It was about this time in the trip that I cottoned on to the fact that Doi means mountain.
Subsequent research reveals that Chiang means town, just as in English there are other words for town that convey subtleties that reflect the distinctions between City, Capital, Village, Hamlet and so forth. Mai translates as new thus Chiangmai equals Newtown. Not to be confused with Mae which means River.
Thai script manages to convey the consonants with 44 symbols and uses diacritical marks to convey 25 vowel sounds, 6 diphthongs and 5 tones. Learning all that as an adult might take a while. It was invented by good King Ramkhamhaeng (พ่อขุนรามคำแหงมหาราช) in 1283 or so tradition has it. When I look at Thai script I find it hard to see where one word finishes and the next starts and when it is translated for the benefit of tourists there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of consistency whether something is rendered as one word or more, you might see Chiang Mai or Chiangmai for example.
Anyway, we were on the road again and our next Doi would be Doi Lang, and once again travel time would not be wasted we stopped to take in some more paddy fields and another Buddhist Temple.
Rice isn’t the only crop from the paddy fields, there were a couple of women at work with nets …
… a fine crop of dragonfly larvae and she was kind enough to share the recipe …
We also had success, a nice little bird list including flight views of the beautiful Greater Painted Snipe.
In the vicinity of Chiang Dao we visited a temple. There is a dress code …
… but if you should fail it admission is still possible …
The Wat Tham Pha Plong is situated at the top of a flight of steps, 500 or so. The walk leads to greater wisdom and takes in a very nice forest in the process. Along the way there are some little gems …
another of my favorites read …
Abandon anger – don’t raise it.
Having anger in our hearts
is like raising a tiger as a pet.
One day it will bite us and everyone else.
Your reward will be …
and a better reincarnation.
bobmcgee 