I had originally planned to do a regular tourist tour up to Doi Suthep, however, when Pepo, Wad, Emma and Dan had mentioned the walk, I figured that would be a much cooler cultural experience.
A little bit about Visakha Bucha (cited because I don't want to give false information):
"Visakha Bucha Day, which always falls on the full moon of the sixth lunar month, is the day of birth, enlightenment as well as the death of the Lord Buddha and a Thai national holiday. This day, Buddhists traditionally go to the temple to make merit as well as practicing charity and keeping themselves aligned with the Five and Eight Precepts."(CityNews, May 20th, 2016).
The walk started at seven at night but Sarah, Carina and I decided it would be best to start later as we planned to stay for the sunrise in the morning. We left the house at nine and arrived at the Chiang Mai University at 10pm (where the walk was starting from). Once there, we ate some delicious free food and grabbed some water before the long trek. The walk was 12.3 km (it takes 22 minutes in a car according to google maps) it took us 3 and a half hours to reach the temple. There were thousands of people walking (unfortunately it's hard to see in the picture).
A little bit about Visakha Bucha (cited because I don't want to give false information):
"Visakha Bucha Day, which always falls on the full moon of the sixth lunar month, is the day of birth, enlightenment as well as the death of the Lord Buddha and a Thai national holiday. This day, Buddhists traditionally go to the temple to make merit as well as practicing charity and keeping themselves aligned with the Five and Eight Precepts."(CityNews, May 20th, 2016).
The walk started at seven at night but Sarah, Carina and I decided it would be best to start later as we planned to stay for the sunrise in the morning. We left the house at nine and arrived at the Chiang Mai University at 10pm (where the walk was starting from). Once there, we ate some delicious free food and grabbed some water before the long trek. The walk was 12.3 km (it takes 22 minutes in a car according to google maps) it took us 3 and a half hours to reach the temple. There were thousands of people walking (unfortunately it's hard to see in the picture).
Once we reached the summit it was time to find a place to sleep. We ended up sleeping outside among the stars and very close to the 87 monks that were attending. Sarah didn't sleep (crazy girl), Carina was super cold so she wrapped herself in the mat we brought, I had a jacket but could only sleep on and off. We woke up at 5:30 and the sun never seemed to rise, the sky simply turned blue. Nonetheless, it was a spectacular view. We sat while everyone prayed, and then checked out the temple and the astonishing view. Finally, sleepily and hungrily we made our way home (we took a songthaew back because we were too tried). |
It was one of the coolest ways to see that temple. I'm so glad I decided to walk and experience it in this way, it made it more memorable and more meaningful.