Spatafora Family - The Thailand Sabbatical

November 19th--
Last night we flew to Chiang Mai and arrived at our hotel very late in the evening. We were all famished and had hoped at least to get room service, but it was not to be. A kitchen fire nixed that idea. Let's just say that the beginning of the Chiang Mai leg of our trip was "interesting". But after a good sleep, a swim in the pool and some lunch, we were ready to tackle Chiang Mai.

Our first visit was to Doi Suthep, the most famous temple in northern Thailand. Chiang Mai was the capital of the Lanna Kingdom prior to becoming part of Siam (Thailand), and the temple at Doi Suthep was built in 1383. The temple is situated on top of a mountain (Doi Suthep), which gives it an impressive setting and view of the valley and city below. The story of the temple's location is that a relic of the Buddha was strapped to the back of a royal white elephant who was let loose in the city. The elephant was allowed to roam until it stopped at this point on the mountain, dropped dead, and that spot is where they built the temple. We took a truck taxi up to the top, which on the winding roads and passing other vehicles at top speed, made for an interesting ride.

Upon arriving at Doi Suthep, the first challenge is to climb the 300+ stairs guarded by two Nagas from the gate up to the temple. This is no small feat as there are hundreds of steps to the top and lots of shopping and food stalls to detain you at the base. Along the way, we met three local girls in traditional costumes who, after getting their photos taken, quickly demanded payment. Fair enough.

The view from the top is beautiful and provides a clear layout of the land and the city below. The old part of Chiang Mai is a walled city and it really stands out as a perfect square from above. The temple itself is outstanding. Again, everything is encrusted in gold and ceramic or mirrored tiles. Doi Suthep is active as an international monastery, so there are monks from all over Asia there. It is also frequented by the locals and Thais from all over the country who are there as both worshipers and tourists.




In addition to the temple itself, Doi Suthep has a very active market. As markets go in Thailand, it is pretty docile so it was a good first market stop for our visitors. We took a break to look and shop for souvenirs as they had everything from Buddhas to puppets to clothing and swords. Evidently swords are popular items to buy here, although the only place I ever see them outside of the markets is in Nick's room. The market also had food and drinks, which came in very handy today as it was very HOT in comparison to Oregon. The favorite treat here was the grilled banana wrapped in a crispy waffle on a stick. I know that everything tastes better on a stick and eaten outside, but these were really tasty.


After touring Doi Suthep, we took the truck taxi, seemingly driven by a former Olympic bobsledder, back down the mountain back to town for a rest at the hotel. (The good news there was that the kitchen fire was out and all the smoke was gone.)
We had time for a very short rest because we were headed next to a Khantoke dinner. This is a Northern Thai-style dinner where you sit at a low table and are served traditional Lanna dishes in bowls on a footed tray. The food was pretty good but the Mai Tais in pineapples were a big hit with the ladies. Forget the "umbrella drinks" - pineapples are where it's at.

The best part - not counting the company and pineapples, of course - was the traditional dancing. This included several styles of Thai dance from the different regions of Thailand including ones depicting classic Thai legends such as the story of Hanuman (a mischevious, monkeylike diety) who falls in love with a mermaid-like creature. The kids loved the drumming dance best with its frenetic beats and aerobic style involving drumming with the hands, head, and high-kicking feet. It is quite impressive and rousing.

The dinner ended with members of the crowd being invited up on the dance floor to dance with the Thai dancers. Somehow we were spared the embarrassment. As we were leaving, we had the opportunity to light and release one of the paper lanterns. I love these lanterns. They are quite large and fill with hot air from a wick you light at the base. Once it fills with hot air, you gently lift it into the air and watch it float away until you can no longer see it. As I understand it. you are supposed to offer up your worries and problems and watch them float away. They are traditionally done at Loy Krathong but have become more common with tourism. It is a very fun and festive tradition.

It was another full day that ended with some happy travelers. Even our jaded teens were happy!

November 18th--
Last night our good friends Carol Lee Woodstock and Molly Gard, (mother-daughter dynamic duo), from Corvallis, OR, arrived for a 7-day whirlwind visit to Thailand. We were obviously very excited to have visitors and have a chance to show people around Thailand for a few days.


After picking them up at the airport, we headed back to the apartment and stayed up way too late talking (3 am-ouch!). After a much needed sleep and some breakfast, we showed them a little bit of Bangkok by taking a river taxi on the Chao Phraya. Not only did it get us to our first destination, but hopefully it gave them a good feel of Bangkok and how much life in Bangkok is centered on the water. From the river you really see, hear and smell Bangkok.

Our first big stop was at Wat Pho. This is where the giant reclining Buddha is located. It is the oldest Buddha in Bangkok and the largest in Thailand at 46 meters long! These images do not do it justice as the Buddha is so large that it fills the temple completely, making it very difficult to photograph. One of the more interesting aspects of the reclining Buddha (I think) is the soles of his feet. They are made of inlaid mother- of-pearl.

Very near Wat Pho is Wat Phra Kaew. This is where the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred Buddha image in SE Asia, resides. No photos are allowed, but you can Google an image of it easily. The most surprising thing to a first-time visitor is the diminutive size of the Buddha. This seems especially true if one visits Wat Pho just before coming here as we did. The Emerald Buddha is only about 75cm tall and is made of nephrite jade. It wears special robes for each of the three seasons here, (wet, dry, and hot seasons), and had just had its robes changed at Loy Krathong as we entered the dry season. The grounds of Wat Phra Kaew are incredibly beautiful and it is the kind of places where sensory overload can happen very quickly. Every square centimeter of these structures is either covered in mosaics of decorative tile, made of marble, or encrusted in gold. Note the behaviour it can produce in travelers with jet lag!
Our last stop before the skytrain ride back to the apartment was to take a quick tour around the Grand Palace. The King does not actually live here anymore. It is mainly a tourist attraction with some occasional ceremonial functions.
Let's see: transoceanic plane flight, skytrain ride, boat taxi trip, and visiting three of the major cultural/tourist sites in Thailand. I'd say that was a full day! Oh, I forgot. That night we hopped on a plane for Chiang Mai. No rest for the weary.

Nov. 6 - The trip back to Bangkok
by Gioia Spatafora

"On the Road Again" was the song that we were singing when we left our bungalow guest house in preparation of going back to Bangkok. But only the driver and the map holder knew how long the lengthy drive home would be. So with our ipods half charged and our homework on our laps, we headed on to the first stop at Wat Yai.









Wat Yai is the temple in which the Chinnarat (victorious king) Buddha sits. The Chinnerat is the second-most important Buddha to the Emerald Buddha, (possibly third-most to the reclining Buddha). It is cast in bronze. Supposedly, a mysterious white-robed man appeared and helped cast it and was never seen again. It has unusual features for the time period that it was made in. Its halo was made so that it looks like a Naga (good serpent), and its head is slightly larger at the temple area. The little town of Phitsanalok where the Buddha is has a thriving market surrounding the temple. You can get almost anything, including persimmons from the king's orchard project in the north. From there we went and had lunch (at a rest stop, weird!) then headed to Lopburi.












Lopburi is the town to live in if you are a monkey. Originally, the monkeys, really macaques, lived only at the temple grounds. The town was "taken over" when the monkeys from the temple weren't satisfied with temple life and went looking for fun elsewhere. The temple where we went to see the monkeys was a shrine to the Hindu god, Kala, but that was enough to show us how outgoing the monkeys were without hanging around in town with them. At the shrine, you can buy sunflower seeds to feed to the monkeys while being taken around the temple by a guide armed with a slingshot and long stick.

Notice: BEWARE! Do not stand near the shrine with your back to it, ever. We were not told that the monkeys could jump ridiculously far, so we had a rather interesting time. I was standing with my back to the shrine feeding a monkey while dad took a picture. Out of nowhere, not one but two monkeys jumped from the shrine onto my outstretched arm. I didn't know what to do so I stood still until they jumped off when the guide yelled at them. As Anna looked on in horror, one monkey crawled up her leg. She managed to shake it off her leg without flinging it up in the air and I think the guide prodded it some too. Our experience at the temple was not a bad visit, but it was not as enjoyable as we had hoped. We were just lucky that none of us got bitten.

While in Lopburi, we also visited King Narai's palace which was not nearly as interesting as the monkey temple, but was very pretty and helped lower our heart rates back to normal. The monkeys are not allowed in the palace grounds, but cats are. All that is left of the palace is the tattered ruins. From these half-destroyed buildings you can see the Western influence like fountain ponds and Gothic windows and can guess how beautiful the palace must have been. After Lopburi we headed back to Bangkok, said goodbye to Sak our driver, and were happy that we have never owned a monkey.

November 5, 2006 - Loy Krathong
By: Nicolas Spatafora

Today we went to the old city of Sukhothai, which is about 15 kilometers west of the new city, for the Loy Krathong Festival. Loy Krathong is a fire festival for the water goddess. What you would do is buy a Krathong, light it, then put it into the water and watch it float away. You can even light this huge lantern that is made of paper. It is like a hot air balloon that drifts up to the sky and blows away.









When we got to the old city, we bought mats, chicken on a stick, lots of snacks, and some water. We found a shady spot to sit so we laid out our mats and ate right next to a temple. After eating, Dad and Anna left to go take a nap, but once they got to the car it was all boxed in so they could not get to our hotel. While Dad and Anna did that, Mom, Gioia and I walked around shopping and watching the people and found where we were going to eat tonight. We got a Pink Panther shirt and some other things at the market. At the festival there are many food and crafts booths. When we met back at the picnic spot, Dad and I went to the temple right behind us. We saw a lot of kids playing war in the temple. Dad and I thought it was odd.









When Dad and I came out of the temple, the never-ending parade started. There were a lot of cool costumes and lots of drumming and flowers. Later, we learned that there were groups from all 17 of the northern provinces, but it seemed like a whole lot more than that. When it got dark we headed out for dinner and had more chicken.









When we finished eating dinner, Dad and I ate bugs that are not good, but we had to try them. (See us eating insect larvae in the pictures above). After we washed our mouths out, we looked at the krathongs from all 17 northern provinces. Each province makes a large krathong and there is a competition. My favorite one was from Chiang Mai. We never did see who won the prizes, but they were all pretty cool designs with lots of flowers and banana leaves.










We headed over to buy some Krathongs. I bought this one that was huge and after I set it in the water a lady gave it back so I kept it. We visited the statue of King Ramkamhaeng, who invented Loy Krathong, and lit some more candles and incense. We also bought some lotus flowers and the girls bought a bag of live fish to set free in the pond. They do that sort of thing at temples with birds in cages that you set free, but we had never seen it with fish before.
After doing our krathongs, we watched some fireworks then headed back to the van because we were pooped. Once we got to our bungalows we all went to sleep because we had to wake up very early tomorrow to leave and go home.

Here is a map of Thailand with places that we visited on this trip circled in red. If you click on it, it should enlarge. As you can see, this trip was a whirlwind tour of central Thailand.

Nov. 4
Today we visited Sukhothai's twin city, Si Satchanalai, which is about 50 km north of Sukhothai in a crook of the Yom River. It is another historic city of the region and contains some of the better preserved Khmer and Lankan architecture of the region. The Khmer Empire immediately preceeded the Siam Empire and ruled SE Asia for several hundred years, approximately from the 6th to the 13th century. Much of the early Siamese art and architecture is strongly influenced by the Khmer. The slender chedi style was adapted from Sri Lanka along with Buddhism itself. People of this area practiced Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism until Ceylonese Buddhism was adopted during the period when these cities were at their peak. The entire ancient city, like Kamphaeng Phet, is a historical park.

We spent much of the day visiting the different major wats, which varied significantly from each other. Wat Chedi Ched Thaeo (pictured above) is of the classic closed lotus bud style, whereas Wat Chang Lom (pictured right) is more similar to many of the contemporary Lankan-style Thai chedis in use today. "Chang" is Thai for elephant, the most revered animal in Thailand. The base of the main chedi at Wat Chang Lom is surrounded by 39 huge elephants. Most have lost their trunks and the plaster that once covered the laterite stone which they are made of (pictured left). Because of the missing pieces, you can see that their bodies were hollow so each could hold a golden Buddha image and other treasures. They are all emptied out now which is probably why they are in such disrepair. But still, they are an impressive sight and add to the uniqueness of this wat.

It is easy to get "templed out" in Thailand. So we took a break, had lunch and then visited the ancient kilns of the city. Si Satchanalai's pottery, known as Sangkalok, was a major art form and source of economy for the region during the height of the civilization here. The most interesting thing we saw was a series of kilns that were used from the 11th-15th centuries. They were huge! They fired huge water jars there that they had to have the elephants drag into the kilns because they were so heavy. They made several "patterns" of dinnerware and cooking vessels and many art pieces as well. The pottery produced in the kilns in this area has been found as far away as Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It was definitely a cottage industry that everyone in the area became known for producing. There are ruins of over 200 kilns in a 1.5 sq. km area. Now there are a few family-run pottery shops in the area making reproductions of the old designs, so, after centuries of decline, Sangkalok pottery is making a comeback. After visiting some of the ancient kilns, we stopped at a local potter's shop and bought several pieces. Ah, more heavy, breakable stuff to try and get home. Maybe someday an archaeologist will dig them up and be amazed that this style of pottery was traded as far away as Oregon during the 21st century.

We had one more temple in us for the day, or at least I was dragging everyone there, and we went to Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat Chaliang. Whew, that's a mouth full. The main chedi of this wat is the classic Khmer style. Again, a closed lotus bud, but much more robust than the Thai style. This is probably my favorite style of chedi architecture. I am not sure why, but seems more mysterious to me with more of a lost civilization quality to it. It is truly amazing to walk among these ancient temples and to think of a thriving society that was so architecturely advanced.

Today was a great day. Touring Si Satchanalai was a lot of fun and we learned a great deal about this period of Thailand's history. Afterwards, we headed back to the guest house exhausted. It was showers, dinner and another early evening for the Spats. We were beat.