So many temples...

 According to Wikipedia, Chiang Mai and the surrounding area are home to more than 300 temples. Certainly we have seen a lot: in the old city, there was one literally every couple of blocks, and they're sprinkled thickly throughout the rest of the city.

Gate to a temple complex, Wat Chai Mongkhon, built to resemble a stupa. Many of the temples we've seen have old (ancient) stupas on the grounds. Here's what that gate looks like from the inside:

 

The amount of land occupied by, and the labor and expense of maintaining, these temples... it's phenomenal. And what's more, they seem to be mostly working temples not just tourist attractions. We've heard sutras being recited and seen people praying. We joked that you could earn a lifetime of merit by visiting and praying in every temple in Chiang Mai - if you did it all on foot, it could take weeks.

Besides the religious functions, temple complexes seem to serve as neighborhood market and gathering places. This is a view of the courtyard at Wat Chai Mongkhon:

Food and merchandise stalls in the background on the left. Parking spaces to the right. Further around to the right there's a shop that sells candles and incense for people to offer in and outside the shrine:

 

You can see there's a constant flow of people lighting candles here. The candle in the front row of the left-hand burner, near the center, is one I lit to pray for our safe and speedy return to this place.
 

 

Religion seems woven into daily life here, in a way I have not seen anywhere else I've traveled. Many houses have little shrines in the front yard, like elaborate birdhouses, lovingly decorated, and often with fresh offerings of food or incense. And there are public shrines dotted around, at major intersections or in the parks and plazas where the night markets happen. Again, you often see offerings there: people use these shrines.

 This shrine happens to be outside the Chiang Mai Marriott:

 

I don't have a lot of temple pictures, because... visually they're, well, kind of overwhelming. Thais have apparently never met a color they didn't like. The proportions of the buildings and statues are exquisite, but the colors are dizzying until you get used to it. This is from the grounds of a temple in the old city:

Temple and Town

Temple courtyard

Village square

Place of commerce

House of prayer.

House of worship

Marketplace

Daily life in

Sacred space.