The
first stop of the day was at the temple of Na Hoo, located at about 2 km from
Pai. It houses a sacred statue of Buddha, which is said to have once oozed holy
water from the head. This place is frequented mostly by Thais and it also has a
small market.
We learned how to pray in the Buddhist religion: we knelt down, we joined our hands in prayer by placing our fingers in the space between the eyes, and then we bowed down, resting our hands on the floor; we repeated these actions for 3 times.
We gave offerings to the monks and, in return, we were blessed and purified by the wise old monk. All the sins committed in our past life and in the current one were deleted. How I wish that was true! Maybe I should become a Buddhist too...
The offerings to the monks may include different stuff: medicines, money, food, and everything that can serve for the monks’ living and for the maintenance of the temple where they live all day, for their whole life.
After yet another Thai delay (a couple of hours in total), we finally reached the bed of the filthy Twin Inn Hotel in Phuket at 2 in the morning.
Fortunately, we only had to spend a little over 6 hours in that place that had been recommended to us by that gentleman that, in an airport at 1 o’clock in the morning would have been able to persuade anyone that his hotel was the best and the closest to the dock (too bad that the following day we found out that we were at least 5 km far!).
After a never ending negotiation with a tuc tuc driver, we arrived at the port, where we embarked on the ferry to Phi Phi Island.
We learned how to pray in the Buddhist religion: we knelt down, we joined our hands in prayer by placing our fingers in the space between the eyes, and then we bowed down, resting our hands on the floor; we repeated these actions for 3 times.
We gave offerings to the monks and, in return, we were blessed and purified by the wise old monk. All the sins committed in our past life and in the current one were deleted. How I wish that was true! Maybe I should become a Buddhist too...
The offerings to the monks may include different stuff: medicines, money, food, and everything that can serve for the monks’ living and for the maintenance of the temple where they live all day, for their whole life.
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| Even when you sit down, never place your feet towards Buddha |
 |
|
The old monk who blessed us
2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. |
 |
|
The temple Hoo Na Pai
2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. |
Do
you wanna see all pics taken in Thailand? Then CLICK HERE
From
the sacred to the profane: we stopped to have a drink in what’s considered to
be the best café in town, the "Pai in Love", located on a panoramic
hill. The cafeteria was very busy, but it’s mostly frequented by tourists.
After a couple-of-hours-drive, and a great sense of nausea for me due to the famous 272 curves, we were back in Chiang Mai.
Our flight was in the evening, so we still had the whole afternoon. Since we still had a lot of time, we asked Tom to take us to the centre of orchids and butterflies, to the Tiger Kingdom (where, however, we categorically refused to enter), to the various local craft shops, to the Thai silk factory and the silk factories of the neighbour countries India and Pakistan, to the cotton factory, the silver factory... well, after visiting all these factories, we couldn’t take no more so we asked to be taken to the airport.
We thanked Tom, saying good-bye definitively and leaving him with a fat tip. We wouldn’t have seen him nor heard from him ever again, despite the typical "we’ll see each other on facebook" or "we’ll write each other through the email."
After a couple-of-hours-drive, and a great sense of nausea for me due to the famous 272 curves, we were back in Chiang Mai.
Our flight was in the evening, so we still had the whole afternoon. Since we still had a lot of time, we asked Tom to take us to the centre of orchids and butterflies, to the Tiger Kingdom (where, however, we categorically refused to enter), to the various local craft shops, to the Thai silk factory and the silk factories of the neighbour countries India and Pakistan, to the cotton factory, the silver factory... well, after visiting all these factories, we couldn’t take no more so we asked to be taken to the airport.
We thanked Tom, saying good-bye definitively and leaving him with a fat tip. We wouldn’t have seen him nor heard from him ever again, despite the typical "we’ll see each other on facebook" or "we’ll write each other through the email."
 |
| 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. |
 |
| 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. |
 |
| 2011 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights reserved. |
After yet another Thai delay (a couple of hours in total), we finally reached the bed of the filthy Twin Inn Hotel in Phuket at 2 in the morning.
Fortunately, we only had to spend a little over 6 hours in that place that had been recommended to us by that gentleman that, in an airport at 1 o’clock in the morning would have been able to persuade anyone that his hotel was the best and the closest to the dock (too bad that the following day we found out that we were at least 5 km far!).
After a never ending negotiation with a tuc tuc driver, we arrived at the port, where we embarked on the ferry to Phi Phi Island.
Do
you wanna see all pics taken in Thailand? Then CLICK HERE
Keep reading...
Keep reading.... My travel story continues in the next post!
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