3 Kings Plaza
Three kings monument is a royal monument dedicated to Kings Mangrai, Ramkhamhaeng, and Ngam Mueang, considered the founding fathers of the Lanna Kingdom. It is located in the center of Chiang Mai and was designed and cast by national artist Kaimook Chuto to commemorate the founding of the city in 1984.
It is right around the corner from the temple we visited this morning, so we stopped by to admire some well sculpted kings.
I guess we should move on. Yes, we should move on.
We stopped at a coffee haunt MJ discovered called Morning Mountain Coffee. It is quite obvious the Thai love their coffee because there are more coffee places than 7-Elevens, and that is saying something. The coffee was good, but it was surrounded by plants, which is great, but those bring mosquitos.
They also had ice. I love ice. I missed ice.
But after coffee, we moved on quickly to find me a ‘temple skirt.’ What is that? It is a skirt that wraps around your waist that you can pull out of a backpack and throw on before going into a temple.
Temples have rules about not having exposed knees or shoulders, and since it is hot and I want to wear shorts, this was the answer I came up with. So off to the market we went.
Worowot Market
Warorot Market, locally known as Kad Luang (literally ‘big market’) is regarded as the largest and most well known market in the north region of Thailand.
The location of the market was the place where the funeral ceremony of the ruler of Chiang Mai was held, called “Khuang Main.”
In 1920 Princess Dara Rasmi turned it into a market named in honor of Prince Intavaroros Suiyavongse, the 8th ruler of Chiang Mai.
No idea how ‘Worowot’ or “Khuang Main’ is named after the prince, but that is what the internet said.
Today the market is well known for selling local products, especially northern Thai food which is hard to find in other regions. Some of the foods include
Sai ua (Northern Thai sausage);
Moo you (not someone asking if you are a cow, or a cow saying hi, or someone offering you milk. It is traditional Vietnamese pork sausage);
Nam Phrik num (Northern Thai green pepper chili paste);
and a lot of dry foods like dried fruits, spices, veggies and so forth.
But wait, there’s more! We did not come here to eat, remember? We came to find a wrap skirt, and there is certainly an abundance of clothing vendors in the market. They also have ceramics, cloth, embroidery, appliances, purses, wallets, toys, flowers… it is really endless.
For Americans, think of a 3 story Costco mega store, but instead of one place has their own checkout. Like every department is a single seller stall, and they all only deal in cash. Like a festival market on steroids, but in the same place all the time.
So, we wandered around for a while and I did find a skirt that I was too fat for. Not bashing myself, but honest truth. It did not fit as designed, but it will serve the purpose.
I will say, what they have in volume in this place, they lack in sizes. They sell one size. Thai. I am not Thai. Ironic they don’t sell “American” in this place built for tourists.
I did find a lot of things that my daughter would look cute in. Pants, skirts… just all kinds of things that would fit on her body, and very affordable. Linin pants for roughly $6. T-shirts for $2.50. You get the idea.
Yes, of course I bought more than I should have, and as I said I did get a skirt. But we were only through the main market area.
Next to the market is an ally market called “Trok Lao Zhou.” Both Chinese and Hmong bring local products and handicrafts to sell daily from 7-5. The ally has been named the “Chinatown of Chiang Mai.
I could have gone crazy, but I did not. I want everyone to stand and applaud my self control. It was a monumental battle, but it is only the first day and I am sure we will come back.
The next priority was to get MJ some flowers. I told a friend in the states that I would figure out a way to get flowers delivered to her, from him, while I was over here.
My brilliant plan involved telling MJ I was to buy her flowers and she should figure out how to do that and I would pay.
Lacking in surprise and such, but it worked. All I had to do was pay.
Part of this mega market is a flower row. It runs along one street and is stall after stall of fresh cut flowers.
I do not know flowers. Have no idea what others would like, so we wandered and she picked out what she wanted.
I would not have picked that, so I am glad she was along. She even acted surprised when I paid. I thought that was a nice touch.
It is hot here. Not crazy nuts dessert hot, but in the upper 20’s. that’s centigrade, not American. It would be in the 80’s for Americans.
Now armed with fresh flowers and temple skirts, we needed to get the flowers back to the room so they would not die instantly, so we called a Grab.
While we waited, we went around the corner and visited the Chinese temple, since this is Chinatown after all.
Pung Thao Kong Shrine is Chiang Mai’s oldest Chinese temple.
I read the best way to see this part of the world this time of the year is to get out early, have lunch, then go take a nap until things cool down in the evening. That’s when you go out to the night markets and evening activities.
I think that is a great way to do this, especially when carrying around fresh flowers. So we did return to the hotel, and we relaxed until dinner.
Or more specifically, I was sitting there trying to justify my purchases. I mean, buying my temple skirt. Yes. Just a temple skirt.
