Late afternoon trips around Chiangmai

[Lone Rider]

Did again what I do quite often - after a day working on maps and other stuf - take a late afternoon trip around Chiangmai to get some fresh air, see the country side, pop into a wat or visit one of the many reservoirs out there. So last Sunday it was off to Wat Phratat Doi Wiang (N18.61263 E99.17162) which you will find just before you reach the Mae Thi reservoir (N18.61372 E99.18586) at the end of Rd. 2029. Just some random pictures of the Wat as well as the Phratat Doi Wiang on top of the hill south of the wat.

Walking up from the Wat to the Phratat is possible but, as you gain about 100 meter in altitude over a distance of about 600 meter, it is not for the faint hearted

Views from Phratat Doi Wiang

 

[2wheels]

Very nice Auke.
The reflections in that pond are attractive, as are the views.

 

[Lone Rider]

Another day and another short trip; this time to the Mae Rim area

First stop at Wat Pa Dara Phirom. Coming from Chiangmai along the 107, take a right in Mae Rim on the old Rd 1096 and after crossing the irrigation canal, turn left and you can mot miss it (N18.91093 E98.94090). I passed this temple many time on my way to the X-Center but never took the time to have a look. This Temple was developed in the 1890s and was built on land donated by a decendant of the great Lanna Princess, Phra Raja Jaya, born Chao Dara Rasmi, 11th daughter to Chao Inthawichayanon, one of the last rulers of Chiang Mai and the Lanna Kingdom. Doi Inthanon was named after this King.

The large Lion or Singha Guardians at Wat Pa Dara Phirom

The main Wihan which houses many Buddha statues some of which are adotned with precious stones

The huge Buddha footprint

Statue of Chao Dara Resmi

Commerce creeping in or a genuine way to raise funds to take care of the many cats and dogs abandoned by their owners who dump them at the temple grounds. Once at the temple, the monks and nuns have to take care of them or rather try to take care of them with the limited funds they have.

Next stop was Phrathat Chum Mueang at N18.92099 E98.90124. While the temple is nothing special, the views over Mae Rim and Chiangmai in the dustance are well worth the climb up to the temple on the hill

Phrathat Chum Mueang

View over Mae Rim

Skyline of Chiangmai as seen from Phrathat Chum Mueang

 

[KTMphil]

Amazing viability, some great new stuff there.

 

[Lone Rider]

Had enough of staring at satellite images and maps so went of on another afternoon trip - this time to the Wiang Pa Pao area. Did some checking up on a few bits and pieces of the map and after pondering about the future of one of the GPS maps I am working on I popped into a few temples en route. Just a few pictures of the country side and the temples but it is evident that the "burning season" is upon us as it starts getting hazy already.

East of Wiang Pa Pao

Farmers busy with the next rice crop

Irrigation pumping system but no longer operational as floating debris had blocked the "driving" wheel

After deciding on how to proceed with the North Thailand offroad map it was of to Wat Aranyawiwek Khiri also known as Wat Phrathat Chompho in Wiang Pa Pao - N19.36400 E99.49579

This temple has a tunnel running from the entrance all the way to under the Buddha statue in the temple

Haven't seen this often in temples but this one had the "See no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil" statues - quite fitting to what I just had been pondering over while in the hills

Always wondered where this road, which goes up the hill from Rd 118, would bring me so this time I shot up the hill instead of continuing straight to Chiangmai (picture taken from the hill looking north at - N19.03816 E99.33294

This is what I found: the Udom Mongkhon Monastic Residence and further up the hill a few houses

 

[2wheels]

Nice find Auke.
I understand your 'pondering'!

 

[Lone Rider]

Just noticed this morning that I was a bit behind with my late afternoon trip reports so here is one I did a few months ago to Wat Phratat Doi Hang in Ban Thi - N18.67577 E99.15277 By the way, this temple seems to have some links with the Dhammakaya movement which is separate from the mainstream Buddhist teachings here in Thailand and while there I was handed several booklets in English on the movement so I would be able to become enlightened if I would wish so.

For more info on the Dhammakaya movement see: Dhammakaya Movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and Phra Dhammakaya Temple Controversy

The temple with an observation tower with magnificent views over the country side

The stairs up to the temple

Views from the observation tower to the south

Views to the north

 

[bsacbob]

It's a beautiful place to ponder Auke, maybe i need to take a trip there. Amazing that the place is deserted.

 

[Lone Rider]

Another one of my late afternoon trips as I needed some fresh air and this time decided that I would not look at temples but just to have another look at the new Mae Kuang suspension bridges (see also: http://www.rideasia.net/motorcycle-forum/threads/8981-The-new-Mae-Kuang-Chiang-Mai-suspension-bridge). The second bridge is not yet finished and it looks like it may take another month or so before it can be used. For me it is still not clear why they built 2 bridges right next to each other but I guess that time will tell. Just some pictures:








The view from the bridge


Safety first???


Top Quality Welding


Copying the "Pont des Arts" in Paris?


You never know what the future brings so it is better to keep the options open (2nd set of locks from the right)



Sign of the times to come? - the bridges are 166 meters long and 3 meters wide so a car would fit and the pole at the entrance of the bridge to prevent that cars would cross has now been cut.


and no parking at the bridge - on both sides of the bridge there were car parking area with cars parked


and progress: the bridge has now a coffeeshop and a mailbox on the Doi Saket side


And from here I went a bit further to the north where the last year or so there was quite a bit of construction going on - Google indicates that it will be the Chiangmai Campus of the Maha Chulalongkorn Rajavidyalaya University (coordinates N18.91829 E99.22199. The road to the University has now been paved and although the building looks ready with plenty of rooms for lecturing as well as accommodation I did not see anyone around although there was a lonely motorbike parked at the entrance.








The view from road 118 -the entrance is opposite the Pa Miang Municipal offices (coordinates N18.91365 E99.22817)


and yes, this is also the time of the year that we have lots of trees flowering - just one to color up this post: the "Flame of the Forest" or also known as Delonix regia or Poinciana regia

 

[Lone Rider]

Another trip but this time an early morning ride in the neighborhood to have a look at one of the many "Golden Rock" replicas. By the way, I did this trip more than a year ago but never came to posting it here. This replica is located at Wat Hua Dong Samakkhi Tham (coordinates N18.92082 E98.96180) just north-east of the bridge over the Ping in road 1260.









Another interesting thing at this temple were these ruins - my Thai is far from good enough to be able to read about the history but for those who read Thai here is what it is all about.