next trailhead in order to continue the hike. We did that, but when we started looking, we couldn’t find the trail.

The trail we’d already hiked was clearly worn down and, lining the way up, were lots of trees with orange ties knotted around them. These ties were placed by monks demarcating the trees as holy. By doing so, they also protected the land. If someone were to cut down the tree, bad Karma would result in both their present and future lives. But we couldn’t find any such orange ties or any inkling of a trailhead across the street. Perhaps we were in the wrong spot?

So, we reluctantly trudged up the highway in hopes of finding the next trailhead. Twenty minutes in, we realized we weren’t going to find it. I wasn’t into getting lost in the jungle, so I urged us to continue alongside the highway. And so, our nature hike became an urban hike. While we didn’t have the crisp jungle atmosphere, we did have the opportunity on several occasions to get a sprawling view of Chiang Mai from the vista points.

It’s four miles uphill from Wat Pha Lat to Wat Phrathat, or about 2 hours. Once we arrived at Wat Phrathat, we discovered that we had another 309 steps up the stairs in order to enter! On either side of the stairs were these exquisitely maintained and very colorful ceramic dragon guardians creating one of the grandest entrances to a wat we’ve ever seen (and by this point in time, we’d seen a lot of wats!)

At the top, we were asked to pay the foreigner fee to gain entrance. We paid and then took our shoes off. The temple has a grand golden stupa and a pretty cool jade Buddha statue. But honestly, nothing compares to the Shwedagon pagoda in Yangon. It was also very crowded with tourists, so we didn’t stay too long. Just enough time to rehydrate, munch on our snacks, and watch other tourists take ridiculous, silly photographs of themselves. My favorite was the young Asian couple who purposefully incorporated an ice cream cone into their photo montage: there was the peeking-behind-a-statue ice cream lick, the over-the-shoulder ice cream lick, and the tilted-head-and-wide-eyed ice cream lick.

Shiv and I had entertained the idea of getting a songtaew (shared taxi) down, but after an unsuccessful bargain we opted to just hike down ourselves. Two hours later, we were back at our apartment. We showered and then treated ourselves to a 90-minute coconut oil massage. It was glorious, and well-deserved.

Later that night, we ate at Kings of Larb in preparation for our upcoming trip to Laos. Larb is a traditional Laos dish of minced meat, and, to me, it’s a really funny word. Larb. Larb.

Larb.