I love riding my bicycle! One thing I miss from back home is getting away on my bike and exploring…just the other day here in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I was given the opportunity to do just that!!!
My squadmate Adam and I took our stylish bikes out to go explore the city of Chiang Mai. Here are some things we discovered that might help you picture where I am and what I am experiencing this month…..
- Traffic flows on the opposite side of the road than in the states. Steering wheels in the cars are on the right side while they drive on the left side….this definitely took some getting used to let me tell you! It’s “RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT” over here before crossing the road!!
- Street food rocks….and is affordable. You only have to walk a few steps to find a street vendor selling some tasty food – whether you want a fresh fruit smoothie, pad thai or banana rotee, your options are endless. And at a price you cannot beat. Sure they have Starbucks and McDonalds here but who wants that when you can have authentic Thai cuisine?! Not me!!
Taylor & I enjoy some chocolate banana rotee – dough cooked on the above hot surface with bananas inside topped with chocolate….WOW! And only 30baht (85 cents)
- Chiang Mai is a night city….meaning that during the day like morning and early afternoon you’ll find a number of stores and street vendors not quite open or set up. A smoothie place I found a previous evening and wanted to go back to around 2pm wasn’t open yet. But come 4-5pm the streets have exploded with life and stay active until the wee hours of the morning. Below is a popular night market found here in the city….
- We, Americans, don’t stand out as much because of the amount of other foreigners here (this has been the first country I have sensed this…). This city draws a lot of tourists for a variety of reasons so many of the locals speak some English and are not as surprised to see visitors from the states.
- There are more Buddhist temples (called a wat) than churches…..in fact on my ride around the city I didn’t see one church (Thailand is 95% Buddhist). Oh how different this is than in the states, especially in the suburbs! This is the first country in which I see and feel a difference in cultures….I see some western influence but primarily this is an Eastern/Asian cultured city and country. For example, seeing monks walking on the side of the road, taking off shoes before entering certain rooms, not touching peoples heads or showing them the bottom of your feet because its very disrespectful. I am looking forward to experiencing more of this culture this month.
This wat and ones surrounding it were built back in the 16th century….renovations have been done to preserve them over the years.
A friendly dragon at the wat
At this wat you see the monks worshipping the standing Lord Buddha in front of them while being lead through a chant, which you can’t hear! This worship like this happens twice a day, morning and evening, and is open to the visitors who enter in the back.
- At one such temple I was able to chat with two monks….they spoke English and desired to practice it more, which worked out great because I wanted to learn more about their lives as monks.
We chatted for about a half hour and I tried understanding as much as I could from our conversation (their accents were very thick!). Both of these men chose to follow Buddha through being a monk. They live around the temple and serve the people there at the temple. They offer blessings as people bring gifts to them. Their purpose is to learn more about enlightenment and also share with the people about Buddha while at the temples. I plan on sharing more about this in later blogs as I enjoy learning about different religions….so more to come on Buddhism.
SO what will I be doing here in Chiang Mai?!??
I’m glad you asked!
Our ministry this month is Lighthouse in Action – www.lighthouseinaction.org and founded by a Christian Thai woman named Emmi. I would HIGHLY encourage you all to watch this short video about her life.
I am SO excited to be working along side her this month. God has some cool things in store for us and the people we’ll be meeting.
My team and I are praying for one life to touch through our time here….there are a number of ways we’ll be interacting with the community and reaching them with the good news of Jesus Christ. One way is through working at the Zion Café and another is through bar ministry….I will share more in my next blog about those opportunities – but check out the website for more info about them.
I am thankful for my bike ride around Chiang Mai and look forward to serving the Lord here!
For Him,
Lauren
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P.S. I was taken to a Thai cultural dinner by our squad leaders and had a change to enjoy some authentic thai food and cultural performance!!!
Adam, Katelyn (squad leader), Thai performer, & I
