#feb2018

Quiet corner in a temple

Temples in Chiang Mai are popular places for tourists, especially for Americans, Europeans and Chinese. Temples in Thailand are of course, Buddhist ones, each with unique architecture, history and decoration. Chiang Mai is much like other ancient Thai cities, having temples in many areas within the city areas.

I may not be the type who likes to visit temples often, but there is one I often do, at the very least, once a year. This temple is somewhere in not so far from Ta Pae gate. Its name is “Wat Chedi Luang” which means “royal pagoda temple”. This temple is actually quite popular among tourists as well, but wasn’t my main reason of visit this time.

(Undisturbed and peaceful)

This is the old ordination hall. It doesn’t seem to be used right now, but anyways, the walls around it is truly a place that should be quiet. It’s where remains of of the people are kept. Many temples allow some spaces in the walls to be use to keep the remains from cremation of the people, just like here. Unlike other areas where tourists are around and admire the beauty and uniqueness of this temple, this area is completely devoid of tourists. Only people I see here are locals and monks.

Obviously, me and my brother are here because someone is here. I have no intentions to disrespect the dead. I won’t go into details about this much because this is an area that should be left in peace. Only relatives and friends should be here. But anyways, we came to pay respects to my late grandmother and uncle. I did not take any pictures of the area to keep the place in peace.

In contrast

After we’re done, we took a small stroll within the temple. We’re already here and we’ve got time, so why not?

(How beautiful would this be if it wasn’t in this state?)

On the other side of the temple, there’s a plenty of things to see, like this big structure. I’m not sure how to explain what it is and what it is for, but this is one of the most iconic landmark of the temple. I’m sorry I couldn’t provide much details.

(Another angle of the same landmark. You can see that there’s a Buddha image up there too!)

The structure seen in the picture wasn’t the only tourist attraction in the temple. The other areas of the temple, including buildings within are also popular among tourists. I’ve got some pictures of the other parts.

(You could see some tourists around)

(More tourists, and some shades)

Like how temples should be, the area within the temple walls are quiet and relaxing. Temples aren’t only for religious practices, but are also for relaxation and other peaceful activities. On top of that, they’re also now tourist attractions!

By the by, there is a rule, well, maybe not an exact rule. It’s more of giving respect to the place and people. This sign here says about it.

(Please dress appropriately)

It’s never really a problem for me because I am a person who really like long skirts and regular T-shirts. Unless there’s a uniform, I’ve never been told that I dress inappropriately (unless there’s a place where long skirt is inappropriate).

Out of boredom

So now after leaving the temple, we had no idea where to go next. Then suddenly we decide we would visit the train station again because we didn’t have time to explore around or take pictures during the day we arrived, and we may not have chances to do it on the day we take return trip.

(It’s pretty small, but it has trains!)

So here we are! Chiang Mai Railway Station, the terminus of the northern line. Like most of other railway stations in Thailand, it’s old, and has old stuffs. To be honest, this station is pretty small for a terminal. There’s only 3 platforms and the rest of the area were garage and yard for stuffs. There’s also a retired steam locomotive in the parking lot. There’s actually a lot of these steam locomotive scattered around in stations around the country, but not all stations have them!

Anyways, we took some stroll along and happened to see another relic from the past…

(What else could that be?)

It’s a turntable! But from the looks, it’s probably no longer used since now our locomotive have cabs on both ends. (you can see pictures in this and previous entries), unlike the old steam ones where it can only face one direction. It’s long thought between us siblings that it had been demolished due to no longer being necessary, but we were surprised they kept it! It’s too bad that we can no longer see it in operation, but this is good enough. Maybe next time we’ll have a look at another station where turntable still operates everyday. We know there’s one!

It was getting quite hot so we had to take some shelter inside the station. We had a look at the timetable and then walked along the platform because we see a train.  

(There’s trains on BOTH platforms!)

So yes, trains! We’re walking along the platform with trains, but sadly, neither had locomotive or generations active. Realizing their schedule, it’s right that they won’t be. They would be leaving in the evening, but we were at the station around 1-2 pm. Well at least we get to look and compare the two trains! One was rapid, and another was special express. The special express one is longer and has more air-conditioned cars. The ticket for special express is also more expensive than rapid one as well. There’s also another special express nearby, but there’s no possible photo angle for it. That special express was Uttrawithee, the special express mentioned to be my favorite in earlier entries. Like the other one, it’s also inactive. The shiny silver exterior of Uttrawithee really stands out among other (soooo) purple trains, and that’s one reason I love it! Also, personally, I prefer silver over purple.

Between the two platforms, there’s a small replica of a famous tourist attraction in Chiang Mai so I decided to take picture of it.

(one of very very famous place, indeed)

This is replica of the pagoda on Wat Pratat Doi Suthep. The temple sits on the titular mountain, Doi Suthep. As said in last entry, the mountain is right next to the town and from there, the Chiang Mai town can be seen. The temple is also beautiful and iconic in itself. It is so iconic that almost every pamphlets, tourist guide, tour websites, and TV program about Chiang Mai will feature it (including this one actually haha!).

(Grandpa! Are you on the work again?)

Having walked past the train cars, we saw an active locomotive running on a far track. It’s clearly a GE, the “grandpa” of the trains here. This grandpa seem to be used for shunting within the station. The train in the left side platform in earlier image was originally on another track, but grandpa put it here. After that grandpa immediately went off and go into another track.

(More locomotives! If you squint you can see number of another one in the gap behind the foreground one)

This part is in the direction the grandpa GE went. There appeared to be more locomotives here. I took a guess these would be ones to lead the trains to destination. We took a look from here and noticed that there were Alsthom, GEA, and Hitachi around. These being 2500 horsepower (2400 for Alsthom) locomotives, they’ll be able to pull long trains and cross steep mountains like Khun Tan. They’re most likely for rapid, express, and special express trains.

Before we left, I asked my brother to stop at one more place. I’ve noticed its presence since the day I arrived, but I didn’t have time to take picture of it back then… so anyways, here!

(Tiny Khun Tan tunnel, complete with the trains!)

This cutie is a replication of how the Khun Tan Station looks. Khun Tan Station is right in front of the longest railway tunnel in Thailand, and is also one of the toughest train routes due to the mountain being steep. It is one of the most memorable places for anyone who works or travel with trains.

I really like the touch they made with this, even though it’s not very detailed or realistic. I like how the place is portrayed and the trains, and the people were placed. It gives feeling of an active station on top of a mountain, and in front of a tunnel. There’s at least 12 trains passing through it each day (counting both trips of each train.)

On note that the trains’ colors were accurate, but no longer. These little trains were probably made before the repaint and repair operation since they were still painted in old colors. However, there’s one thing that irks me….  The grandpa GE’s front side. In this it’s flat, but in reality it’s slanted. Oh well, but it’s only small mistake so I’ll let it slide.