N 120 Continuation of A Visit to Lamphun and Lampang
The highway to Lampang
was crowded with cars, but became fewer
in the middle part. The road is
excellent as in other parts of Thailand, but there are many curves and bends
that I had to warn the driver to drive slowly. We stopped at a resting place to
eat noodles because we haven’t eaten breakfast .
When we reached Lampang we
didn’t know where to go first, and so after some arguing I suggested that we go
to the centre of the town where there is a clock tower and then visited the
Cheingrai temple which I knew is nearby. This way we will be visiting 2 places.
The Clock Tower is not a very noteworthy one ,
but a simple brick structure with a moderate height and painted white.Anyway we took some photos
of it as it is also a landmark of this town.
And then with the help of GPS we arrived at
Cheingrai Temple which is nearby. It is a gorgeous Lanna style temple and is
said to be built about 300 years ago, and a copy of the famous Cheingrai temple . But as for grandness it cannot be compared to Cheingrai temple
which is magnificent in every way.There also is an outstanding Buddha statue in
the foreground and some landscape that
is worth to take photos that we cannot
help without doing so.
We headed for another
temple visit . Before long we saw a long bridge on a river. So this is the
Ratsadaphisek Bridge or the White Bridge
on the Wang River which has its own history. We took some photos of it
and continued on our way. Then the road
we were following had to pass through 2 sections of an old wall like that of in
Cheingmai. At that moment I was reminded that Lampang is an old city which had
its days under one rule or another . Like cheingmai it had also been under
Burmese rule . So there would have been
wars and sieges, and efforts to take or defend the town.Moats and walls were
built then for these purposes.
We departed from there to
have lunch near the old gate. After lunch and as we were driving back into town
we came across a grand stupa on the
roadside without particularly looking for one. The signboard told us that it is
Wat Phra Keaw Don Tao Suchadaram. It is one of the temples worth visiting. To
reach the stupa we had to cross a stone bridge with magnificent dragon
railings, which also acts as a bridge to cross a vast lake . I went up the steps slowly an
d sat on a bench
which encircle a tree and pay homage to the big golden pagoda from it. There was not a person to be seen at that time. I
was satisfied that I found and paid homage to this beautiful place of worship.
After that we went to
visit a ceramic factory which is mentioned as one of the best places to visit in Lampang. The Dhanabadee Art
Ceramic .We have to pay 100 baht each as entrance fees. After paying we were
taken around the factory by a guide who explained about the steps for making a
piece of ceramic from wet clay until it become a plate or bowl or things to
keep as souvenirs. Elephants are popular
as souvenirs I think because they are making many of different sizes. And the
cock is also a special symbol they painted on their plates and bowls.I learned
that the cock plates and bowls are originally made by this factory a long long
time ago.A nice place to visit and worth the entrance fee we spent for the
experience.
The last temple we visited
was the most famous temple that it cannot be left out,the Phra That Lampang
Leung..It is 16 Km out of town.
History said that it was
built in the 15th century and what we saw proved that it was
right.The old wall, the main viharn, the Chedi, and the murals all look old.
The main viharn built in the usual Lanna style had its roof supported by large
pillars, that we cannot differentiate them to be concrete or wood. The murals
on the upper wall were all ruined that we cannot even see what they
depicted.The Buddha statue housed in a montop at the end of the viharn is the
most beautiful and revered in Lampang.
There are many things to
see in this temple.There is the 45 metre tall Chedi , many viharns, 15
th
century footprints of Lord Buddha, museums, library etc.So enough time should
be given when visiting this temple.
Outside the compound there
are pretty and much adorned horse carts which is also a thing Lampang is famous
for. One can hire these to go around the temple from outside.
We heard that the place we
will be visiting lastly , the elephant sanctuary will be closed at 3:30, so we
had to cut short our visit at the temple and headed there which is a little far
away.We reached there in time , but it seemed there were not much activities at
that time. Maybe because it was not a holiday or weekend, when more people
visit it . We saw an old tusk elephant which was standing like a log without
moving, with its legs chained, that my daughter said that she pity it. And at another shed a mother and its baby which
some people were feeding bananas. And then another in a nearby shed, which made
the number of elephants to be 4. So after taking photos and driving around we
left directly for Cheingmai.
As we are Buddhists , when going on a trip our
visiting places usually would be temples to worship. As Thailand is a Buddhist
country like Myanmar temples and stupas are everywhere. So my intention in
visiting Lamphun and Lampang had been to visit these places. But as there are
numerous of them that visiting many is impossible. So I have to be contented
with what I have seen and pay homage for this time and I wish I can come back
to visit next time.
