Doi Suthep is not that far from Chiang Mai, but there was traffic getting out of town, and the road up the mountain was full of twists and turns, so it took us about an hour to get to the top. Luckily, no one gets car sick, but we did have to take Vivian off her iPad for a while, since she said she was feeling funny. She felt fine by the time we got to the top though. The driver let us off at the bottom of the steps leading up to the wat, and there were tons of food and souvenir stands set up along the road. Vivian went right for the waffle stand.
We got her a plain one filled with chocolate sauce. The lady filled it up and folded it over. Then she put it inside some wax paper. We all tasted it and decided it was delicious. Vivian managed to eat it without getting chocolate all over her face which was pretty impressive. While she was eating, Jeff took pictures of some of the other stands.
There were also lots of fruit stands. You can eat well in Thailand without ever coming in off the street.
Once we had fueled up, we started our ascent. There are stairs (over 300) leading up to the wat, but there is also a funicular car. Mom and Vivi wanted the funicular car. Jeff, Judy, and Dad wanted the stairs. I decided to go up with Mom and Vivi and down with the other group. We took a picture and parted ways.
Jeff took a picture up the steps. There were a few other people there.
Judy said she had a moment when she was afraid she wouldn't be able to make it, but she kept going and got to the top.
Luckily, it was relatively cool at Doi Suthep, especially in the shade, so we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. The main temple complex had plenty of gold, sparkling in the sun, at the center.
Our guidebook said that this was the original home of the Emerald Buddha (actually made from jade), which is now housed in the wat at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. It also said that the king had sent a replacement green Buddha to Doi Suthep. I think this might be it, but there were other green Buddha figures around. Mom really liked this one.
As part of our shade strategy, we walked around the covered arcade where the Buddha figures sit watch over cremated ashes. It seemed like a good strategy until we rounded a corner and found a meditating monk. We walked by very slowly and very quietly so as not to disturb him.
As we were getting ready to leave the main temple area, Jeff got a fun picture of the rest of us.
The courtyard around the main temple area was beautiful and much more peaceful than the area inside.
At least, it was peaceful until Vivian discovered the bells.
With typical scientific rigor, she felt the need to test every single bell's sound to determine which one sounded the best. When she found a bell sound she liked, she rang it repeatedly. Eventually though, even she got worn out with the bell ringing and found a place to rest in the shade.
We made our way back down to the van and then back down the mountain. Towards the bottom, we stopped near a small waterfall for lunch. I'm not sure what the restaurant was called in English, but we took a picture of the entrance with the name in Thai.
It was quite a place, with painted murals and trees growing through the dining area.
The food was good too. I've learned to just ask for pad see ew gai (chicken), since I know Vivian will eat it, and most restaurants will make it for her even if it's not on the menu. My parents are a bit more adventurous. They love to order whole roasted fish.
Judy had fun posing Mom's fish remains.
It was definitely a relaxed and leisurely lunch. The restaurant had lots of walking paths around a small stream and we took turns going with Vivian to explore them.
Eventually, we headed back to town. Once we get back to the house, the driver took Young, Mom, and Jeff to a supermarket to buy supplies for breakfast and dinner for the girls. The old town area was great for tourist exploration, but all the regular super markets are driving distance away, so we figured that would be a good use of our driver.
While they were shopping, Judy and I researched dinner options. We knew we wanted to eat on the Mae Ping River, which is to the east of the old part of Chiang Mai. Lots of the restaurants there have river views and live music, but, as we have learned the hard way, live Thai music varies greatly in quality. I finally decided on Deck 1, which looked like it had good views and said it had live jazz music, which I hoped would be inoffensive. It turned out to be a great choice. They gave us a table right on the water, and the trees were decorated with lights and lanterns.
The music that they played was not jazz, but it wasn't too bad, and when it got dark and the bridge lit up, the whole thing became magical. The magic may have been helped by the fact that I ordered the Ping cocktail, named after the river.
I've learned that the "signature" options are usually a good choice. The flourless, chocolate Deck cake for dessert was amazing. If we go back to Chiang Mai, I'm definitely going back to this restaurant. It was a great end to a great day.
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