Chiang Mai Out-Takes

At Sam Yaek market: strangely appealed; I should have
bought it

Conquering evil in the pick-up bed

Low tide

Merit Post: "Send merit to lovers" at the Wat Lok Moli

"Donation for the next life and better day"

Quite a number of women-only massage places employing masseuses who are
ex-inmates...

At the crocodile handbag shop: begging for his life (or skin)

The customer is not always right

Thai letter box

Blotting out the sun

Elephant pants; everyone wears them; after they're dirty,
you buy another pair

Old-fashioned way

A songtheaw; we'll be riding one in a few days in Chiang Rai

Special tree

Police Box

Wat parking

We walked by and were not impressed

At a gelato shoppe

Traffic cone shrine

Chiang Mai Wats, 2: More Wat Porn

Our visits to some of Chiang Mai's more distinguished wats continues...

We are now at Wat Chiang Man; I think

Noted for sculptures: here, Saran Rap

Still processing this one

Do not disturb

Bang slowly

Spare parts

Restoration

And now at the most famous, Wat Chedi Luang

With its ruined but still impressive chedi

Click to enlarge and be enlightened

Another recliner; no wedding photos here

Thus; bar mitzvahs or christenings probably OK

Personal favorite

More conquering evils, especially 5-headed ones

Not genuflecting

Deep chats

Holy watering

Vicki was outraged

Don't worry, there will be more wats in the out-takes

Chang Mai Wats, 1

If you're not into zip-lining or hill-trekking or petting elephants or taking even more Thai cooking courses, wats are the main thing to see and do in Chiang Mai. No beaches, no islands, no big shopping centers, but they do have 700 of Thailand's 39,000 wats, that is, Buddhist monasteries. Within a few minutes' walk from our hostel, there were three. In the course of our stay we visited perhaps half a dozen in the old city and strayed briefly into several more. Many are identified only in Thai; the more famous/large/old of them usually have English signage. And they all have the same signage, in Thai and English, about appropriate/inappropriate behavior in the wat. We always try to appear respectful. It's not that monks or monastery employees are actively policing the place and ready to write you up. But who wants to come back in the next life as a dung beetle?

I think the authorities do police for these kinds of improprieties; always carry
mints...

Wat Lok Moli (according to Google Maps, upon which I am relying in part);
aka Holy Moli; just down from the KFC on Manee Nopparat  Road

"None shall pass"

A bodhi tree; replica of the tree under which Buddha sat, receiving enlightenment,
etc.; in this instance, you purchase little leaves to hang...an offering...we did this
down the road a bit in Chiang Rai

Big Buddha in the assembly hall

Usual suspects

The big chedi, in some disrepair

But no less festive

Receiving stigmata

Mimes, or possibly statues

Buddhist offering plates

Nearly across the canal, Wat Mo Kham Tuang

Which we referred to as the Horsie Wat

Another big Buddha, outside

Still processing this one

According to Google, this is Wat Dab Pai; I often saw
neophyte monks stocking up at the 7-11 down Singhurat
Road

A Janus-faced neophyte...

Now, I think, we are further down Singhurat, at the so-called Golden Wat,
eyeing this curious figure; judging from the percussion instrument, I think
it is Ringo Starr

Recliner

Why it's called the Golden Wat (officially Wat Phra Singh
(14th century; one of the really large and impressive ones)