A couple of weeks ago while we were in Chiang Mai Thailand with some time to kill, we decided it was time to head up to “Doi Thep”. We knew the name, have seen all the ads on the sides of the Songtaews and other tourist literature. I knew there was a temple up there with stellar views of the city … that was about it.
Turns out, Doi Thep is actually a mountain, and the temple, or Wat, up there as in fact actually “Wat Phrathat”. There’s a nice story about a white elephant (different connotation that what we are used to in the West) and an arm bone of Buddha. It seems to me that Buddha’s bones are scattered all over South East Asia … there seems to be no shortage of stories about a temple built on a bone from Buddha.
So fueled on coffee and eggs Benedict – off we go. The first step is to negotiate a fare with one of the ‘Red Trucks’. I knew we were in for a skinning. 500 baht! 500?! Yup, for all the way up and all the way down. The temple is on the outskirts of town, way up a steep winding road. Still … 500? There had to be a cheaper way. So we then negotiated 80 to the gates of the Chiang Mai Zoo, as I knew this was a base for trucks going up and down the mountain. We get to the zoo, all is good, only have 80 baht invested so far. We then find where the trucks go up and see the price is 40 baht each. Looking good. We then are instructed to ‘sit’ on the bench, and wait. And we wait. Almost an hour later (it’s +34 out) – we get into a truck and off we go. Us, some Thais, an American couple, and a haggard old dude who wandered up with a cup of strawberries. Turns out he’s an American too. Living in Columbia, ex Vietnam vet on the tail end of a 3 month tour if South East Asia. He regaled us with stories of his travels on a shoestring, and life as an expat in Columbia. In 30 minutes I knew quite a bit.
We reach the Wat, tour the Wat, and then head back down. 60 Baht to the North Gate of the moat. Done… turns out it’s to the East gate, which is better yet. 3 truck rides, all in, 280 Baht. Savings of $4, or enough to buy 24 ice cream cones at McDonalds, and have a few Baht left over.
And it’s all about the ice cream cones in Thailand.
Internet is an amazing source of knowledge – it’s crazy what our world is all about. Today, through the typical random tangent – had me reading about the Pangboche Hand.
I spent 1/2 an hour this morning reading about ‘Mechanical Elephants in America’ … It’s quite a fascinating story really … who knew? Cybernetic Zoo has a lengthy page covering the history of Frank Stuart’s Mechanical Elephants, a line of life-sized, rideable elephant automata that were sold to department stores and amusement parks in America in the 1950s. 
