Today MJ went back to the hospital, but told me to go out and explore, so I did. Very willing to go with her to the hospital, but she left before I knew she was going. So, I wandered around the old part of the city, or around the outside walls anyway.
When Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 by King Mangrai, the city was laid out in a square with an outer boundary wall and a moat. The wall and the moat were for decorative purposes to enhance the beauty of the area.
Just kidding. The wall and the moat were put there to protect the city from invasion. I thought that obvious, but I try not to miss an opportunity to tease.
They needed protection from their pesky neighbors, the Thai and the Burmese. The wall didn’t work, but A+ for effort.
Today, after more than 700 years, the moats, portions of the wall and some of the gates still stand around the old city. And, fun fact, more than 40 ancient temples stand within the old city walls. Over 300 temples exist around Chiang Mai, but 40 really old ones are inside the walls.
MJ has talked about ‘the gate’ and ‘the wall’ and I absorbed the idea. The old part of the city had a wall and moat around it. You must go through certain access points to get to the old city, but which gate was where and such I did not fully comprehend until I stumbled across a chalk drawn map at Starbucks of all places.
That is where I started my morning of random wandering. I knew Starbucks was in the area because we had passed it a few times on our walks. I had no idea it was so close to our rooms because usually we walked down the street in the other direction. So, when I got to the end of our street and looked out of the ‘old town’ and saw Starbucks, I stopped. I got a ‘blended’ (that means they ‘blend’ the ice into the drink, like a Frappuccino. Otherwise there is ‘iced’ or ‘hot.’ Not all places offer the blended option) which I love because… ice.
Yes, they do offer iced, but they essentially take a shot of something, add a little water and fill the cup with ice. Very little drink.
Anyway, based off this Starbucks chalk map, I figured out the old city.
There is a main gateway to enter the city on each side of the 4 sides.
The “Phae Gate” is located on the east side of the city wall and is the most famous. Historically it was the main gate through which monks, traders and diplomats entered Chiang Mai.
The Pha gate hosts the Sunday Night Market Walking Street and the Night Bazaar. It is like a town square, or fairgrounds, or perhaps a public park where cultural activities and festivals are held. The Flower Festival was near the Phae Gate. It is also the place where people go to aggravate pigeons. We covered that already.
Chang Phuak Gate is on the north side of the city wall, so is sometimes called the North Gate. There are a lot of shops in the area, but from 5pm until midnight is when the Night market takes over. Directly across from the gate, it is one of the best places for street food in Chiang Mai. You c an eat a full dinner for 40-50 THB.
We have come here more than once for dinner and I didn’t even realize it other than it was a night market.
Chiang Mai Gate is on the south side of the old city. Guess what? It is also called the South Gate.
I knew that would shock you.
During the day the fresh food markets appear around this area, and at night, you guessed it. There is a night market. This is where the Saturday Night market (also known as Wualai Walking Street) is held, and the gate is the starting point. It is one of the most popular night markets in the city.
Ah, but now we get tricky. The south side of the wall has 2 gates. The secret back door into the city.
Not really, but the Saen Pung Gate or Haiya Gate (because it leads to the Haiya subdistrict on the southwestern end of the wall. The gate was not part of the initially built wall, so that shoots the back door theory.
Or maybe not. It was added a century later by Queen Phra Rajathevee. Not sure why, but so many stories could be created from that tid bit of information.
Suan Dok Gate is located on the west side of the old city wall and is of no interest whatsoever. The west side does not command the tourists like the other sides of the wall, so traffic moves quickly. The most interesting thing I know about this gate is that it is named after the nearby temple, Wat Suan Dok, and “Suan Dok” means ‘Flower Garden.’
I bet you thought you were done reading my prose, but guess what? The wall has corners (Jaeng). Since it is a square, it would make sense there are 4 of them.
Jaeng Si Phum is on the northeast corner and is shaped as a pentagonal bastion. Some Si Phum either means “For the glor of Chiang Mai, or “Light of the Land Corner.” Saw both in my research.
Jaeng Hua Lin is the northwest corner. Hua means ‘head’ of an aqueduct (lin). Back in the day, water from the brook Huai Kaeo was channeled along an aqueduct over the moat into the town, passing through the bastion at this very important corner of the city wall. And now you know why it was named as it is.
Jaeng Katam is at the southwest corner; Jaeng Gu Huang in the southeast corner.
The corners are not original but reconstructions done in the 90’s. And thus I have exhausted my knowledge of the corners, the wall, and the old city.
Other than I walked around it today.
I also found Wat Khuan Khama, which we had walked by several times, but today I wandered in.
I am not a horse person, but back home my brother-in-law’s horse passed on, so this temple spoke to me because it has horses everywhere.
The temple was established in 1492, you guessed it, because of a horse.
The sign at the entrance tells me the tale of a soldier serving under General Jaomun Damtuang with his beloved horse. Who that general was, or what war was raging in 1492, I do not know, but the jest of the story is the horse died, and so dedicated to this horse the soldier was, he decided to honor the horse, he donated his land for the building of a new temple in commemoration of the horse. He named the temple “Khuan Khama,” or “Khunkama” or “Khuan Kama” or… you get the idea, Horse temple is hard to translate exactly.
In honor of my brother-in-law’s horse, and in hopes he will find a new one soon so he can enjoy riding in his English hunts again, I went in, dropped a few merits on the monks and the horses, and hoped it helped.
I was going to pick up one of the golden horses from their discard pile, but I was already over my weight limit for airline luggage, and customs likely would have been suspicious.
Not to mention, my sister-in-law would roll her eyes and give it to charity or something because she needs another horse statue.
Leave a Reply