March
17, 2008
Riders: Silverhawk (Dave Early) Davidfl ( David Unkovich)
Bikes: Suzuki DR650se, Honda Africa Twin 750
Destination: Wat Tham Pa Are Cha Tong (north of Chiang Rai)
The Golden Horse Temple
There is a legend of a fighting monk (called “The Tiger Monk”) who lives in
the Monastery of the Golden Horse. This monk allegedly gave up a successful
boxing career, some 16 years ago, and took up the calling of the monkhood to
start this remote temple. He fought and held off Khun Sa and his men until
they relented and supported his teachings. He trains young orphans, Nens, in
boxing and horseback riding. After hearing
this tale I had to find the temple……
Just two of us set out to traverse this valley in the heart of Thailand’s
Golden Triangle. We planned to search out and somehow persevere long enough
to reach this remote pinnacle in the jungle. Armed with little information,
and our thoughts filled with the legends, we bravely turn off the beaten
path and headed into this notorious area. 200 meters past the Nam Mae Kham
River we made our turn into the unknown.
OK, you take Highway 1 to Mae Kham, go past
the river and turn left .at the sign.
In the distance we could see the ghostlike silhouettes of the craggy
limestone cliffs. We ventured onward winding our way through the valleys and
skimming through the shadows of the towering peaks, always wondering if we
are being watched and by who. What dangers await us? Then, there it is! An
ominous path crossing the river and shooting skyward bids us to continue. I
dare not stop for a photo.
7.5km from Hwy 1 turn left at the sign and
cross the bridge. Follow the dirt and concrete road.
We approach cautiously as the legend says the gateway is guarded by a huge
Golden Stallion who will kick and stomp to death anyone attempting to enter.
Go past the signs and under the overhead
gate to the tour bus parking area.
An echoing beating of the bell and a piercing call of their master beckons
the young and fierce Nens. How will they greet us? The excitement in their
faces is evident and the chilling stares penetrate to your spine.
Guarded by figures of all types this must be a truly magical place.
A short distance below we can see where these notorious fighters dedicate
themselves to their boxing and defensive skills.
We manage to locate the herd of stallions. As I approach the leader it
instantly strikes out with its flaming hooves and I only avoid a horrendous
injury by inches
 .
Well, It did try to kick me.
I bid farewell to the temple, but on my own I venture farther up the
mountain ….
There towering above me is the Stupa and the hidden caves. A path is evident
and begs to be climbed. Aching to explore further I must wait until I am
accompanied by a soul braver than my current partner.
What, it was 38 degrees celsius (101 f).
As I ride still higher, my journey comes to an end as I dare not venture any
further.
Because I just rode into the middle of a
Thai motorcycle enduro event being held in the area and I was in the middle
of the course.
And so the legend will be passed from generation to generation………
*The road
and waypoint (N20 13 34.4 E99 48 25.9) also is shown on the Esri GPS map of
Thailand. It will be on Davidfl’s new map of the Golden Triangle.
My Source
| Quote: |
The fighting monks of the Golden Horse
Temple
Heading north from Chiang Rai for about an hour, the River Kam slinks
around the tall cliffs, and high on one of these cliffs perches an
ancient monastery, the Wat Maa Tong, or the Golden Horse monastery. The
Golden Horse shrine is reputed to date back to the time of the Lord
Buddha, where legend has it that he left a sacred footprint there.
Now it is a thriving monastry, but wait, we're getting ahead of
ourselves here, the story starts some eleven years back and tells the
tale of a young Thai man, at the pinnacle of his boxing career, we are
talking about Samerchai.
Samerchai was born to farmer parents in the Muang Chiang Rai district.
He worked hard and attended Ramkhamhaeng University, and from there he
joined the Army. During his service he built up a deserved reputation as
a fierce fighter, a boxer, and was to lose only three fights in fifteen
years. It was while he was preparing to challenge for a world title that
something strange happened to Samerchai.
Always a devout Buddhist, to the dismay of his many fans, he suddenly
turned his back on the world of boxing and decided to enter the
priesthood. Leaving his fame and fortune behind, he slipped away into
the North and made his home in the jungle caves of Mae Sai. There he sat
himself in the Lotus position and began meditating.
For many long days and nights, as is the tradition, like Buddha he sat
and he contemplated his own being, seeking the elusive enlightenment. On
the seventh night he had a vision. And for each and every night for
seven nights afterwards he saw the same vision - go to the Golden Horse
shrine. Samerchai followed his heart and the next day began the journey
north towards the shrine.
After many weeks of travel, taking alms along the way, Samerchai reached
the Golden Horse shrine, which had long been abandoned. It was remote,
high up the precipitous mountains and the dark forest that surrounded
the shrine was rumoured to be haunted, local villagers in the Mae Kam
valley were scared to even go up there.
Samerchai slowly won the respect of the animist villagers there, but his
life was by no means easy. The Shan warlord Khun Sa was a fierce and
powerful drug baron, a lynchpin in international drug trade, he did not
like this monk intruding on his territory. Khun Sa tried to intimidate
Samerchai, for the shrine was on the path for the drug traffic between
Burma and Northern Thailand.
Khung Sa sent several of his thugs to teach Samerchai a lesson and
deliver him a beating, for not even Khung Sa would risk killing a holy
man. The thugs did not know who Samerchai was, and outnumbered ten to
one, he delivered instead a beating to them. Several times Khung Sa sent
his men to 'persuade' the monk to leave, but the monk was not only able
to defend himself, he was also clever, and set traps and concealed
hinself cunningly, striking only when he was ready.
The Army had all but lost hope of trying to combat the drug trade in the
area,when rumour came of the lone monk sitting high in the mountains
daring to brave Khun Sa and his thugs. They hunted around for other
monks, willing to follow Samerchais lead, and to establish a monastry,
bringing their dharma with them and so persuading the hilltribe
villagers to abandon the drug trade where they cooperated with Khun Sa.
Samerchais reputation continued to grow among the locals, and one day
something strange happened. A local person had won the lottery, and as
is common when one encounters a stroke of luck or good karma, the local
man gave a fitting donation to the respected monk, and as seemed
fittiing he donated a fine horse. Samerchai had another insight, this
horse could greatly help him spread the dharma or teachings and at the
same time enable him to keep an eye on Khun Sa. He wasn't the only with
an insight.
Suddenly horses bound for slaughter were regularly donated to Samerchai,
by those that had come into fortunes, or by those that had come to
listen to him preach and had been impressed with his dharma. Samerchai
and his monks, tended the horses, making them better where necessary,
and then donating them to the army or to the hilltribe villagers. At the
same time, he took in orphans of parents slaughtered by Khun Sa's
militia and ordained them as novices or 'nen'.
They were well cared for, were educated and became disciplined young
men, role models for the youth in the surrounding villages. And the nen
learned how to ride the donated horses, and how to fight. Samerchai
taught them how to defend themselves witht their hands and feet, while
never losing their temper. He explains his philosophy,
'Boxing helps me to become a better Buddhist. I learn to control my
emotions. I find beauty and peace in and stillness in boxing. I get rid
of my animal instincts and control them to the point where they become
beautiful, an art form for sport, for education, for the discovery of
truth. The word Thai means freedom, and when I practice muay thai I fell
free - free from my emotions, from anger'
The revered monk attracted so much attention and support from the local
people and the army garrison that Khung Sa gave up his operations and
disbanded his militia and is now himself a devotee of Samerchais,
admiring his determination and courage. Khung Sa himself is now making
amends by helping reforestation projects with his own ill gotten gains.
More vicious drug cartels have stepped into the vacuum, but with Khung
Sa's knowledge and joint patrols by the fighting monks and the Army, the
cartels by no means have an easy life.
Those nen that have now grown up and have graduated, have become
translators of various language groups for the Army. Akha, Lisu, Lahu,
Cheen Haw (Chinese), Lua, Hmong and Yao boys have all graduated and now
help to improve communications between the various border hilltribes.
Samerchai has taught his young charges to respect themselves through
self-discipline, Buddhist education, horsemanship and a pride in their
people. Challenging the drug caravans is dangerous and perilous, but the
reputation of the monk and his standing with the local villages and the
Army means that few dare to rid themselves of this 'turbulent priest'.
As more flock to his remote monastry, Samerchai now thinks that it may
soon be time to move on. To a greater and more accessible monastery
where more can hear this the Dharma of this remarkable monk?
No, smiles Samerchai.
He plans to retreat further into the jungle, to start once again, now
that his mission, shown to him in a vision, has been achieved.
There are only two ways to approach the Golden Horse monastery, up a
sheer cliff face or from a track from the north. At the gateway there
stands a fierce guardian, a tall golden stallion that rises and kicks
out at strangers until the monks gather him in. It is a fitting guardian
for the Golden Horse temple and the fighting monks of Samerchai, high
above the river Kam, in the Golden Triangle of Northern Thailand.
yechydda,
posted Saturday, 26 June 2004 |
Fighting Monks of the Golden Horse Temple
Little Buddha Documentary
OK, so it wasn’t the adventure we had hoped for. But if you want a short
ride from Chiang Mai and want to go to one of those places you can say “been
there, done that” this isn’t bad. It is really not too impressive but more
on the *strange* side of the pendulum. I will go back to climb up and see
what the caves and stupa are about (some nice middle aged Thai lady told me
about how nice the walk was and she wasn’t even perspiring!). Perhaps in the
cold season…….
Story from the Bangkok Post newspaper,
28 March 2008
A strong-minded abbot is waging a unique battle to
save hill tribe children from the curse of drugs
PATSINEE KRANLERT
Villagers make merit by offering alms to monks. |
Not far from
the Thai-Burmese border, monks travel in single file along a rough trail
through rolling hills, their saffron robes in striking contrast to the lush
green fields in the valleys below. The early-morning alms round is a
familiar sight throughout the Kingdom but what makes this caravan a
particularly arresting spectacle is that all these monks are on horseback.
Every day at
6am, monks and novices ride out from Wat Tham Pa Archa Thong to receive
offerings of food from villagers in Mae Chan district, and usually return to
the monastery by 9am in time for morning prayers. The hilly terrain and the
isolated location of the monastery makes the horse the most practical form
of transport in these parts.
Back in the
early 1990s, Phra Khru Ba Neua Chai, the
abbot who established this forest monastery, was a soldier
and a Muay Thai boxer. He led an ordinary life, attended law school at
Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok, got married and
fathered two children.
At 30, however,
he decided to be ordained at Laan Thong temple in Chiang Saen district,
Chiang Rai. He slipped quietly away and headed into the jungle, where he
found a cave in which to be alone and meditate. Although he had initially
planned to stay in the monkhood for a mere seven days, the genuine peace and
happiness he discovered after relinquishing earthly desires made him realise
that he had a lifelong vocation to remain a monk.
|
Phra Khru Ba Neua Chai, abbot of Wat Tham Pa Archa Thong. |
|
The equestrian monks of Wat Tham Pa Archa Thong on their daily alms
round. |
As news about
the excellence of his sermons spread, more and more people came to hear his
interpretation of dharma, the
teachings of the Buddha. One local, who had benefited from
his advice, presented him with a horse. Phra Khru Ba quickly realised that
this steed could play a significant role in his work. For, increasingly, his
responsibilities were no longer confined to meeting the spiritual needs of
the community.
Illegal drugs
have, for so long, been the norm in this northern border province, and
surely, these hill tribe villages in Mae Chan are no exception.
The ruthless
activities of various drug barons have damaged hill tribe families and lives
through
addiction, illness, crime and prostitution. As a result,
Phra Khru Ba founded Wat Tham Pa Archa Thong, nestled in the mist-shrouded
hills, and began to take a pro-active approach against the curse of drugs.
"It is hard to
teach an old dog new tricks,"emphasised the revered abbot. His statement
underscores why children are a prime target of his determined effort to
break the vicious cycle of drugs and exploitation.
To the children
whose villages have become infested with drug traffickers and undermined by
poverty, the teaching of Dharma plays an important role in keeping
new-generation hill tribes away from evil and brings new hope to the local
communities.
Apart from
learning
to
read and write, the novices study Buddhist scripture as
well as practising horse-riding and kickboxing. Each is assigned his own
horse to feed and groom.
This teaches
the novices discipline and a sense of compassion for the animal, and the
bond that develops between the boy and animal only enhances the atmosphere
of love, care and mutual respect.
Seventeen years
on, this charismatic individual has earned the trust and respect of the
ethnic minorities.
Undeterred by
the corruption, violence and poverty, and armed with nothing but his strong
convictions and his deeply rooted faith, Phra Khru Ba Neua Chai continues to
dedicate his life to helping the less fortunate of his flock.
|
Note: More actual stories and comments
regarding this temple have been added to the original GT-Rider post.
Quite interesting...... Link to the
Golden Horse Temple at GT-Rider
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Ian Bungy
Biker Legend
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pikey
Biker Legend
|
Wow - I thought I was in a Wilbur
Smith novel for a bit there Dave! Good stuff and thanks for also posting the
original article. Very interesting. Do you reckon a roadbike could make it
to the Temple? If so, and if you want company, I'd be up for a trip in the
cool season.
Cheers,
Pikey.
_________________
"Belligerent, honest, sarcastic and rides like an arse? Hmmm, that'll be me
then!
 "
Visit
http://www.thehungersite.com today! |
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happy feet
Leader of The Pack
my ribs are aching from laughter, loved that
report,
_________________
let your right hand do the talking |
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Dougal
Biker
What's that?!!
Demonic drug lord? Super hero Monk? Flaming horses hooves?
By Gad Sir!! That's a cracking yarn!!
_________________
I nearly had a psychic girlfriend once, but she left me before we met. |
Note: More actual stories and comments
regarding this temple have been added to the original GT-Rider post.
Quite interesting...... Link to the
Golden Horse Temple at GT-Rider
GT-Rider Board :
http://board.gt-rider.com/
© www.gt-rider.com &
www.daearly.com
|
Great story telling and always fun to actually see for yourself some of
these places of Legends. Thanks for taking us along. When i eventually get a
Big Dirt Bike i would be up to exploring any of these places with you
