6/1

Today was a really fun day! My group had been given time to freely explore Chiang Mai in the afternoon. Before that, we headed to Doi Su Thep, a sacred and holy temple to both locals and foreigners. We slowly made our way up 306 flights of steps (though we managed to count only 289 steps…) as the glorious temple is located on top of a mountain.

The temple looked astounding! Doi Su Thep gleamed in all its golden glory and splendor. The pagoda is plated gold from top to bottom and is accompanied by equally gold artefacts. No wonder it attracts so many tourists- nearly 6 million every year, according to our tour guide. The place was literally swarmed with tourists from all over the world. A part of me can’t help but wonder whether foreigners travel to Doi Su Thep merely because it is included in their tour itinerary, or out of an earnest and sincere desire to visit this sacred ground due to religious reasons. I also wonder whether the monks serving in Doi Su Thep feel annoyed that there are always so many people around in the temple. Will their daily meditation or routine be disrupted? I wonder.

My group subsequently headed back to CMU. We didn’t manage to explore much of the school campus on Monday and Son was really eager to show us around. Son is a final year undergraduate studying Political Science and hopes to become mayor of his hometown one day. He has been extremely helpful in helping us overcome the language barrier we face in most situations and its been a joy to get to know him better 🙂

I really enjoyed our time exploring the CMU campus. It felt great to be able to wind down and bond with my group mates 🙂 As part of our exclusive CMU tour, Son brought us to see a huge lake located within the campus. It was an expansive water body that seemed to stretch endlessly across the field. My group sat at the concrete sideway and spent a long time admiring the dark coloured waters quietly. The scenery was extremely beautiful. Although we kept silent, I bet we all felt that same- we were thankful for the opportunity to travel to Chiang Mai, and thankful that we had each other 🙂

We visited the student market in the evening and did a lot of shopping there! The night market is near the CMU campus and is usually frequented by students. The market offered anything under the sun- clothes, electronics, food and…more clothes. In retrospect, I think most of us went slightly delirious buying things for ourselves and our friends, especially the girls in my group (i.e Especially Siyu. Haha!) We lugged back quite a number of plastic bags to the hotel. It was a fun time being able to buy cheap souvenirs and enjoy yummy street food 🙂

The day concluded with a trip to an open-bar concept called ‘BLAH BLAH BLAH BAR’. Son recommended this place because it was relatively quiet compared to its neighbouring night clubs. It is an ideal place to have get-togethers and to catch up with old friends after a long time. The gentle night breeze kept us cool as we chugged down bottles of beer. Colourful fairy lights akin to stars dangled above us and glimmered in the night. Local bands took turns to perform on stage. My group chattered the night away and got to bond with Son and other CMU students that had accompanied us. Our time spent at BLAH BLAH BLAH is a dear memory that I will undoubtedly never forget. It was indeed a terrific way to end the day.