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Doi Suthep

When we first got to Chiang Mai, Thailand, we stayed in a hotel that had a room that overlooked this awesome mountain (this is the view from our room). It's a granite mountain that has two peaks. The one in front has a buddhist temple on top which is commonly called Doi Suthep. You can sort of see it at the top of the first peak in this picture. Anyway, we went to that temple one day while in Chiang Mai. We went there our first time in Chiang Mai about 5 years ago and hadn't been there since, so we thought we'd go up the mountain again...
It is a curvy swervy ride up the mountain but we made it (Adam and Aashini only got a little car sick on the way back..) :) There were some kids up on top of the mountain doing some traditional dances for the people that came up there.
There were a lot of Buddhist Monks at the temple.
Most Buddhist Temples have bells that you are supposed to ring. They were big.

Aashini was very interested in the bells.

She wanted her picture taken next to this really big bell...
Here's the view from the top... Pretty neat!
There were these funny dragons at one point with a sign written in Thai. Underneath the Thai was the word: "Mom" - not sure if that was a translation or not... but why did they have the word "Mom" next to the dragon? hmm.... haha! It made me laugh!
A lady took a family pic of us :)
Here's the actual temple inside the complex.
This is a monk inside one of the buildings praying to Buddha.
Here's a cute little girl :) She loved posing for pictures ;)
Here she is again after she was done performing :) She was cute :)
It was an interesting cultural day!! :)

Comments

Christine said…
funny that the sign says mom. haha
Emily said…
When provoked, I guess I can be quite dragon-like. :)
I love your haircut!!
Anonymous said…
I looked up "mom" in thai and it is this: แม่ Not sure what it says on the dragon! HA! I might get my old college roommate to look at it and tell me what it says. She lives in Thailand!
I recognize that view! We had the same view of the mountain on New Year's Eve last year and everyone in the city released paper lanterns... there were tons floating from the mountain and you could see them from the city when they rose up in front of the mountain. Very cool! We've never been up there though... if I ever go, I will most definitely take a picture by the Mom Dragon:) Fun!
SouthAsiaRocks said…
Carrie - you crack me up :) Good idea looking it up! If you ask your friend in Thailand I'd love to hear what she says :)
Anonymous said…
What I did was took just the words and sent her the picture. Here is her response:

The “mom” is a mythical character which looks similar to a cross between a cat and a lion. It is a carrier for the deity “Patchunna” (a rain divinity in the Lanna tradition). These creatures can be seen in temples and other religious sites all over the Lanna region.

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