My Travel Adventures

Today, Reese, Linda, and I made a trip to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, an iconic golden temple that stands atop a mountain just west of Chiang Mai. We started our journey later than I had hoped, as finding a breakfast place in the morning proved quite a challenge. We racked up a further delay while waiting for our Grab cab, with all the taxi drivers either still recovering from a late night or already ferrying huge quantities of tourists. At around ten o’clock, we finally reached the beginning of the so-called Monk’s Trail.

November is a busy time in Thailand. As locals prepare for one of the biggest celebrations of the year, thousands of tourists from around the world descend upon the country’s most popular attractions, from Chiang Mai to Ayutthaya. The festival, known as Loy Krathong, celebrates the full moon in the twelfth (and final) month of the Thai lunar calendar. In Northern Thailand, which encompasses the historical domains of the Lanna Kingdom, Loy Krathong also overlaps with Yi Peng, a festival that celebrates the full moon in the second month of the Lanna lunar calendar.