NomadGirl Travels

A great day trip from Chiang Mai, Thailand is to the Buddhist temple Wat Prathat Doi Suthep. This is a very sacred temple to the Buddhists. It holds the sacred Buddhist relic believed to be Buddha's shoulder bone, that was carried to the site by the White Elephant. After carrying the relic to the top of the mountain, the elephant died at the site. It was decided that a wat should be built on the site and that it should hold the relic. At the bottom of the 309 steps Wat Prathat (wat means 'temple') is located 15km outside of Chiang Mai, in Chiang Mai Province. You must travel along a winding road before reaching the wat. Once there, to reach the entrance to the wat, you must climb 309 steps up the side of a mountain. There is also a tram that can take you to the top, but it comes with a cost (50 Thai baht return). Lotus Offering Just inside the entrance, there is a shrine at which Buddhists make offerings including lighting incense candles and offerings of l

Have you ever been conned? I don't mean in the criminal sense per se, what I mean is: Has someone ever convinced you to buy something you had no intention of buying in the first place, or that you paid way too much for because the sales person was extremely persuasive and would not give up? This happened to me this week, and I am still trying to rectify the situation. What happened was this...I have been really sick with a cold. On Monday I stayed home from work, but had no medicine in my house, so I had to go to the store for some meds. On my way out, there was a box for a fitness club where you could enter to win a free trial. I impulsively put my contact information down and entered it in the box. Then I left the store. On Tuesday, while at work but still not feeling great, I got a call from the Fitness Centre. The manager, Helen, wanted to know if I could come in to have a look at the place that night. I said yes, because that is what I do. I called after work to cancel the a