Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) Tourist Guide


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AN EARLY MORNING STROLL

by Graeme Monaghan

Many times I have had friends, or simply people I have met in the course of my meanderings, ask me where to go to see some genuine tourist attractions in this part of the world. Whilst there are literally hundreds, maybe thousands, of historical and cultural places to visit I tend to give them a rather unusual response, and my answer is almost always the same. If you want to see the �real� Chiang Mai, then get up early in the morning and stroll around the town just as the sun is beginning to rise. No matter where you are, sunrise is the most beautiful part of the day, (except perhaps at the North Pole in winter) and not only that, you will behold things you never thought you would see, take my word for it.

Wat Chedi Luang

The strange thing about getting up at sunrise is that everyone will agree as to how beautiful and rewarding it is; yet they seldom do it. I too plead guilty to this laxity of purpose, which is fuelled by the overwhelming desire to sleep in a little longer. A terminal human condition it seems. Nonetheless, when you do finally get around to seeing the sights at early morning, it is always well worth the effort, for it is then you will find a totally different world. A world that can be a real eye-popper, and one that is invariably surprising to those who never before have been brave enough to start their day at about 5am or perhaps even a little later. On several of the occasions I have advised thus, people have come back to me and told me how glad they were that they followed my recommendation. In most cities of the world there is little activity at those hours, and the work day of the city begins in a gradual and leisurely manner. Usually, a city of considerable size will awake slowly, and the wheels of industry and commerce begin at a somewhat unhurried pace. Not so here in Chiang Mai. For in this city you will find a bustling metropolis moving along at an almost feverish rate long before the first rays of sun have graced the rooftops. As one would expect, you will see the monks begging for their daily food, and the givers receiving the appropriate blessings for their good deed. You will see the local people making their offerings of food, flowers and drink to the local spirits in an everyday and unobtrusive manner.

Some may be making special offerings to powerful spirits, and asking for their assistance in the running of their life and business, or going to a temple to seek advice from a revered monk. All this will be almost certainly new and interesting for the newcomer to the area and, in itself, can be a rare experience. But, for me at any rate, the most exciting places to go are the markets. At that early hour they are a hive of industry as they prepare to begin selling an absolutely amazing range of goods. You may even see a lady dispatching the much-enjoyed frogs with the benefit of a hammer to the head. Not everybody�s cup of tea I�m sure but all part of the scene, as is the selling of live fish and eels. There will be people cooking, cutting up meat, and preparing the myriad of foodstuffs and goods that are all to be sold that day. Fresh fruit and vegetables are in abundance, and seem to have arrived miraculously during the dead of night to be displayed and marketed during the day.

If you journey down to Suan Buak Haad, the park on the south-west corner of the Old City, you will see a number of enthusiastic souls going through their daily regimen of exercises designed to maintain the balance between body and mind. You may even consider joining them. If not, a walk through this beautiful oasis in the heart of Chiang Mai is rewarding enough in itself. I gave a hint of a thought about joining the exercisers but the sun was getting a little higher, there was work to be done and some photographs to be taken to prove I haven�t just made all this up.

Of course, one of the other delights of an early morning stroll is photography; so don�t forget to take your camera. There is no better time to snap those favourite people and places than early in the day before the sun casts those irritating shadows that ruin many a good photographic opportunity. On one of my previous �early morning outings� I was fortunate enough to visit the famous Chedi Luang. I had seen it many times before, but catching it in the early dawn light put it in a totally different, almost eerie, perspective. I had another lucky experience on my way back home when I managed to photograph three monks on their alms round, the sunlight catching their robes most effectively. And you don�t have to be a camera expert at that time of day as, for some reason or other, the early rays of the sun add a totally different and refined perspective to photographs.

Naturally enough, at that early hour there is considerably less traffic and this, as you would reckon, makes the experience a whole lot more enjoyable. Whenever you are in Chiang Mai you will be missing a great deal if you do not take an early morning stroll about town, at least once. We may even meet each other along the way?