21st January 2014

As it was our last full day in Chaing Mai we had to see the Wat Phra That Temple which is regarded as the main tourist highlight. The temple is perched near the top of the Doi Suthep mountain that overlookes the City. So after lunch we piled aboard a 12 seater mini bus for the 40 minute trip the last half of which was on a steep narrow winding road to the summit. Our Thai tour guide told us the  mythology of this important Buddhist site going back to the thirteenth hundreds when a strong white elephant, carrying the remains of a leading monk, died on the spot so the temple was built there. We went up in a funicular to the temple - Very busy as you can imagine as the leading tourist site with believers there for worship mixing with masses of other tourists. After time in the temple and descending the ornate stairway of 300 or so steps to the car park, we were whisked even further up the mountain to see a hill tribe with Chinese origins for the final part of the half day trip. Then we were back in the bus fighting our way through the City's rush hour traffic back to our hotel for gin and tonic before going out for our last night in Chiang Mai. Tomorrow we move on to Kanchanaburi (River Kwai) for three nights.