Chiang Rai and Buddhist Holidays
This post contains the first half of my trip to Chiang Rai.
I haven’t been traveling much this semester so far – feeling a bit worn out
after traveling so much last semester over the break. I went to Ko Samet for a
long weekend in May, but spent it under a heaping pile of misery. Needless to
say, I didn’t have much fun, nor was I much fun to be around, I’m sure. But we
had a 4-day weekend... I felt I needed to go SOMEWHERE. So I did. And it was
great.
This past weekend contained two very important days for Thai
Buddhists – Asanha Puja and the start of Khao Pansa. Asanha Puja celebrates
Buddha’s first sermon to 5 followers, who would become his disciple s – thereby
establishing the monkhood. It occurs on the full moon of the 8th
lunar month. Asanha Puja is celebrated by the making and giving of candles to
the temples. At school, the students and staff made 2 candles by pouring hot
beeswax into large molds. I also stopped by to pour some wax in one, which is
supposed to bring good luck. I could probably use it. I also contributed some
money/wax at our local temple.
The day after marks the start of Khao Pansa, also referred
to as “Buddhist Lent”. This time of year coincides with the heaviest part of the
rainy season. It was started when Buddha forbade the monks for traveling
outside their temples, in fear that they might step on plants and kill them (this
is also the time of year many farmers’ crops start growing, especially rice,
after the scorching hot season). The monks often spend this time in intense
reflection, study, and meditation. For
the layman, this is a time when many try to live a purer life – some might give
up smoking, drinking, or eating meat for this 3-month period. It’s also the
traditional time for young men to enter the monkhood. Young men are supposed to
spend around 10 days as a monk – like a rite of passage. This earns merit for
them and their entire families. In May, I went to a friends’ ordination – it was
very interesting to witness.
On Friday, July 19,
the students brought the candles to four nearby temples. I didn’t have class at
the time so I ran down and joined the parade. I went with the group who dropped
their candle off at Wat Priya Pap. The candle was put on a platform decorated
with flowers, and was carried by a few Mattayom (middle school aged) boys. I
was sure they were going to drop it. We joined other neighbourhood schools at
the local government building, and split into 4 different parades (for
different temples). Each parade was escorted by a marching band. Some schools
went all out, with students and/or teachers dressed in the traditional formal
dress. It was very neat! And beautiful. At the temple, the parade walked around
the main chapel three times (standard for most celebrations). Then, we went
inside to give the monks the candle. Inside, we all sat and the monks passed
around two spools of string for everyone to hold. This is common when the monks
give a blessing. Anyway, first a student led a prayer. Then the monks gave a
blessing. I think. It was all in Thai. I had to leave right away at the end of the
blessing so I could go catch my bus to Chiang Rai. Because of the holiday, we
had a 4-day weekend and I decided to go to Chiang Rai – somewhere I’ve wanted
to go since I arrived in Thailand basically.
Anyway, I left my apartment around 4:30pm – my bus left at
7:50pm, so I figured that gave me plenty of time. WRONG. Traffic in Bangkok is
usually terrible, and I figured it would be especially bad since it was a long
weekend. It was a lot worse than I anticipated. On a good day, it takes about
40 minutes to get to Mo Chit 2 bus station from my apartment on the express
bus. With traffic, the longest it had taken me to get to Mo Chit was about an
hour and a half. TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER, I was still about what would
normally take about 15 minutes to the bus station. And the traffic was still
awful. My bus was leaving in 50 minutes and was seriously expecting not to make
in on time. So, I decided to get off the bus and hop on a motorbike-taxi. When
traffic is bumper-to-bumper (like it
was), motorbikes are the fastest way to get around, as they weave around cars,
drive on sidewalks, and take red lights as more of a suggestion. Desperate
times call for desperate measures. So I got off the bus, and hopped on one. It
was slightly terrifying, but I got to the bus station with about 30 minutes to
spare. Huzzah. And I DEFINITELY would have missed by bus if I hadn’t taken the
motorcycle.
July 20
Chiang Rai province is the northern-most province in
Thailand. It boasts a neat little city, and amazing nature. The bus took 11 hours:
I spent the first few hours listening to “The Vinyl Cafe” podcast, then slept
the rest of the way. I arrived around 7:00am, caught the shuttle into town,
then walked to my hostel. I booked my room in advance at a hostel called Fun-D
(ฝันดี – “good dreams”). The hostel
itself is only 3 months old, and it was great! Excellent rooms and facilities,
and the staff was very friendly and helpful. I checked in, and one of the staff
recommended I take a free tram tour of the city. For FREE. My plan was to
wander around that day, so I figured this would be a good way to get oriented.
I then went up to my dorm, and met the other people staying – who were also
going on the tram tour. There was Mandy from China, Kelvin from Canada (also
living in Bangkok, haha), and Jack and James from England.
At 9:30am, we boarded our
tram – most of the other people were Thai, and our guide spoke Thai. Haha, no
big deal. Our stops included Wat Phra Singh, Wat Phra Kaew (with the Emerald Buddha)(made
from Canadian Jade), Wat Doi Ngam Mueang, Wat Phra That Doi Jom Thong (and city
navel pillar), and Wat Ming Mueang. They were all very beautiful.
After the tour, we
wandered around town for a bit – running various errands (the group I met was
leaving for Laos the next day). After that, we had lunch the caught a sawng-tao
to Wat Rong Khun, otherwise known as the White Temple. This is one of the landmarks
of Chiang Rai. It is a Buddhist temple, built in 1997 by artist/architect
Chalermchai Kositpipat. The temple was stunning – white and glittery. There
were some very odd aspects to it as well – including skull-pilons, creepy
statues, and what not. Inside the chapel, there one wall was painted with many
movie/cartoon characters (including Batman, Doraemon, and others), as well as
the World Trade towers on fire. It is supposed to represent “delusion and
rebirth”. It was a little strange. One of the guys I was with really didn’t
like the temple, saying it was just a tourist trap. I wonder what Thai
Buddhists think of it – there were people praying inside. Hmmm... But i still thought it was really neat!
After the temple, we
relaxed in our hostel for while by watching “The Impossible” in the common
room. “The Impossible” is a movie about the tsunami that hit the Andaman coast
in 2004. For dinner, we went to the Saturday Walking Street in the town centre.
It was the best walking street I have seen yet – many stalls with all sorts of
food and merchandise. We got some food and went to sit in the main square,
where there was dancing – sort of like Thai square dancing. It was quite the
spectacle. The joined in for a while – much fun was had! After, we wandered the
street. Got caught in a downpour for a while – ‘tis the rainy season after all.
Anyway this post has gone
on long enough – part 2 will follow shortly.
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