Doi Suthep ดอยสุเทพ

the central chedi

After checking into the Rainforest Boutique Hotel and freshening up after our long train journey, my mom, brother, and I hired a driver to take us to Doi Suthep. Doi Suthep is an important mountain overlooking Chiang Mai, and home to one of the city's most famous temples, Wat Phra Thaet Doi Suthep.

statue on Doi Suthep

 We drove up a steep, narrow, and winding road up Doi Suthep to the peak high above. A cool breeze was blowing through the mountains, and it felt quite pleasant; very much different from the heat of Bangkok.

at the top!

The Temple at Doi Suthep is said to have been founded in 1383, when a powerful Sukothai monk, a holy Buddhist relic, and a royal white elephant led the King of Chiang Mai to the top of the mountain.

Over the years the temple expanded. In 1774, the golden umbrella next to the great copper chedi was constructed to mark the independence of Chiang Mai from Burma led by King Taksin of Thonburi, the first post-Ayutthaya King of Siam.

Until the 1930's, the Kingdom of Chiang Mai was a vassal state of Siam with its own monarchy, and the unique northern culture of the region is still markedly different from that in the central and southern regions of the country.

a quiet side of the temple

We climbed the 309-step "Naga Stair", flanked by a railing designed like the naga, the mythical serpent from Hindu and Buddhist legend to the top of the peak where the temple sits, surrounded by incredible views of the surrounding sprawling mountains.

Buddha statue

A large copper chedi, or pagoda housing a holy relic, sits in the center of the temple. Devotees walked in a clockwise circuit around the chedi, holding incense or prayer beads, and reading prayers off a printed card.

The temple was alive with the sound of bells and the smell of incense... and of course lots of people taking selfies! It just wouldn't be Thailand without the selfies.

inside the inner part of the temple

We took a moment to sign our names on a length of golden fabric which will be wrapped around the central chedi in some special ceremony. They must change the wrapping relatively frequently; the chedi was already wrapped in a previous cloth.

signing the cloth

the family

Mom and Kyle did some souvenir shopping in the shops surrounding the temple, and then we sat down for a couple of mango shakes and lemon ice teas. In total, we spent about an hour and a half atop the mountain.

Do Suthep is actually home to the King's Winter Palace and a national park as well, but we didn't quite have time to visit it all. I will definitely come back to Chiang Mai someday. I can't believe it's taken me this long to visit it at all! Now I've been to Phuket and Chiang Mai, probably the two most famous places outside of Bangkok, with my mom! I'm so lucky that my family was here to visit me! I really loved having visitors and traveling around the country with them.

a Buddha statue

On the winding drive back down the mountain, the driver pulled off at a scenic viewpoint for us to see the best views down over the city below. We were really high up in the mountains! It's a tradition for the new freshmen at Chiang Mai University to walk to the top of Doi Suthep together each year. It must be quite a walk!

high up in the mountains

There was an artist working at the viewpoint, making 3-minute charcoal portraits for 30 baht apiece. We sat for a group portrait, and he handed my mom a parchment scroll with a charcoal portrait of the late King; a free gift. "I draw fifty portraits of my king for the people every day", he told us with a tear in his eye. "I will draw fifty portraits of my king every day for the rest of my life."

getting our portrait made