"600 Baht."
 "No, Thanks ."
 "400 Baht."
"No Deal."
 
I pass a western style mall and take a walk through it. There is a Buddhist altar inside, of course. It looks similar to a mall you would wander though in the U.S., except there are lots of individual merchants with their goods on racks in the middle of the mall. There are kiosks in the middle of malls in the U.S. but these are full stores set up. They offer their goods if you look interested, kind of like they do as you walk down the street. The difference is, this is more upscale, with pricing to match.
 
I started walking toward the mountain about 45 minutes ago. I've passed the mall and university. Now, I am getting close to the zoo. I know in this area I should find the Baht Taxi to take me up the mountain for 40 Baht.
 
The private taxi looks just like the 40 baht taxi. If you get on their truck they will charge you many times over what the Baht Taxi will. I don't mind paying the going rate for things, but like anyone else, I don't want to get scammed into paying more because they think I don't know any better .
 
I know for sure I got scammed one time since being in Thailand. I arrived at the bus station from Ayutthaya and the scammers came out of the woodwork as soon as I stepped off the bus. They wanted to know where to, and I told them. 800 baht one said. No way. 

My problem was I didn't know how far my hostel was from the station, so I didn't know what a fair price was. We settled on 400 baht. The ride took 10 minutes. I could have walked it if I had known where to go. 100-150 Baht would have been a fair price. But, I got took that time for sure. Otherwise, I haven't got hurt too bad by scammers, I don't think. I am getting more aware of them now, though.
 
I'm not as annoyed by the touts as some other people are. I know they are trying to make a living and are offering a service. And, in the case of the Truck Taxi, if someone doesn't want to share their ride with strangers, they can hire a Truck Taxi for just themselves and pay the high price. Some people prefer that. 

There are touts pushing everything from tailor made suits to tours and everything in between . I usually just say "No, thank you" and keep walking. No need to be rude. It is only agitating to me when they won't take no for an answer. Also, when they know they are trying to take advantage of you and overcharge because you don't know the area or product. I see that as dishonest. Like the truck taxi trying to make you think theirs is the only way and price to get to where you are going.
 
Today I want to go to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. I walk on by the scammers and, in about 10 or so minutes, I come to a group of truck taxis that look just like the ones I just turned down. These are the real 40 Baht taxis. The other group of taxi scammers park just a short distance before the baht taxis in order to scam people into paying the higher fees before they find the 40 bath taxis.

The Wat stands on a flank of the mountain at an elevation of 3,464 feet. It is in the Doi Sethep National Park. The mountain itself is a beauty. It hosts dense forests and lots of evergreens near the peak . The ride up in the baht bus offered some wonderful views, although I'm not going to the top. If you go further up past the Wat, you can visit a long-neck tribe.
 
The main reason people come to the park, though, is to visit one of the most holy Buddhist sites in Thailand, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. The site is highly revered and It is a major pilgrimage site, especially in February and May during the Buddhist holidays. The Thai visitors come to make an offering of flowers, candles or incense. Sometimes small squares of gold leaf are applied to their favorite Buddha or to the exterior of a chedi, to be blessed. The breath taking temple is crowned by a 79 foot tall Chedi (Monument). It is gold plated from top to bottom. The Chedi's golden exterior glimmers and glistens are you look at it, reflecting the sun's rays. On a clear day it sends out beacon like rays over the city far below. The temple dates back to the 14th century and the story of its founding is a popular Thai myth, full of magic.
 
Here's the story and myth as I understand it:

In the old city of Chiang Mai in the 1300's, they were installing a Buddha relic in the Wat Suan Dok . The image split in two. But, the myth says one of the parts was the same size as the original. So, it was as if the Buddha image had reproduced itself.
To honor the miracle, a new Wat was needed. The king at the time placed the new image (the one that split off from the original) on a sacred white elephant and turned it loose to wander through the hills. The story goes that the elephant went up to the top of Doi Sethup, trumpeted 3 times, made 3 counterclockwise circles, and knelt down. This was how the site for Wat Phra That was chosen.

 End of the Story and myth as I understand it. 

On the grounds of the Wat is the Bhubing Palace. It is the vacation home of the Royal Family. It serves as a guest house for foreign dignitaries when not being used by the Royal Family.
 
Once we reach the Wat, there are vendors set up and it's a very busy place. Lots of people are here today to see the Temple. There is a dog laying in the middle of the street, where all the traffic has to pass . It is sleeping away, not bothered by the cars passing inches away from it. It's so funny how these dogs just don't worry about the traffic. I sure don't know how they keep from getting run over. And, they don't run out in front of traffic like dogs in the U.S. do. If they do wander out in traffic, everyone just seems to slow down or go around them. Still, a loose dog in the U.S. would never make it long wandering around in places with heavy traffic.
 
The Wat Phra That Doi Suthep has 300 steps you get to climb. The steps go up the side of the mountain to the Wat entrance. The dragon-serpent-like image runs on each side of the steps all the way up. I pay an entrance fee. Foreigners have to pay to get in. Thai people do not. Some attractions here cost a lot more for foreigners to see and do than the local people are charged. Think of the uproar in America if we charged more for non-citizens to do things than the American citizens had to pay.
 
Most Wats do not charge anything to get in, but occasionally one does. I don't mind paying the small fee .
 
Before actually entering the Wat, there are food and trinkets available, like everywhere in Thailand. I see some quail eggs fried in coconut milk. They look interesting and are something I have not tried yet, so I buy some. They come in a little container that holds about six. You eat them with a stick. They are delicious.
 
I enter the Wat and it's all it's built up to be. It's a beauty alright.
 
The colors on these temples gleam in the sun as you are looking at them. In the pictures you cannot really get a sense of the brilliance of the colors in these temples. That's why I keep taking so many pictures. They are just so astounding in real life that you can't help but photo them to look at later. The real beauty of the colors radiating in the sunlight has to be seen in person, though. And, you look at one building that is so stunning and turn a corner and there is another building just as spectacular. You just keep walking and looking, forgetting everything else.
 
Inside the Wat, there is a fantastic view from the top of the mountain . From here you can see the city of Chiang Mai below. Somewhere down there, there are touts waiting to scam someone. 

There are a lot of statues in a large square, elevated above the people. There is a walkway surrounding it. I see Buddha worshipers getting pieces of paper from someone and walking in the path around the outside of the images. They are looking at the paper chanting something as they walk. Others are lighting incense or placing coins around the temple grounds at different locations. This religion is very ceremonial it seems.
 
The Wats are a place of worship for these people, but tourist just come to see the stunning architecture. That is one thing I have noticed. The Buddha worshippers are always here, kneeling and praying or lighting incense or giving other offerings. All the while, many tourists like myself, are taking photos of them and the Wats beauty. It doesn't seem to phase them, though. I think in our own country it would upset our people to have foreigners doing this in places of worship as we prayed and sang . Different worlds!
 
I buy some roasted corn on the cob on the way out of the temple. I have been looking at the corn for a long time and have intended to try some. This seems like the day for it.
 
Outside the front entrance, I look for my 40 Baht bus but am offered a 400 Baht ride. I walk on by to a waiting 40 Baht bus to ride down the mountain and then walk back into the city of Chiang Mai with it's many sights waiting for me to discover.