Thailand - Day 6, Chang Mai Silk Market and massage

 Today was  listed as a free day and one of the options was to explore the local handicrafts.

A nice late start, 10am, for a change, and we loaded into 2 of the "red cars". They are actually a pickup truck with bench seats in the back and a roof.

We had all opted to go to the

silk shop

Eco printing examples.

A woman described the process of cultivating

the silk worms (they eat Mulberry leaves)

extract the thread from the cocoon (they put them in boiling water to kill the silk worm then unravel the thread, 500m per cocoon)

It is quite coarse so it is then washed which softens it,

spun

and woven.

We moved into the store, where I was not permitted to take pictures. Nicola bought some silk to make herself a top. I bought some silk shawls and small gifts. They also sold clothes made from other natural fibers....I saw cotton, linen, cashmere.

We waited at a coffee shop for the shoppers to finish

then boarded our red cars for the journey back to the hotel.

In the afternoon, 6 of us had arranged with Ammy to go and get a massage.

We passed the old city walls on our way.

First a little foot soak and wash

and then a lovely one hour massage.

A bit different from a massage at home. You strip entirely and they give you a pair of disposable underwear (it looks vaguely like a hair net in texture). The motions are much more rapid so when it hurts it will only be for a moment then they move on, but back to it and away. No time for you to say ouch, that's too hard, so you can tolerate a deeper massage. Here they massage your inner thigh, chest, stomach, none of which is touched at home. Sometimes they massage with an elbow or forearm. Sometimes they are sitting on the bed with you to do the massage. At the end she sat on her heels on the bed with my head in her lap and gave me a shoulder, neck and scalp massage.

Mark and Amelia had a more traditional Thai massage which involved having their limbs moved and stretched not just massaged.

Everyone was very relaxed and it had cost less than half what it would have cost at home.

Back at the hotel, I don't think this was set out as a cats water bowl but one, very privileged, cat was indulging in some flower water.

Thailand - Day 5 cont, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep Buddhist Temple

 We wound our way up the mountain overlooking Chang Mai in a minibus. The were a couple of breaks in the foliage but the view was obscured by the smog.

 The air quality, both in Bangkok and here, has been really bad....stinging eyes, sore throats and a brown haze on the pictures we take.

There are 300 steps from

 the drop off point

but we just walked one flight and then took the vennicular up the rest of the way.

After the "Compulsory toilet break" (Ammy is quite insistent that we use the toilets that she knows are clean and acceptable so we are not scrambling for washroom breaks later, "Compulsory toilet break", along with "Okey Dokey" have become catch phrases for the tour) we walked around the complex with Ammy giving her usual running commentary.

I have to admit that unless I am particularly interested in something, I only listen with half an ear

preferring to wander on the edge of the group

getting pulled here and there by the architecture,

the opulence,

the statues and

whatever other quirky little thing I find of interest.

So I think the legend is that a monk (or king, my memory is not clear on that) was riding a white elephant and carrying a relic of Buddha. He rode to the top of this mountain and then the elephant died so the temple was built here. I hope Ammy never reads this, she will tell me I got it all wrong. So many stories, myths, legends, facts have been related that I can't keep them straight. It is enough to know that it is a complex culture, influenced by the geography, surrounding cultures and history.

Sometimes temples have monsters guarding the entrance to keep out evil spirits.

I am pretty sure Ammy said that these lanterns are indicative of northern Thailand. She lives near Chang Mai and you can feel her pride in this part of the country.

Beginning to loose light

Not sure if he is a dragon but, if so, the fire extinguisher is apropo.

We took our shoes off and

went into the temple proper

to listen to the monks chanting

as the last of the sun hit the golden pagoda.