Lost and Found

I´ve been in Chiang Mai over 2 months without seeing any temples in the city and I thought it was time to change that. Together with my Canadian roommate – you´ve probably red her blog already – I stated to make a plan. We are both no big fans of motorbikes, to we chose man power, bicycles.

The city is – thank god- not too hilly, our bikes didn´t have any gears.The first day was a perfect one, we saw Wat Phanoha, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Phra Singh, Wat Lam Chang and Wat Chiang Man (last three highly recommended) in the older city. Additionally, we also saw a terracotta garden and I had the best smoothie so far.

Encouraged by this first day, we reached for more. Wat Wela Wanaram, Wat Ku Tao and Wat Jet Yet were the plan. Wat Wela Wanaram has an interesting museum with everything. This included an elephants head over photos of old Chiang Mai to radios from the early 20th century. The temple itself isn´t

one of the important ones, but is with its five pediments from architectural beauty.

Following the river from Wat Wela Wanaram we headed to the north. The understanding that cycling on the big roads needs more practices made us bend off into smaller roads. Chiang Mai has a totally different face in this locale than in the Sois of the Older City. The feel is somehow almost rural, with smaller houses and some unfilled spaces. Two blond girls on bicycles are nothing ordinary here, as many reactions showed us. However, navigating without a proper map wasn´t the best idea. Our map had only road names for the big streets and the small lanes weren´t on the map at all. It was bound to happen – we were pretty lost. Later at home I figured out that we went in circles around our destination. 

We ended up in a small street, which had the name of the temple thinking it couldn´t be far and used the internet at the little coffee shop to figure out the way. I literally burst out laughing when the lovely shop owner showed the roof of the temple. We could have seen it the whole time, if we only had looked up. On the other hand, I got a lot of impressions from this ride I really don´t want to miss and which I can barely formulate. Maybe it´s not about finding the direct way, maybe it´s about getting lost and find something you didn´t expect. Something that surprises you and doesn't let you go. Even the hidden roads lead to the destination.

 The temple itself, Wat Ku Tao is definitely worth a visit. If not for simply an oasis in the city.We made our way from Wat Ku Tao with only a small indirection to Wat Jet Yot on the other side of the Super Highway. This temple cannot be more different from the Burmese influenced Wat Ku Tao than Wat Jet Yot. But

it´s an oasis, a place of peace and ease as well. This place makes you forget that Chiang Mai´s most important traffic artery is only a few hundred meters away. With its huge old trees and a lot of old chedis, the

place is somehow fey and impressed me deeply. Definitely my favorite temple so far.