The night market called to me last night, and loudly so as it is on the street directly in front of the hotel.  The market stretches for blocks and blocks, both sides of the street, with stalls lit by dangling florescent lights.

I have to admit to a certain disappointment.  I had expected Thai handicrafts but found knock-off watches and sunglasses, cheaply made clothing and handbags, and do-dads of no interest.  The market was interesting, though, for the number of people browsing and shopping.  I wouldn’t have thought there could be enough people to keep this many enterprises of exactly the same thing going.

This morning, we spent a fascinating few hours with Professor Vithi Phanichphant of Chiangmai University who talked to us about traditional Lanna (northern Thai) architecture, etiquette, music and dance.  Professor Phanichphant is a delightful speaker, full of humour and interesting ways of explaining cultural phenomena.  [PHOTO_ID_L=traditional-instrument.mov] And thrown in was a demonstration on cooking pad thai which we then were invited to eat.  It was delicious!

We watched a young man play several traditional Lanna instruments that looked like flutes and recorders and very odd guitars/banjos.  But perhaps oddest of all was an instrument that the musician must play bare-chested and, as Professor Phanichphant pointed out, it must be a hard, fit chest or the echoing effect would be lost.  Watch the video to see what I mean.  (I’m afraid the video is not terribly crisp.  I had some technological problems today.)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64513024@N07/20935790019/in/datetaken/

Several dancers then performed for us.  A young man performed an “attraction dance” to draw the attention of young ladies to him.  The dancer must be very careful because his swords are very sharp!  This young man was amazingly graceful and intense while performing as you can see from the short clip of his dance.

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A young woman joined him, and the two of them performed a “courtship dance,” again so graceful and dignified.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/64513024@N07/21096216826/in/datetaken/

One day each year in Lanna culture, women are excused from their cleaning, cooking, childcare and other work to spend the day with the men eating, drinking and dancing.  In this way they invite the spirits of their ancestors to occupy their bodies.  When the spirits do so, the dancers go into a trance, though Professor Phanichphant suggested the day of drinking could also be a contributing factor.  The “trance dance” reflects the outcome of the day, and provides a stark contrast to the beauty of the other two dances.

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This afternoon we visited the Wat Suan Dok in Chiang Mai.  This temple complex differs from previous wats we have seen: it has a very large bronze pagoda which apparently contains a relic of the Buddha and is surrounded by white stupas (unlike the highly decorated stupas at the Grand Palace).  These stupas contain the ashes of local residents, not royalty or other dignitaries.  One of the monks from the temple met with us and talked about Buddhism and his life as a monk.  He even removed the outer layer of his robes and showed us how it should be folded.  We ended the discussion with a short meditation and chant.

Our last stop was 1,250 metres above Chiang Mai at Wat Prathap Doi Suthep built in 1397. Legend has it that the king placed an relic of the Buddha on the back of a white elephant that proceeded to climb the mountain but die on the way up.  The king took this as a sign that he should build a temple at that location.  The temple compound is full of Buddhas.  I asked the guide if he knew how many but he did not.  I would not be exaggerating if I estimate that there are over 100 statues of Buddha sitting, standing or lying down, with headdresses and without, in bronze and in other materials, with flowers and without.

The compound also contains hundreds and hundreds of bells of all sizes that followers purchase and donate to the compound to earn merit for their future life.  You can see small bells hanging from the eaves of the building in this photo.  I found myself wandering through the compound completely overwhelmed by the statuary, the decorations, the enormous bronze and gold pagoda and the crowds.  Today has been one of sensory overload on steroids!

Tomorrow a low-key day:  elephants!