Day 31, Summer in Asia, Chiang Mai, Thailand
There are Wats everywhere. Today we saw three. The first was a smaller neighborhood Wat called Wat Puak Pia, not one that was well-known or visited by tourists. But look at it!
From our neighbor Wat, we walked past the Coffee Cop to go to our favorite cafe, See You Soon.
Next was Wat Chedi Luang, clocking in at over 600 years old. There are many important relics here including a black jade copy of the Emerald Buddha, a gold reclining Buddha, and a few very creepy well-preserved monks. Paul saw a live monk was resting his head in the lap of the dead monk–not something you stumble upon every day.
This first building we (Kier and I) were not allowed to go in, in case we were menstruating, and because women humiliate and ruin the sanctity of the city pillar. Apparently, women due to their usage of feminine hygiene products, cause social unrest, since that’s what we all enjoy doing when we’re on our periods. What about pre-pubescent girls or post menstruating women? And still, every person on this planet was born of a menstruator. It’s a stupid archaic rule that obviously should have been discarded by now. For a religion that strives toward enlightenment, this is extremely unenlightened. Women have the vote, keep up. When it comes to gender inequality, no culture or tradition should be excused or hidden behind. Equality is equality. Every country, culture, and religion need to step up.
We were allowed into the other buildings.
Behind the fancy golden Wat, was this structure. Never seen anything like it. It’s like Aztec temple meets Buddhist shrine.
Advice in trees.
Then we were lucky enough to hear the monks chanting. Outside the Wat were monk umbrellas. I know the Bhikkhus monks are only allowed four items in addition to their robes; a razor (for obvious reasons), a needle, an alms bowl, and a water strainer. Not sure how the umbrellas fit in, perhaps they are communal. I know underwear is a no-go, and they are also supposed to go barefoot. Some have bags and I wonder what’s in them. There are online chatrooms where you can ask monks questions and dispell monk-myths. May have to visit one of those and get my questions answered.
The last one was once again a neighborhood Wat Phan Tao, but instead of gold, it was wooden.
