More Chillin in Changmai

I arrived in the late afternoon and I was shown to my lodgings. They have built a magnificent guest house which is decorated with elaborate murals depicting the life of the Buddha. I was assigned a cook who had strict instructions to feed me nothing but watery rice soup and stir-fried vegetables. Yummy! The temple consists of about 4 separate temples, an open air meeting room, a crematorium and monks huts. The temple is surrounded by about 20 acres of lychee trees all of which is inside a walled compound. There are of course a few mangy dogs that one would see at any temple in Thailand. After a long walk outside in the fields of rice and adjacent orchards I settled down to a quiet evening of reading.

I awoke abruptly at around 4am to the sound of the monks chanting. Crikey, I thought to myself, they are a noisy bunch. I realized later that there are loudspeakers attached to the trees in the temple compound and these blast out the monks chanting first thing in the morning. There are worse ways to wake up though I must admit.

I spent five wonderful days in the temple just meditating, taking long walks in the countryside and generally ‘chilling out’. I pack my bag and head back to Chiang Mai and then on to Bangkok. Wow! I am in culture shock but feel like I’ve just had 2 months holiday. Calm and relaxed – even in the middle of BKK traffic. Note to self – do this more often!