Chiang Mai is a pleasant city in the northern part of Thailand. One experience that we enjoyed was talking to young monks.
“Monk Chat” is offered in several Wats as a way for tourists to learn about the life of a monk and the monks a way of practicing English and learning about the world out there. We decided to avail of the opportunity at Wat Chedi Luang. The tent where the chats are held was empty except for one gentleman, not a monk, sitting there going through paperwork. We asked him about Monk Chat and after an initial conversation, he took interest in us. He is one of the teachers and had studied in University of Pune!
He first took us to the school (yes, monks go to schools) and led us to the assembly hall where an election was being held to select school leaders. It was interesting to see perhaps a couple of hundred young monks gathered to listen to their teachers and cast vote.
Then Meera asked him what would be of interest to the young monks. He suggested we show pictures of places they would have never seen. That would be Antarctica and Arctic, we thought, and he agreed. He asked us to come back late afternoon.
So we had lunch and went back to the hotel where I selected a few slides to show to the monks. We went back at 3:30 pm, as the teacher had suggested.
There were four young monks sitting there but no teacher. We started talking to them. They were from ages thirteen to eighteen. Although they had signed up to be monks, at least one of them was thinking of leaving and learning a craft to support his family. This is not a permanent commitment.
Then, two of them got diverted to another table where a couple of American women from Kansas had appeared wanting to talk to monks. However, one more joined us. We did not know then, but he was Kamon, the newly elected president of the student body. The other two were Mon and Lo. Kamon means lily (Kamal in many Indian languages) and can be used for both males and females.
They were quite interested in photos of Antarctica and Arctic. I did not overwhelm them, showing only twenty or so photographs. Animals such as whale, penguins, seals and polar bears intrigued them. Having never seen snow, they could not comprehend how much of that white stuff is there in those parts of the world.
In return they shared their daily routine, which began with they going out to get food from their communities in the morning. That would be breakfast. Then they would get a proper lunch at noon, after which they can only drink water for the rest of the day. If they want to start a family, they have to leave being a monk. The two are totally incompatible. Any worldly pleasures are out of the question. “If you indulge, you will feel bad inside even if no one finds out,” said Kamon.
We went away quite pleased with our interactions. Meera wanted to bring food to give them but that would be wasted. It was after lunch and they could not eat. Also, no food is kept overnight. So, we just made small cash contribution.
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In Chiang Mai, it is worthwhile going to a Wat on the top of a hill especially in the evening or early morning. That one is called Doi Suthep. It is about 20 km from the town center and the road is very windy. There are tours offered to visit this place but we decided to do it on our own. We took a Grab (Thai version of Uber) on the way up and a red-shared taxi on the way down. There is no fear of being stuck at the top without the ride back as there are plenty of red taxis waiting for your business. One needs to climb lots of steps to reach the top, which is crammed with major and minor temples, all of gold color. It is incredible how many Buddha temples are there in the city. We took a look at the temples but were besieged by throngs of tourists, mostly from one large country. After a while, we went to the viewing platform to see Chiang Mai in the evening light before heading back.
There are several other Wats worth visiting. I have already mentioned Wat Chedi Luang where we had a chat with the monks. That Wat has an enormous stupa in the center. Although damaged over the years, it is nevertheless an imposing structure.
Wat Phra Singh is the most popular. One of the more interesting sights in that Wat is a lineup of sitting monks in the main temple. They are always there, night or day and do not move at all. The reason is…they are not real but made out of wax. I could not but think of the horror movie House of Wax in which a monster created lifelike statues by covering people he had killed by wax. Perish the thought.
Wat Umong Suan is not in the city center but outside, near the hilly part of the city. It is a tranquil place with a pond containing stagnant water. There are hundreds of pigeons near the pond because tourists feed then despite an explicit warning not to do that. The stupa in the center is impressive but more so are tunnels containing small temples. We took shared red taxis going there and back.
Wat Suan Dok is not that far but was still a fifty-minute walk from our hotel. It is painted primarily in gold and white. Quite beautiful and serene.
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