This morning I made a B-line for Chiang Mai's raison d'etre, Wat Phra Doi Suthep. Shirley would drop me early at a convenient location on her way to work but the drawback was that I was out of Thai baht and there were no currency exchange places nearby. It meant I had to attempt to hitchhike for the first time in Thailand. Before long I was picked up by a man from South Africa who has lived in Thailand for many years. He dropped me at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the fabled temple on the mountain. "Doi" is "mountain" in Thai. Entry to Doi Suthep is 50 baht, so when I attempted an informal swap with an American girl, she shouted me my ticket. From there it's a walk up a long flight of stairs to reach the temple. Dating back to 1382, the temple is one of the most sacred places in Thailand. It sure is a photographer's delight!
Many Buddist relics and statues are on display here.
One thing I really love about Thailand is all the golden colour.
What a spectacular temple! It'd be easy to spend a lifetime in Thailand and not see every temple in the country. I wandered round for more than two hours, photographing everything I could possibly think of, including a group of monks.
As I descended the stairs, I snapped the cutest photo of a mum and her two girls
I can't go somewhere without geocaching (if there are caches around), so I walked down the hill and collected a few along the way. I walked down the hill a bit further and then got a lift in a ute (pickup truck) that acts as a taxi. I had to go swap some money for the fare, and then I couldn't help but reminisce on Doi Suthep over a Thai iced tea after a massage...
...and then my sights were set on Wat Sri Suphan, also known as the Silver Temple.
It's no surprise a geocache led me to this spectacular, well-detailed temple. I didn't find the cache but into the temple I made my way. Built in 1502 under the reign of King Mengrai, it was originally the main temple of a silversmith village, therefore it's no surprise the temple is covered in real silver. A bottle of water was included in the ticket price; I brought my reusable water bottle with me to Thailand to avoid having to buy bottled water all the time. The detail of the temple is utterly spectacular.
Women are prohibited from entering the temple due to Buddhist taboos. I sat there for what seemed like hours, snapping photo after photo of this magnificent temple.
From golden temples to silver temples, from the tops of mountains to only a stone's throw from the walled-city of Chiang Mai, this place is a photographer's dream. Both temples are an absolute highlight of an already spectacular region.
