DOI SUTHEP

Doi Suthep
There are many Temples in Chiang Mai, but none is more highly revered or more beautiful than Doi Suthep.

Doi Suthep is a mountain, about 15 kilometers from Chiang Mai, and on it stands Wat Prathat Doi Suthep, a Holy Buddhist Temple. Every Temple with a name starting with Wat Prathat contains Buddha relics and therefore is considered most Holy to Buddhists.

It 's easily reached by red bus, the first will take you to the base of the mountain next to Chiang Mai zoo. Here you will find a shrine and if you walk to the back of this area you will find a park and waterfalls and a very good restaurant with views of the Falls.

From here you can take a second red bus that will wind it's way up the mountain and deliver you at the entrance to the temple. Now you have 2 choices, you can either walk the 300 or so steps to the top or there are 2 cable cars for the less adventurous. Foreigners are charged an entrance fee.

Once you reach the top you will enter the outer area with small shrines, beautiful flowers and a view point that let's you see the whole of Chiang Mai, and the basin it sits in, stretching for miles in front of you.

In front of you there are steps leading up to the inner temple area and you MUST remove your shoes before entering this area. Here you will find murals, shops to buy a bell that you can dedicate with a message and hang at various points. Within this area you will find a hall where you can get a blessing from a monk. After the blessing you will receive a string bracelet that should be worn til it falls off. If you are male the monk will tie this onto your right wrist, if your female an official will perform this task, as women cannot have physical contact with monks under any circumstance, and it will be tied to your left wrist. When entering the hall for the blessing this should be done whilst kneeling making sure your head is not higher than that of a monk or Buddha image and to leave the room stay knelling and back out keeping your head facing the monk. If you are unsure then watch the locals do it and you will know how to do it in the correct manner.

There is a box to leave a donation here and at many points in the the temple and the money goes to the upkeep of this most precious of Temples.

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