It was a day of contrasts! This morning we made a 35 minute trek along a busy street to check out Chiang Mai Central Festival Mall, which opened in 2013. It’s huge and very upscale with five levels of restaurants and shops. On the lower level there is a very modern grocery store (called TOPS) next to stalls selling Thai Street Food.
While at the Mall, we bought some small household items and had a lunch of Ramen Noodles and a Bento Box with Grilled Chicken at a Japanese Restaurant.
Later in the day, we visited Wat Ket. According to temple information, construction on the temple began in 1428 and the chedi or pagoda contains a relic of the Buddha.
The last couple of days we’ve watched workers build an elaborate scaffolding structure made of bamboo poles. It’s fascinating to see them work as they use short strands of rope to tie together poles; constructing the “rungs” as they go. The workers are shoeless, clinging to the hot concrete structure with their bare feet. We can’t decide if they are prepping for a repair or for cleaning but we are anxious to watch the progress.
We went inside one of the temples in the complex; a wonderfully peaceful space. It’s not visible in the photo below, but the red halo behind the head of the Buddha is actually a series of multicolored, neon, glittering lights!
Exploring the temple complex is like a treasure hunt…there is something interesting to wonder about around every corner. On previous visits, the lotus flowers were always beautiful but this time, they’ve been replaced with pink plastic flowers (though I see in this photo that one real lotus flower is peeking through – hooray!!) The lovely yellow blossoms are real and add a nice contrast to the lotuses (real and unreal.)
This pile of stone conceals some nearly hidden treasures!
By contrast, not far from the Wat is a restaurant called “Fried Pork”- as one can imagine, it’s not gourmet but the Bossa Nova music is good and the small plates of rice, pork, vegetables and egg omelets make for a pleasant light meal.
After dinner walked back to the apartment through Wat Ket and now, the scaffolding looks like it’s nearly complete – an amazing feat of ingenuity! We are very anxious to see what happens next! Stay tuned!
