I was super sad after leaving the Elephant Nature Park. Although I had only been there two days, I had grown very attached to the elephants & the people, and I missed them terribly. (Honestly, can you blame me? I mean, they're ELEPHANTS.) To cheer myself up, I rented a bike from my hostel and spent the day riding around town. The road systems in Thailand are interesting but a bit confusing. They have main roads and then numbered smaller roads, sois, that branch off & sort of overlap with each other. I got lost pretty often and finally gave up on navigation altogether. In between temple visits (there are literally at least one every two blocks!), I stopped in a park in the afternoon to rest & write postcards. While there I met a lovely old man who talked to me about jazz and his dream of playing in a jazz band in New York's Central Park. He was a darling with a smile & laugh that extended to his eyes in crinkles. And his voice was low & gruff, with an almost sage-like quality. I half wished he had had a super long, white beard. Full of secrets.
With the bike I managed to explore a lot of the city. I got lost in small alleyways, avoided main roads, & tried to remember to stick on the other side of the street. It was a really great day and I hadn't realized how much I missed biking! It reminded me of living in the Bronx. And when I paused to journal in the park, sitting on a bench at the edge of a field with my bike parked next to me, I was painfully reminded of Fordham and sitting around Eddie's Parade. I got hit with a wave of homesickness that was only cured by more biking in the night streets. I'm such a homesick wimp. Boo.
The next day, instead of heading to back to Bangkok, I stayed in Chiang Mai for another day. Best decision ever! I traveled to Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, a Buddhist temple located at the top of a mountain. With luck, I happened to meet another traveler who was also heading there. And! He had a motorcycle! Hooray forever! So I rode a motorcycle up a curving & twisting road that wound up the mountain! The day was beautiful and the wind in my face & hair felt wonderful. Once there, I was mistaken for being Thai, and so did not have to pay to enter! Score for ethnicity confusion! I climbed up the 309 steps to the temple proper, and I was vaguely reminded of the Great Wall. The stairs were bordered by two dragons, whose heads at the bottom were bejeweled & decorated with great detail & intensity, and whose bodies waved & flowed, covered in small, green & yellow scale tiles. It was beautiful and I ran my hand over the cool ceramic layers as I walked up. The temple was gorgeous! At its core was a huge, golden reliquary, which visitors walked around, palms pressed together, heads bowed in reverent silence. Golden Buddha statues were everywhere, with clay jugs for incense & flowers, and ornately decorated metal trays for candles set in front of them. Pilgrims bowed & knelt before these displays, murmuring or silently mouthing prayers. The air was filled with the soft sounds of bells tinkling & chiming, monks chanting, & feet gently slapping against the tiled floor. I found a spot to sit at the foot of a pillar and simply watched & observed. I felt so at peace. Before I left, I received a blessing from one of the monks. I knelt before him as he tied a piece of white rope around my left wrist, chanting. He then sprinkled me with holy water, saying another blessing. As I looked up, he fixed me with a gentle stare and placed his hand over mine. He said some words to me in English that I will carry with me forever.
Aaaaaaand I'm passing out. My flight from Bangkok to Manila got in at 4am this morning and I've been up since 8am or so to have breakfast with my Aunt. And I've been averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night for the past 2 weeks. So I'm tired. Whine whine whine. I'm sure my friends still in school and pulling all nighters like it's their job are snickering at my weakness. What can I say? I'm your average human being that needs sleep. You super-humans with your seemingly unlimited capacities for sleep deprivation are the weird ones. I'm not making sense. Okay. Good night, world!
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