2 hours in Tokyo

We had a great time in Thailand visiting with my brother and seeing the sights but now it is time to go home.  At the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand, Japan Airlines was celebrating its 55th year of service between Tokyo and Bangkok.  They were politely encouraging all passengers to take a photo with the flight attendants dressed in retro attire.

After a long flight with an interesting (?) Japanese breakfast, we arrived at Narita Airport in Japan and cleared through Customs and Immigration quickly.  We had an 8-hour layover, so we figured we had enough time to zip into the city of Tokyo and look around for a couple hours.  Tokyo is about an hour away by train from the airport.  We took the Narita Express to Tokyo station.

When we saw this building from the train window it hit us that we were really in Japan.

It was raining pretty hard when we walked out of Tokyo station -- we were glad that for once we checked the weather ahead of time and packed our umbrellas in the carryons.

 

The Tokyo Station is just across the street from the east gardens of the Imperial Palace, so we used what little time we had to walk around and take a few photos.  This is the Kikyomon Gate, which we discovered is not the visitor's entrance.

The East Gardens stand on the site of the former Edo Castle (built in 1457), but only a few structures -- a keep, a defense house, and two guardhouses -- remain standing.  Most of the other buildings were destroyed by fires in the 17th and 19th centuries. 

The visitor entrance is over by the Ohtemon Gate.  Swans wade in the moat next to the gate.

Here's Kevin at one of the massive wooden doors of the Ohtemon Gate.

This stylized dolphin sculpture was left over from the old Ohtemon gate which was damaged in April 1945 during WWII.  It is believed to date to the late 1600's. 

The Doshin-Bansho guardhouse is where the samurai guards used to be posted to keep watch over the palace grounds.

Here's a close up of the details on the guardhouse roof (and the rain!)

Through the mist in this photo, you can just make out the stone remains of the Tenshudai, which was the main tower or donjon.  It used to be five stories (165 feet) high, but it was destroyed by fire in 1657 and now the foundation is all that is left.

Unfortunately we didn't have much time for exploring, so we really only saw a fraction of the grounds.  I guess we'll just have to come back to Japan sometime in the future to complete the tour!

We made it back to the train station in plenty of time to grab a quick bite before boarding the train back to the airport.  We really enjoyed people watching in the station, and even got to see a girl dressed in Sailor Moon fashion.  Too bad I did not have my camera at the ready!  But she looked a little like this, only with the full pigtail/bun hairstyle as well.

Photo courtesy of e-Bay

Most everyone else we saw was dressed much more conservatively, since it was the middle of a workday.  Here's a typical scene near the ticket machines.

We boarded the train and made it back to the Narita airport, and cleared back through customs/immigration with time to spare.  Next stop, Phoenix!

Doi Inthanon National Park

Doi Inthanon is part of a mountain range located in northern Thailand, at the border between Thailand and Burma (Myanmar).  Only an hour or so from Chiang Mai, it is the tallest mountain in Thailand (2565 meters) and is part of a national park.  The summit is usually enshrouded in mist, but supposedly on a clear day you can see the whole valley including the city of Chiang Mai. 

We did an all-day excursion to the park.  Inside the park we visited two waterfalls, the impressive Wachirathan waterfall...

...and the smaller Sirithan waterfall.

The walk through the rainforest was great.  It was drizzling slightly, and the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler than in Bangkok.  We were actually cold at times, which felt nice.

Very near the summit are the Naphamethanidon chedi.

Twin stupas were erected by the Royal Thai Air Force to commemorate King Bhumibol's 60th birthday in 1987, and Queen Sirikit's 60th in 1992.

They are Buddhist places of worship.  The King's stupa (called Phra Mahathat Chedi Naphamethanidon) is a copper color.

The outside of this stupa is decorated with bas-reliefs and copper-colored mosaic tiles.

The interior has a yellow and blue motif (the colors of Thailand's royalty -- the king's flag is yellow, blue for the queen) and a large seated Buddha figure.  The history of the Buddha's life is inscribed on the walls in Thai and in English.

In contrast is the Queen's stupa, called Phra Mahathat Chedi Naphabolbhumisiri.  It is lilac in color and it's exterior is decorated with purple mosaic tiles and delicate tile frescoes portraying Buddhist themes.

Inside is a standing Buddha and the colorful mosaic ceiling tiles depict the Buddha's teachings.

Beside the Queen's stupa is a lush garden.  All the grounds are beautifully manicured.

There were also a few whimsical touches here and there, like these playful elephants and the heart-shaped flower beds.

After visiting the national park, we stopped at a Karen hill tribe village nearby.  The Karen people live in small farming communities.  Their houses are built on stilts and some use the traditional roofing material of teak leaves, which need to be replaced every few years.  Corrugated tin is a modern alternative.

Rice is one of the primary crops grown by the Karen tribe.  They are generally environmental conscious and practice crop rotation to minimize the need for clearing new swaths of forest (unlike some farmers who use slash-and-burn techniques).  Here, rice grows in terraced fields.

There are several divisions within the Karen tribe, the villagers we visited are known as White Karen.  Unlike other subdivisions of the Karen tribe, the women in this tribe do not wear the neck rings that unnaturally elongate the neck.  They are called White Karen because the unmarried women of the tribe wear white woven tunics until they are married.

The women are skilled weavers, using back-strap looms to create colorful fabrics.  This woman is weaving two scarves on the same loom.

She finished just a few minutes later.  It takes about four days to complete each pair of scarves.  A single scarf sells for 250 baht (about $8.33).  When the scarves are sold, each one bears a sticker with the weaver's name on it.  The weaver earns 200 baht per scarf, the remaining 50 baht goes into a collective pool to buy weaving supplies for all the women to use.

This blanket was made by five women.  Each one wove a panel which was then stitched together to make the blanket.

We were so pleased that we were able to visit the national park area while we were in Chiang Mai.  It was a truly memorable experience.  When we got back to the hotel, a surprise was waiting for Kevin from the hotel staff.  It was certainly a birthday to remember!

Chiang Mai Old Town

Chiang Mai became the capital of the Lanna kingdom in 1292.  During the reigns of King Mengrai and King Tilok, many wats were built in the city; there are now about 300 of these temples found throughout the city.  Our first stop was Wat Chedi Luang, which means "the temple of the great chedi".

Twin nagas (sacred serpents) stand watch at the door to the wihan (hall).

The temple was quite busy today.  It was supposed to be a local holy day, but I couldn't figure out what it was specifically.

The focal structure of this wat is the Great Chedi.  It was originally 270 feet high and for a time the Emerald Buddha was kept there.  But in 1545 an earthquake destroyed 1/3 of the structure.

It is decorated with elephants (chang) around the base and nagas at the foot of the four stairways.

Each of the four sides has a niche containing a golden statue of the Buddha.

A nearby chapel contained a smaller reclining Buddha.

Other scenes from around the wat:

Within the wat complex is a religious university attended by both Buddhist monks and laypeople alike.  A patio area was dedicated to a daily activity called "Monk Chat".  Some of the monks are available to chat with visitors and answer questions about Buddhism, life as a monk, or anything in general.  We sat down with a monk from Cambodia who gave his name as "A".  He has been a monk since the age of 18 and was taking a Philosophy course.  He said he spends most of his day in meditation, chanting, and "chatting".  His English was very good, but explaining complicated Buddhist concepts to a bunch of foreigners must be very difficult!

We then left Wat Chedi Luang and walked through the Old City to another nearby temple, Wat Phra Sing.  It is the largest temple in Chiang Mai.  The Wihan Luang (Great Hall) is very large and houses an equally large Buddha statue inside.

Inside, along one of the aisles, a monk in orange robes was chanting blessings over the faithful.

A large prayer bell beside the wihan.

Another wihan, the Wihan Lai Kham (Gilded Hall), is one of the most visited areas of the temple complex.  It contains the Phra Buddha Singh (Lion Buddha), a very important Buddha image.

Wihan Lai Kham with small chedi

The Lion Buddha originated in Sri Lanka, and is revered in Chiang Mai.  Every year, the statue is carried through the streets of the city for the Songkran festival.

The rest of the temple complex was very lovely.

But we were getting hungry and a little "templed out", so we walked around a little to find some tasty Thai food.  Some signs we saw on the way:

After lunch we walked around a bit more.  The Old City of Chiang Mai is square shaped, with walls and a moat marking its borders.  The walls and gates are old and were dismantled over time.  But the Tha Phae gate has been reconstructed based on old photographs and drawings.

This is a view of the moat and a corner of the city wall that has been preserved.