Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
MONK CHAT
If you're curious about Buddhism, many Chiang Mai temples offer 'monk chat', in which monks get to practise
their English by fielding questions from visitors about religion, rituals and life in the monastery. Remember that it
is respectful to dress modestly: cover your shoulders and knees. Women should take care not to touch the monks
or their belongings, or to pass anything directly to them.
Wat Suan Dok (
Click here
) has a dedicated room just beyond the main sanctuary hall and holds its chats from
5pm to 7pm, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Wat Sisuphan (
Click here
)
holds its sessions from 5.30pm to 7pm
just before its meditation course. Wat Chedi Luang (
Click here
) has a table under a shady tree where monks chat
from 9am to 6pm daily.
East of the Old City
Passing through Pratu Tha Phae leads to a standard-issue commercial neighbourhood of
concrete shophouses and busy multilaned roads. Amid the clutter are old heritage houses
built by the British and teak merchants from Myanmar. Shopping and dining are the
primary pastimes in this part of town. Further east, Mae Ping River carves out a meander-
ing path once populated on the eastern bank by foreign missionaries.
MARKET
Talat Warorot
(cnr Th Chang Moi & Th Praisani; 6am-5pm)
Chiang Mai's oldest and most famous market, Talat
Warorot, excels in every category: day market, souvenir shopping, people-watching and
snacking. It is locally known as
'gàht lŏo·ang'
, which is northern Thai for 'great market'.
There are two multistorey buildings, a beehive of outdoor vendors and several disorient-
ing lanes filled with additional commerce. It is a smaller and less hectic version of
Bangkok's Chatuchak Market.
You'll know you've arrived at the market when traffic comes to a stand-still and carts
laden with merchandise weave in between the cars. The market is orbited by fruit and ve-
getable vendors selling highland produce considered exotic in central Thailand. Just bey-
ond these vendors are two multistorey buildings specialising in northern Thai products
from foodstuffs, such as
kâap mŏo
(pork rinds), to handicrafts and ordinary necessities.
The adjacent streets do a bustling trade in bolts of fabrics, market fashion, handicrafts and
knick-knacks. Parked near the fruit vendors are an endangered mode of travel: the three-
wheeled bicycle rickshaw, known as
săhm·lór
(also spelt
sǎamláw
), which shuttles home
