Thailand - Chiang Mai 1
Photo Gallery of Chiang Mai in Thailand..
Chiangmai is the largest city in Northern Thailand, about one hour from Bangkok, was the capital of the ancient kingdom in the north of Thailand, " Lanna Thai " (Kingdom of a million rice fields). (In 1296, the capital was moved from Lamphun to Chiangmai.) It still has old city walls and gates.
Temperatures are a little cooler than in Bangkok and I like the relaxing atmosphere. Chiang Mai is one my favorite cities in Thailand.
(The picture above: Tha Phae Gate)The city is very large and they have a lot of building, shops and temples. If you have time, it's better to stay there for some days to see around but if you don't, go around the city using local transportation such as Sam Lor (a very convenient bicycle taxi) because even if it's a little cooler than in Bangkok, it's still very warm. :D )
They have a rich culture and you can enjoy visiting various places such as Doi Suthep, Doi Inthanon, Elephant camp, hill tribes, night market and other many historical places. I still have a lot of places to visit.
Chian Mai can be the center to explore the northern Thailand because other cities such as Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son, Lampang and Lamphun are not so far.
I hear that a lot of Japanese go and live there after their retirement and I want to live and relax in Thailand after retirement, too. :D
See the Chiang Mai 2 about Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai.
See the Chiang Mai 3 about MaeSa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai.
[ChiangMai] The city and the city wall |
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Let's see around the city of Chiangmai in the north of Thailand.Chiangmai was the capital of the ancient kingdom in the north of Thailand, " Lanna Thai " and the city still has city walls, gates, and moats along the walls. The picture left shows a view of New Years around the big gate called " Tha Phae Gate". (About the gate, see the picture of the top of this page.) The "Tha Phae Gate" is located at the east side of the city walls and its origin dates back to 1296 when King Mengrai of Lannathai put the capital in Chiangmai. The gate was called "Chiang Ruak Gate" after a village's name nearby but it was gradually called "Inner Tha Phae Gate" because the gate outside of the city was called "Outer Tha Phae Gate". After the outside gate was gone, the gate became just simply "Tha Phae Gate". The current gate was rebuilt around 1985 to 1986. By the way "Tha Phae" means "raft". |
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| street (A scenery of a street in Chiangmai.) |
along a street (A lot of Tuk-tuks are working.) |
Near the city wall (a scenery of a street near the city wall.) |
Police (A police box near the city wall.) |
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| City wall and a fountain (Relaxing atmosphere with the city wall and a fountain.) |
Along a moat (A view along a moat.) |
City wall (Around New Years, the place is decorated like this. It's beautiful.) |
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| Tha Phae Gate 1 (The gate is made of wood. It's a big gate, much taller than the persons.) |
Tha Phae Gate 2 (The view along the wall.) |
Along the city wall (A road along the city wall. When you go on the road, you'll see some parts of the wall are broken.) |
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| Tuk-tuk (The representative vehicle in Thailand, Tuk-tuk. A lot of Tuk-tuks works in Chiangmai also.) |
Sam Lor (A bicycle taxi, Sam Lor. It's very convenient. The driver had good smiles.) |
The internet (An Internet cafe. 20 Baht per hour.) |
Doraemon (The famous Japanese cartoon character, "Doraemon" was put between the pictures of the King of Thailand in a Song taew, a shared-taxi in Thailand.) |
[ChiangMai] Wat Chedi Luang |
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Wat Chedi Luang was built about six hundred years ago. It was the tallest chedi in the
era of Lanna Thai.
In 1391, King Saen Muang Ma (1386-1401) built this temple for his father,
King Kuna. In 1479-1481, the pagoda was reconstructed and enlarged to 80 meters in height and 56 meters on each side at its base. It was a mixture of Lans, Sri lankan, and Pagan architectural forms.The most sacred Buddha image in Thailand, the Emerald Buddha, was enshrined here once for about 80 years. In 1545, during the reign of Queen Chiraprabha, the 15th monarch of Mangrai dynasty (1545-1546), a heavy rainstorm and an earthquake toppled part of the great spire like what we can see these days. A driver of a bicycle taxi called Sam Lor took us to this temple. It was a very impressive moment when the view of the chedi, the quite different shape from other temples, came into my eyes. |
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| View From another angle. |
Upper part Collapsed upper part. Originally, it must have been a sharp roof. |
Upper part Another angle. A Buddha image can be seen. |
Naga Naga (five headed snake god) stays and protect the chedi at the end of each stairs. |
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| Naga Close up of Naga. Hmmm, is this stairs ? or a slide ? |
View around Around the chedi. |
Elephants Elephants protect the chedi around. |
Other view 1 There are buildings in the site. |
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| Other view 2 Dragons protect at the entrance. |
Reclining Buddha Reclining Buddha with his head on his right arm. |
What is this ...? I often see a offering with bank notes like this but what is this ... ? |
To the top Using the machine like the picture, people put water on the top. |
[ChiangMai] Thai Dance |
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| The pictures here are Thai Dance taken in a restaurant
when we went to have dinner, khantoke dinner (special northern Thai
food), where there was a stage around the center and they were dancing
elegantly. It looks like Thai dances in Northern areas feature slower pace motions. |
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| Thai Dance 1 | Thai Dance 2 | Thai Dance 3 | Thai Dance 4 (dance of peacock.) |
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| Thai Dance 5 (dance of peacock.) |
Thai Dance 6 (dance of fisherman.) |
Thai musical instrument (A hotel shows musical instrument played.) |
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[ChiangMai] Doi Suthep |
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This temple is " Wat Prathat Doi Suthep " at the 1,080-meter summit of Doi Suthep mountain.("Wat" means "temple", "Doi" is "mountain")It looks like this is the most famous tourist place in Chiang Mai. The wat was built in 1383 during the reign of King Kuena, the 8th ruler of Chiang Mai. There is a legend like below: King Kuena was given a holy bone relic of the Buddha. He put it on the back of a white elephant and let it roam free. After several days, the elephant reached the top of Doi Suthep and passed away overlooking the town. That is the place where the temple was built. This place has a beautiful golden chedi (stupa) and decorated umbrella as symbols of this temple like the picture above and is visited by many people, not only tourists from overseas but Thai local people as well. You need to go up the long flight of stairs, 306 steps, to reach the temple but try it while enjoying the nature around. :) By the way, foreigners have to pay 30 Baht (about 0.85 U.S. Dollars). (as of Jan. 2007) (While I was looking around at the top of the stairs, someone patted my shoulder and told me, "You have to buy the ticket" in English. I don't think I was asked to pay last time, though... :D) |
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[Doi Suthep] Around and the long stairs |
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| The way to the top (Go up and up the way by car ! :D) |
Around the entrance 1 (Finally, we came around the temple. It's a relaxing place with a lot of green.) |
Around the entrance 2 (A lot of shops will welcome you.) |
Around the entrance 3 (A shared taxi called "Songthaew". The red one can be seen so often in Chiang Mai city.) |
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| The entrance 1 (Go through this gate and go up the looong flight of stairs.) |
The entrance 2 (Close-up of the gate. Looks like the gate of Wat Prathart Phu Kao in Chiang Rai.) |
The entrance 3 (After going through the gate, you will see a lot of shops. :D) |
The entrance 4 (Desert of strawberry are sold. 20Baht (around 0.03 U.S.Dollar)) |
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| The entrance 5 (Some women sell flowers to visit the temple.) |
Long stairs 1 (Long flight of stairs with 306 steps. Try it ! :D) |
Long stairs 2 (The temple is still up there, long away.) |
Long stairs 3 (Four head dragons stay on the both sides of the stairs.) |
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| Long stairs 4 (Finally, the temple is coming. :) ) |
Guardians gods (Yak-like guardian deities stand. They are like "A-Un" guardian gods in Japan. Their faces are different from Yaks that I ever seen. About Yak, see the page of Grand Palace in Bangkok.) |
Looking down (Looking down, you must feel you've come up very high. :) ) |
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[Doi Suthep] The temple on the top |
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| Doi Suthep 1 (The atmosphere around the temple. A lot of people here.) |
Doi Suthep 2 (Going through this gate and you can get inside. Take off your shoes, please.:) ) |
Doi Suthep 3 (Buddha images are in a line with Buddhist paintings on the wall.) |
Doi Suthep 4 (Big shining chedi (stupa). See ?) |
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| Chedi 1 (Shining golden chedi and umbrella. They are symbols of this temple. The chedi is 22 meters high. You can see the whole view of the chedi in the right picture.) |
Chedi 2 (Another angle of the chedi and the umbrella.) |
Chedi 3 (Close-up of the head of the chedi. You will see it is decorated with a pattern.) |
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| Chedi 4 (Close-up of the body of the chedi. You will see it is decorated with a pattern as well.) |
Around the chedi 1 (The left statue has a stick in the right hand and an umbrella in the left. I never seen this kind of style...) |
Around the chedi 2 (Buddha statues with monkeys. Is this from some old tales ?) |
Around the chedi 3 (Decorations from banana leaves. Is this for a new year ?) |
[ChiangMai] Doi Pui (Meo Tribal Village) |
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The "Meo Tribal Village", a little further than "Doi Suthep" (in the part above)
from Chiang Mai city. You can see the village where one of hill tribes of Northern Thailand, Meo, live.Talking of hilltribes of Thailand, Karen (Long Neck tribe) in Mae Hong Son is very famous, but Meo (Hmong) is also knows as their animism and their exquisite embroidery. The village is surrounded by the rich nature and they have museums that show their culture, and you can enjoy putting their colorful clothes on. What's more, you can homestay if you'd like to. (The picture above: tourists enjoy Meo traditional clothes.) Children help tourists as a guide. (Our guide was a cute and ten year old girl. :) ) |
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| The Village (Surrounded by great nature.) |
From the hill (The scenery from the hill. You can homestay at a house left.) |
People (Carrying a baby on her back.) |
Cherry blossoms (A little difficult to see but they have cherry blossoms.) |
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| The traditional clothes of Meo (Tourists enjoy the beautiful clothes.) |
The street (The street in the village has a lot of shops.) |
Another scenery (After you walking a little, another great nature will welcome you.) |
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| Shops (You can enjoy a lot of shops. They have various kinds of things such as clothes, food, sweets and decorations.) |
Sweets (Various kinds of sweets, made of dried fruit.) |
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| Opium poppies (Not for sell but just for sightseeing ! It was a long time ago when they grew them. Their industry has already changed to tourism by the royal project of Thailand.) |
Beautiful flowers (Big flowers like in the picture can be seen. Various and a lot of flowers bloom peacefully.) |
Wooden car (Looks like this kind of wooden cars are still used.) |
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| Culture show (No photos left but there is a museum that show their culture.) |
Dancing (Not sure if they show to tourists but kids in their clothes were dancing on a stage.) |
Huge bamboos (Huge bamboos grow. You can tell how big they are compared to the kids right.) |
Here and there (Birds enjoy walking here and there.) |
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| Another museum 1 (There is another museum around the entrance of the village. Not only Meo (Hmong) but other hilltribes are introduced.) |
Another museum 2 (Population of hilltribes are shown in the list.) |
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See the Chiang Mai 2 about Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai.
See the Chiang Mai 3 about MaeSa Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai.
- Related Links:
- Chiangmai hotels and travel guide, Chiangmai Thailand (thailand-guide.org)
- Chiang Mai (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
- Destination Guide : General Information in Chiang Mai
(Tourism Authority of Thailand.)
- Chiang Mai (Thailand Guidebook.Com)
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