Learning about Buddhism
Our tour guide for the bulk of our time in Chiang Mai was Dome – he was a young man with a wife and baby girl. We easily connected with him because we also had two young kids at home with grandparents. It was easy to relate to him as we had similar life experiences, and conversations with him came naturally.
One of the funniest things we learned about him is that he didn’t know his birthday. Apparently that is common in Thailand! He said when you ask his mom about his birthday, she’d say “it was in the summer.”
Dome is Buddhist and had spent time as a monk when he was younger, which gave him an expert perspective on the culture and religion. He taught us a lot about Buddhist traditions, daily life, and the role temples play in Thai society. He told us the reason there are so many temples in Chiang Mai is building a temple is a meaningful way to honor someone you love or earn spiritual merit.
One thing we learned is that Buddhist monks can enter and leave monastic life, but there are requirements before becoming a monk. For example, you can’t have significant debt or a family that depends on your income for support.
The way Dome described his time as a monk reminded me of the two years Chris—and some of my siblings—spent serving missions in different places around the world. It’s a period of dedicated service and spiritual focus, followed by a return to normal life with school, work, and family.
We spent a lot of time with Dome during our stay, but he wasn’t always allowed to accompany us during certain parts of the tours. It felt strange to leave him behind, especially after getting to know him. My best guess is that the tour company simply didn’t pay his way into some of the experiences.
CHIANG MAI NIGHT DISCOVERY WITH DINNER
Wat Sri Suphan – Silver Temple
This tour was scheduled to begin with a visit to a temple at sunset to watch monks gather for evening prayers and chanting.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen—again—and we were, again, bummed about it.
So instead, Dome took us to the Silver Temple, located in the Wua Lai neighborhood just south of Chiang Mai’s Old City.
This temple is famous for its stunning handcrafted silver exterior. Much of the temple is decorated with detailed silver panels created by local artisans reflecting the area’s long history of silversmithing.
Women are not allowed to enter this temple due to the traditional religious customs. I never really understood why women are allowed in most temple spaces, but some they are not. But again, I was a visitor to a foreign land and I was respectful of their traditions. Chris was able to go inside and see the interior, and he was even allowed to take pictures, and he was even allowed to show me the pictures. It is beautiful both inside and out!
Local Worship Another Day
Dome felt bad that we missed seeing the monks chanting, so he actually took us to a local temple to participate in a community prayer at the Wat Umong Mahathera Chan after our tour of the Elephant Nature Park on a different day.
We left our shoes on the stairs before heading inside. Inside the temple, a small group of local people were sitting on mats on the floor, singing together from hymn books as part of their evening worship.
We were welcomed to sing along, but unfortunately, not only did we not know the tune, we also couldn’t read the words in the hymnal. We did our best to participate.
Dome warned us ahead of time that we might get bored. I was determined to stay for the whole thing and be a respectful guest. Dome did end up taking pity on us and suggested we leave early. He could tell Chris was struggling kneeling on the ground – and wishing there were more fans.
It was a neat experience, and we appreciated its brevity.
Anyway, back to our Night Discovery Tour. After seeing the Silver Temple, Dome took us to dinner at a very fancy restaurant.
137 Pillars House Chiang Mai| 2 NHA Wat Kaet 1 Alley
I mentioned this restaurant briefly in my last post. Dome hung out with the driver while we went and had one of the best meals of our lives. We would have loved to have him join us, it felt so weird having him sit in the car waiting for us.
This meal was prepaid as part of the tour. We didn’t get to choose what we ate, instead we were given a sampling of many items. It was mostly things we’d never tried before, and it was all delicious. My favorite was the red curry. I was so grateful they were able to make it mâi phèt! It was rich, flavorful, and perfectly balanced. It was if not the best meal I’ve ever had, definitely the best red curry I’ve ever had!
The restaurant itself was very beautiful, the service was very professional, and the ambience was peaceful, refined, and soothing. It was a very high class place to eat.
However, the drinks were extremely expensive. Since the meal was prepaid, the only items we had to pay for were beverages. All we ordered was two bottles of water and one Coke.
The total came to more than 700 Thai Baht (about $24 USD) – far more than we paid for any other whole meals at any other restaurant in Thailand.
So be wary – we didn’t know how expensive the water would be until it was too late.
Warorot Market
This was pretty cool. Our final stop of the evening was the night market. It was, to say the least, a most interesting cultural experience!
Warorot Market is one of Chiang Mai’s oldest and most popular markets. It’s known for being a place where locals shop for everyday items—food, clothing, household goods, and traditional snacks—rather than a market designed primarily for tourists.
As we walked through the market, Dome explained how much locals enjoy the food there, including roasted crickets in particular. Apparently they eat them by the handful, like popcorn.
As part of the prepaid tour, Dome would have arranged for us to try some crickets, or any other local delicacy. He didn’t push us to try, and we didn’t jump to ask for it. Seeing the roasted crickets was enough to tickle my fancy.
I’d like to think that if he’d pressed us to try, I would have.
Up Next
Our next adventure took us out of the city and into the mountains for a full-day scenic tour of Doi Inthanon National Park. We were excited to experience mountains in a new environment!
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