Wat Tam Wua (Northern Thailand)

Well our adventures in Chiang Mai ended (for now) and we headed North to a little town called Pai.  This was about a three hour ride from Chiang Mai on a VERY windy road through the mountains.  I was warned that this was a scary drive that many people get motion sickness on.  I prepared myself and brought bags just in case.  I was a little disappointing.  The road was fine, must be all that time I spent in the Rockies and the Road Trip driving windy roads!  Nonetheless it was really beautiful!  Lots of trees and mountains.

We got to Pai around noon and stopped for some lunch near the bus stop.  From there we hopped on another bus that was headed to Mai Hong Son.  Another three hours.  But this time we were going to get off early, at Wat Tam Wua, a Buddhist monastery in the middle of the mountains.  The bus dropped us off at the side on the road near a sign and we started our Meditation Retreat!

We Got There, Not Knowing What to Expect 

Our Daily Schedule!

Welcome to Our New Home

We spent three full days here.  Eating only before noon, spending about 6 hours in meditation, and many more hours in quiet solitude.  This was an absolutely AMAZING experience.  Although definitely hard work.  We walked into the monastery and were welcomed right away.  After a quick check in and a going over of the rules we were lead to our houses for the next couple nights.  They were the bear minimum.  

This Was My Bed!

And This My Little House!

Although there was not much there, and the bugs did eat you in your sleep, it was pretty comfy.  I slept fairly well and even had my own bathroom!  Joel was less lucky and had a dorm room with several other men.  But all in all not too bad! 

After dropping off our stuff we headed to Chanting which is the last group activity of the day.  This consists of chanting for about 50 min and 40 min of sitting meditation.  Our very first experience with meditation.  It was really hard for me to clear my mind but really nice at the same time.  By the time we finished it was dark and after a talking a bit we headed to bed!

The next day was an early morning!  Up at 5 (I was up at 6) to do self meditation.  Then breakfast after offering to the monks.  The food was pretty delicious, all vegetarian and lots of rice!

The Check In Hall and Dinning Area!

After Breakfast it was time for our first real meditation session.  Here we did 40 min walking, 40 min sitting, and about 20 min lying, during this time there was some discussion from the teacher monk on how best to meditate and deal with things such as monkey mind (something I suffer from drastically, jumping from one idea to another, much like a monkey from one tree to another).  

After meditation was offering to the monks again and then lunch, vegetarian, and of course the last meal of the day!  Then back for another round of meditation (which for me always turned out to be the least successful apparently afternoon is not a good time for me to try and calm my mind!) 

Then it was free time for an hour, and hour of chores (of your choice) and then free time till 6:30 when chanting began. 

Overall it was such a cool experience, definitely hard, but worth it!  There is also a lot of down time which we spent reading some of the books provided, about Buddhism mostly, and wondering around the grounds.  The area around the monastery really is amazing and so peaceful!

Our Favorite Place in the Monestary!

Early Morning Meditation

That Was the Best Bench!

We Had To Wear Only White, and Of Course There Was A Pond with Fish

My Favorite Feature was the Mountains!

I would absolutely tell everyone to go here for some time.  You just drop in and stay however long you want.  It it totally based on donation so money should be no excuse.  Yes it is hard, but wow what a cool experience it was!  My recommendation would be to stay 5 full days (7 days including the day you arrive and leave).  I felt that we left right as it was getting good! Although I gotta say I did enjoying eating some yummy chips when we got to Pai!

Getting to the Monastery was super easy, any bus to Mae Hong Son will stop there if you ask and leaving was also very easy as there is a public bus that goes by once a day and will take you all the way to Chiang Mai if you need to!

Probably My Biggest Complaint Was the ANTS

Another cool thing is that you get to meet some other travelers, all ages.  Although many of them want to be left alone to reflect and choose to be Silent (which is an option although not mandatory!)  some are more than willing to talk about their experience and meditation!  I also spent one volunteer time working in the kitchen with some lovely Thai women who spoke little English but nonetheless were impressed with my height and size!  I am of course much taller (and bigger) than the average Thai person, let alone women!

All in all such a cool experience  but it did have to end and now we are headed to Pai for our last couple nights in Thailand then off to Cambodia!

Bye Bye Wat Tam Wua!

Chiang Mai (Tiger Kingdom)

This is something that I was super pumped about since Phuket when we looked into doing something like this.  And let me say, we looked into it, extensively.  There is a lot of rumors and accusations on how the animals are treated in this Tiger enclosures.  Are they drugged?  Are the mishandled?  Is it really safe?  Do the trainers hurt them to enforce not endangering tourists? Etc.  

Here is my two cents on the issue.  I have worked with horses fairly extensively for three summers. In no way do I claim to be an expert on animal issues or how animals should be treated, but these tigers seemed happy.  Yes sleepy, they are cats and therefore sleep most of the day.  We went early in the morning, when they are fairly active, and you could definitely tell they are NOT drugged.  They were playful and sometimes a little intimidating.  Once or twice the tiger eyed me up (for a snack I think!) and the trainer knocked him on the nose with a pole.  Not hard, but enough to enforce the idea that that was unwanted behavior.  And immediately the cat would walk away or settle down.  This to me seemed normal, as someone who worked with horses force (obviously not excess) is sometimes the best way to communicate with animals.  People tend to forget that this is how they communicate with each other!  When a cat does something wrong the other cat will not politely ask him not to do it again, but most likely swipe him across the nose.  So why then should we communicate with them otherwise?

The other question that came up was should these animals be tamed as they are wild animals.  And my answer to that is as humans we use many animals.  Horses only being one example.  How is this really any different?  If we teach horse to carry people, what is wrong with teaching tigers to allow people to pet them?  If people are upset about the tigers they should be upset about horseback riding and be against that as well!  But somehow I doubt these same people are.....


The only problem that I had was the enclosures were sometimes on the small side and sometimes only concrete.  This ideally would be rectified, but then again many zoos have the same issues.  Lots of these tigers had water to play in, friends to play with (although not too many in the same cage), and some space.  Yes ideally they would have huge enclosures, and hopefully that is something the Tiger Kingdom will look into (though I doubt it).  All in all it was a really cool experience and I don't think the animals are being mistreated in this particular location!  Anyway here are the cool Tiger Pictures!

BIG TIGER!!

We Were Both Suprised!

They Really Are Just Big Cats!

Definitely Wanting to Play

Having Some Fun!

Two Tigers Trying to Assert Dominance

Also Time for Tiger Naps!

The Young Ones Were DEFINITELY Active

Rammy Ram Made it To!

These were only 2 weeks old!

Pretty Cool Stuff

Chiang Mai (Sammy's Organic Cooking Class)

One of the things I really wanted to do while in Thailand was a cooking course.  This was something I had done last time (when I was about 13) and thought maybe this time around I would have a little more appreciation for it, having to cook for myself and all now!  So when we got to our hostel we asked one of the ladies which cooking class we should take, as there are almost literally hundreds of them, and she recommended Sammy's.  It was a full day, took you to a market, taught you 5 meals, and was out on a rice field, and of course only 1000 Baht (about 33 dollars!).  How could we say no?

So we woke up early, hopped into a tuk tuk and headed to the market.  Here Sammy (the owner) shared with us the difference between types of rice as well as teaching us about coconut milk.  It was pretty cool how he shaved the coconut and literally squeezed out the milk!

All the Types of Rice

Making that Coconut Milk!

The icing to the cake of this market visit was that we ran into a friend from Canada. Someone I did not even know was in Thailand.  Someone I had not only gone to school with as a young child, but also worked at a summer camp in the Rockies.  SMALL WORLD!

What Do You Think?  Most Beautiful Toilets in Thailand?

After the amazing meeting and the market we headed to Sammy's house.  This is where the cooking lesson takes place.  And what an amazing location it is!  There are hammocks to rest, lots of cooking space, a beautiful table to eat on with all your new friends, and of course the most beautiful toilets in Thailand (or so Sammy says, repeatedly!)

Amazing Place to Rest!

This Was For Our Siesta Time After Lunch

After a quick tour and some fresh bananas and cool water we got started.  Our first task was to familiarize ourselves with some of the natural ingredients that we were going to use.  All grown in Sammy's backyard of course! This was everything from Basil to Peppers and Lemon Grass.  Pretty cool working with such fresh ingredients.  Next we learned to make our own curry paste for our curry. This involved a lot of grinding!

Rammy Ram is Ready to Start Cutting!

Rammy Ram Was More Than Happy To Help

Making Curry Paste!

After that it was cooking time!  We each made three dishes for lunch.  I made a Green Curry, Pad Thai, and a coconut soup.  All were so delicious!

My Three Amazing Dishes!

After eating, of course we needed a break!  Food coma!

Hammock Time!

Looking Out on the Fields

After a quick (read 1 hour) siesta it was back to cooking!  This time we made an appetizer and a dessert.  Both were group efforts and super delicious!

Spring Rolls!

Working Hard to Make Dessert!

My Mango and Sticky Rice Creation!

Finally it was time to go home.  What an amazing day!  Great food, great new friends, and a great time!  We even got a cooking book so we could make the same dishes at home!  I loved this course.  It was easy, in English, and Sammy was so funny and friendly. Would absolutely do it again!

Sammy and His Wife, Our New Friends!

Chiang Mai (Wats)

We spent so much time walking around Chaing Mai looking at all the Wats.  These are the Buddhist Temples with lots of amazing architecture.  Our first and furthest stop was Doi Suthep.

Rammy Ram Made It To The Temple

Amazing Gold Bell

Lots of Bells!

View From the Inside

Amazing Temple From the Front 

After spending time up there in Doi Suthep, which is on top of the hill near Chiang Mai, we headed back to the city to explore some of the 300 temples in the city itself.  We walked around over the next 5 or 6 days and walked into lots of different places and saw all these cool amazing sights. 

Amazing Scuptures At Wat Chiang Man

Found the Goat (Me....Year of the Goat!)

We Found a Wat with Lots of Horses!

Amazing Colors with the Bright Blue Sky

One of my Favorite Wat's, All the Zodiac is Hung Up

Very Old, Obviously!

Anyway at this point I can barely tell you which one is from which Wat.  We walked in and out of so many in the city and spent time looking around and taking pictures.  It was really awesome and quite beautiful!  It definitely makes me excited for the retreat we are about to go do!