Snake Temple

Sunday morning was a relaxing day.  We woke up late, took long cold showers and walked to the nearest place with coffee.  As we sipped our coffees and ate our early lunches, we made our plans for the day.  We decided to see the huge Wat tourists from all over were scurrying to see.  Its location is it’s main attraction: it’s placed on top of a mountain! 

We took the local sung-tao, which in Chiang Mai is a red pick up truck with a covered back and benches in the back, and journeyed the mountain.  Each of us got a little carsick.  The little red pick up truck veered along each corner, almost flinging us out of the back!  It was just like our journey there, the driver never slowed down as he whizzed by each corner.  I don’t the drivers here are worried about their passengers.  And we think NYC traffic is crazy...

The drive eventually stopped and we were grateful.  Our journey had just begun.  The next part would be hard: conquering 290 stairs!  It sounds like a lot of work, which it is, but it was a great walk.  The stairs were brimmed with many people and different foods.  It was a little market on the stairs!  It was fascinating. 

Little kids would dress up in Indian clothes and dance.  They wanted money for their efforts; it was hard to say no when they looked into my eyes.  They were so cute!  The last part of the stairs was magnificent.  On either side was a huge snake that started at the temple and worked its way down.  The snake was beautiful, laid with jewels and lots of intricate designs that must have taken years to make!  

We finally got the top and it was amazing, the most beautiful temple I had seen.  We had to take our shoes off to walk around inside.  It was massive!  It was funny though because I had to run around, which was probably disrespectful, but the floor was so hot from the sun!  I couldn’t help myself, I loved seeing everything but I didn’t want to burn my feet. 

There was a great view of Chiang Mai from up there, and lots of cool bells and monks roaming around the place.  It was quite the experience!!