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Monday, May 17, 2010

Monday May 17, 2010

Day 3:
Today was different in a lot of ways.
1. We had our first class today.
2. Visited the temple.
3. Climbed 306 stairs.
4. Visited the Hill Tribe & Flower Garden.
5. Didn't get car sick going up this mountain.
6. Rode in the first Tuk Tuk of the trip.

We had class discussing our observations and thoughts about the orphanage. It was really cool to hear what other people thought. We then went on to the temple tour after lunch. Whew- what a ride that was, I can't even try to begin to explain it other than motion sickness extravaganza! The road was so curvy, the twists around the mountain were seriously more curvy than U-Turns. Luckily I didn't get sick- Praise Jesus!

Before visiting the temple, we went to the Hill Tribe. There was this enormous flower garden that was beautiful. The Hill Tribe was interesting because it's completely different than I've ever seen in my life. The way these people live just shock me.



In the picture on the left is the view from the top of the flower garden. The houses in the right hand corner of that picture are the houses of the village people. The middle picture is just one of the three of us... it seems to be our group:). The right picture is an attempt to capture all of the garden. It was sooo beautiful!

The temple was beautiful with all of the colors and details. We had to walk 306 stairs to the top, and we MADE it! I'm not going to lie... I was a little out of breath (how sad right?). The temple was interesting, but I just don't understand the justification of Buddhism. We did hear some interesting facts though... Monks choose when and how long they want to be a monk! I though this was the weirdest thing. I thought once a monk always a monk. I feel like if you are as devoted to the religion as they claim to be, then why would just opt out of the Monk business? Also, when seeing a monk or walking past, you must lower your head until it's lower than his... for Americans this can be tricky considering most Thai men are short. If you want to take a picture of the Buddha statues and such in the halls, you must sit on the ground. (more insight to Buddhism on the next blog) The view from the temple overlooked the entire city of Chiang Mai. It was breathtaking. I have pictures of that but it seriously doesn't do it justice.

We were able to learn a little about the religion...one word sums it up "sad." I know that's odd... but my thoughts were 1.) These people are doing all of this worship and offerings for nothing. 2.) What is exactly Buddhism? My next blog will be about Buddhism and the Riots in Bangkok, because we are going to be hearing about them in the lecture from Payap University.

Last night we went to the Night Bazaar again. We are fierce shoppers... we are definitely getting better at this bargaining thing! I've got some really neat/cool stuff... and some goodies to fill our new house! I can't wait to pass out of the gifts! To sum up the Night Bazaar think China Town! There are vendors everywhere selling everything you could possibly think of! We had our first experience in a tuk tuk. A tuk tuk is best described as a three wheeler motorcycle with a roof. Jade and I got a ride back to the hotel after we were done shopping! There are two ways to get around in Thailand (taxi style), tuk tuks or songthaews. Songthaews are a truck with two benches in the cab with a roof on top. Tuk Tuk is on the left, a picture of the Night Bazaar is in the middle, and a Songthaew is on the right.

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