Day 3 – Doi Suthep

 

 Picture from Doi Suthep Temple, picture credit: Crystal Hong 

Doi Suthep was beautiful.

The temple was gorgeous but the view that 300 or so steps had brought us was even more breath-taking. I felt like I was literally on cloud nine. While the view that the temple overlooked was momentarily covered by a layer of mist, it was still incredible. Many Instagram-worthy photos were taken that day. Couple that with the amazing cool-but-sunny weather. In short, I was in bliss.

Beyond the physical beauty of the place, I also felt particularly more spiritual that day. I got blessed by a monk and took part in a ritual where I had to walk three times around the main shrine, a yellow flower and a yellow candle in my hands. While I am not Buddhist or religious at all, being there with so many people all doing the same ritual filled me with a sense of belonging. I was strangely comforted to be taking part in the same ritual with so many people, some of whom were tourists like myself and some of whom were locals. Honestly, I did not think that the ritual would feel so meaningful to me, especially because I am not religious. But, somehow, participating in the ritual kind of got to me. I even said my own quiet little prayer as I walked. At the end of it, I felt mentally lighter. I think saying my own prayers and wishes aloud had helped me unload some emotional baggage and I was feeling very reflective by the end of it all. As I placed my still-burning candle on the stand in front of the shrine, I felt a really strong sense of peace with myself.

I think my time at Doi Suthep really helped me to step back from my research and to just really embrace and appreciate the culture here. I felt that time really slowed down while I was at Doi Suthep. In Singapore, we can easily get carried away with the hustle and bustle of city life. We don’t really get the chance to just pause our lives and reflect on them. I think that’s something we should work at. I think it is very therapeutic to just unload your thoughts and really reflect on how life has been to you. This is something that I will definitely take away from Doi Suthep – to take a break from running frantically from one place to another and just, reflect for a moment.

I’m excited to see what tomorrow holds for me!