Day 3: A Day of Play ?

Day 3: Our third day begun with a trip to Doi Suthep temple, one of Chiang Mai’s greatest landmarks! I was really excited for the day ahead, since the day would comprise largely of OTOT activities, and I was looking forward to exploring more of Chiang Mai’s renowned sights!

At Doi Suthep, I was awed by the sheer beauty and architecture of the temple. I absolutely love bright, warm colours, and the vibrancy of Doi Suthep’s exterior design as well as its interior really appealed to me. Even their tiles are so beautiful I wish I could have them in my own home! I also joined in on a ritual at the temple which involved holding flower offerings and walking three rounds around a pagoda.

One interesting observation I noticed at Doi Suthep was the heavy influence of elephants and elephant tusks in the temple. In fact, you can see elephant figurines or tusks on every altar within the temple. According to our Thai buddy, Pro, elephants are an important part of Chiang Mai’s culture because they are believed to bring prosperity and wealth. In fact, elephants are often regarded as the sacred symbol of Chiang Mai, and it is frowned upon in Buddhist culture to lay harm on any elephant! While it was interesting to hear about the significance of elephants in Chiang Mai, I realised that this conflicted with the terrible treatment of elephants in unethical elephant camps. After all, if elephants are Chiang Mai’s sacred animals, why are these camps mistreating and exploiting them? It is truly upsetting to see how humans are so ready to turn against the very symbol of their culture and selfishly exploit these elephants for the sake of their own economic gain.

After our temple visit, Pro brought us to a local street shop to try some delicious khao soi (Thai curry noodles)! I really love trying street food overseas as I feel that it gives a touch of authenticity to the whole travelling experience. Thanks a lot Pro, for introducing us to this new dish!

We then headed off to Chiang Mai’s very own miniature Grand Canyon! We took a really long ride to get there (with the driver getting lost at one point of time), but we finally made it there in the end – and whoa, it was such an amazing sight that it made the whole journey totally worthwhile! I am glad that my group opted for such a scenery visit to fill up our OTOT slot, because these are definitely sights that cannot be found in tiny Singapore!

After that, Pro decided to bring us to meet his faculty – Chiang Mai University (CMU)’s School of Political Science. I was absolutely awed by how popular Pro is in his faculty! Having been the president of his faculty, he knows pretty much everyone there! He really helped us in our project a lot by distributing our remaining local surveys to his juniors, and everyone was really game about helping out. I am really grateful for his help, as he really went the extra mile for our group, and the course of our research project definitely would not have run quite as smoothly without his ever-present aid.

Through interacting with a few CMU students, I realised that one attribute that most CMU students have in common is their unadulterated cheerfulness and passion. Even after a long day of lessons, they often stay in school till the late hours of 10-11pm for their extra-curricular activities. Despite this, when we met them at night, they were still boiling over with bubbly energy and friendliness! Singapore students are significantly less energetic as compared to our counterparts over at CMU! In fact, after finishing my late lessons, I often find myself trudging back to hall with tired eyes and a dire lack of energy. This trait of CMU students is definitely something that I hope to pick up on! By replacing weariness with an unwavering optimism, I hope to liven up my university life in the same way too!