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Chiang Mai Monk

Wat Chedi Luang Monk

I’ve visited Chiang Mai too many times to count. And love visiting wats there. Pick a street and you’ll find at least one. I prefer wandering aimlessly and running across a new wat than digging through a guidebook. So it wasn’t until my last trip that I made it to Wat Chedi Luang, probably one of the more famous wats in Chiang Mai.

I’d walked by the front of the compound before. White wat, red roof, been there, done that. Not sure why I decided to enter this time, but behind the wat is an enormous brick Stupa with the top 30 meters crumbled from an earthquake in the 1500’s. The wat and compound provided housing and schooling for a large gaggle of novices, so the grounds are teeming with young monks scurrying about. They also hold a Chat With A Monk program.

There are always several novices available to talk with you. They get to practice their English, you get to learn more about their life. They can and will talk about Buddhism, but I enjoy hearing about their life, plans for the future, and what they think about the world.

This shot I took on my second morning visit in as many days. The young novice passing in front of the stupa makes for a great scale shot. And I went back again the next day for more monk chat, too. We spent an hour talking about the movie Avatar.