Day 3: A Journey to the West

Today, we visited Doi Suthep, which is a mountain on the west of Chiang Mai. There, we visited the temple, Wat Phra That. It is a famous temple in Chiang Mai, where the locals would claim that if one has not visited Wat Phra That when one is in Chiang Mai, one has not visited Chiang Mai at all.

After a bumpy ride along the winding roads leading up to the temple, we finally arrived. To be honest, I was quite surprised to see so many tourists, especially Chinese tourists at the foot of the hill, leading up to the temple. This is because the I had of the place was that it was a remote but sacred place. There were also many shops along the way which sold souvenirs and foodstuff which seemed to cater to tourists.

Shortly after we began our ascent to the temple. The path was filled with tourists, so much that I felt that it disturbed the supposed serenity of the place. It was even more crowded when we entered the temple. Sights of tourists taking photos with the Buddha statues and the Golden Pagoda were everywhere. Then came a few middle age monks that came along, briskly walking out of the temple. Only then did it occur to me that there were almost no monks in the whole of the temple. Perhaps, the influx of tourists has indeed affected the monks’ lifestyles of being able to meditate in a tranquil environment.

 

The tour guide, Happy, reaffirmed my beliefs. He told us that there are about nine million tourists every year that would come and visit Wat Phra That. He also explained that such a massive arrival rate of tourists has not only disturbed the tranquilty of the place, but also contributed to an increased rate of wear and tear of the temple. Upon asking him if monks still come here even though the temple is quickly degenerating into an unsuitable place to pursue monkhood, Happy explained that monks still preferred to come here. This is due to the fact that many young monks are still young and inexperienced, and they are still unruly in the Buddhist Ways. Thus, they still like to be located near the city to have access to the vices available in Chiang Mai.

It was interesting to note how the the erosion of cultures and traditions collapsing inwards. The tourists are slowly shaping famous heritage sites like this to fit their demands ( sale of souvenirs, the massive influx of tourists) while locals are slowly giving up their cultures in exchange for urbanization and westernization.

We also inquired the tourists’ ability to appreciate the history and culture behind the landmark and architecture. There was a sizable amount of tourists who said that it was a good experience in visiting and mentioned that they had no clue what they are looking at, and were still learning. It was reasonable, given that most of them could have been first timers.

However, the same could also be said for the reverse. Close to none mentioned that they understood what they have seen after being here. This was not surprising either, given that the number of tour guides that were actively explaining the place to their tourists could hardly be seen or heard. I was once a tourist myself, so I could empathise with their ignorance and apathy. I started wondering to myself if there was really a need for tourists to even attempt to understand these significances and intricacies of the history. And even then, would it be purposeful if we as tourist understood them? These were some of the questions that surfaced as time went along in the temple.

Later on in the day, we visited Chiang Mai University at the faculty of Political Science to interview some Political Science students before heading off to the local youth’s favourite night market for dinner and shopping.