Wat Umong / 3 Kings

My friends from the Bay Area took the train from BKK to Chiang Mai, arriving on Saturday. The air was the worst I have ever seen it; everything was veiled in a dark gray haze, and the vast majority of pedestrians and people on motorcycles were strapped with surgical masks or respirators to filter out the smog.

Haggard, unshaven, and strapped with huge backpacks, they met me in front of Central Kad Suan Kaew; Kyle wearing an old torn and unwashed Dead Kennedys shirt, Teddie limping up the stairs, covered with wounds from swimming through the coral reefs of Koh Tao and burns from jumping through flaming jump ropes on Ko Pha Ngan. It was such a relief to see these familiar faces!

The next day we went to Wat Chedi Luang. We met a young monk from Laos who stays at the temple, and we proceeded to sit down with him and talk about his lifestyle and beliefs. In spite of the occasional difficulties of the language barrier he was very patient, and wanted to do everything he could to explain Buddhist concepts and guiding principles to us.

Later we talked to another monk from Laos studying at the school adjacent Wat Chedi Luang. He was preparing to visit America for the first time in early April, so he was asking us about the culture & pace of life in New York, where he plans on going after conducting an interview with the American Embassy in Chiang Mai.

The first monk told us about a temple in Chiang Mai called Wat Umong, which he described as a “forest temple”. Intrigued, we took a songtaew to this temple.

When we arrived, there was a loud constant noise that sounded like the grinding of a motor. The abrasive sound came and went in waves. I was confused about the source of this noise. Later I learned that it was coming from swarms of insects in the trees that Thais call jakka-jahn. These insects thrive in the hot and dry season. They are large and black, but usually remain unseen, hiding in the leaves and branches of trees. The only traces to be seen are in the vibrations of the leaves. Street vendors fry them and sell them on the streetsides of Bangkok.

Wat Umong is an expansive territory hidden in dense forest. We made our way through the many trees and Buddhist relics to a brick structure with large tunnels on the inside. We came to the entrance and entered the cold darkness. At the end of the tunnels, Buddha images were illuminated with the wavering light of candles. Smoke of incense filled the air.

We continued past an ancient tree with an enormous trunk and roots extending deep into the ground. He walked over a bridge towards a pond, where many people were sitting peacefully on an island and feeding bread to the catfish.

On Sunday we wandered through Chiang Mai walking street. As midnight approached we sat in front of 3 Kings Monument, where Thai kids were break-dancing to Wu-Tang Clan, skateboarding and doing tricks on a rail, and doing tricks on fixed gear bikes.