Banteay Srei, Ta Prohm, and Ta Keo

Banteay Srei

I'm so torn about Banteay Srei. It takes over an hour to get to by tuk tuk, it costs a lot (admission is included with the Angkor Pass, but the tuk tuk costs $25 for the day because it's far away), and it's relatively small. And especially now that you can't walk in and through everything, it's harder to justify. In the end, I think you have to suck it up and just go, and be a little upset and a little glad you did.

Of all the things that have changed in the last decade, this has changed the most. It used to be a small temple in the middle of nothing that hardly anyone visited because it was so far away. Now, it's a major complex and a must-see temple for all the big tourist buses. There's a huge parking lot and welcome center, an interpretation center explaining reliefs and carvings and various scenes, and gift shops, bathrooms, and other amenities. It's definitely lost its "quaint and forgotten temple" feel.

Banteay Srei is a small complex with very short doorways and small towers. Srei means "woman" in Cambodian, which may be why it's smaller. The main draw for the temple is it's intricate carvings and reliefs.

The inner part of the complex is completely roped off and off limits now, which makes getting pictures without people easy, but it also makes it much less fun to explore.

We took the hour long bumpy ride back to Angkor, passing through cute little villages with houses on stilts and kids walking cows.

Ta Prohm

After being a little disappointed by Banteay Srei, we were happy to get to Ta Prohm, the jungle temple. 

This is the famous temple that has the giant tree growing right out of the corner of the building. Except now it's roped off and the closest you can get is a viewing platform in front of it.

The main complex was actually under construction. It appears that they're putting it back together. Cranes were lifting stones and teams of workers were putting them into place. For the missing pieces, they're carving new stone to fit, complete with new reliefs to match the old ones. Again, I'm torn. Yes, Of course I've wondered what this would have looked like before it was in ruins. And I'm sure it will be magnificent once they finish the reconstruction and restoration work. And it's putting a lot of locals to work, which is truly great. But I feel like it makes the temple less real. If part of it was made in the 11th century, but other parts were built in 2013, it feels like it's no longer an ancient ruin. It makes it fake, like an imitation of the real thing.

Luckily, Ta Prohm is a huge complex, and once you get through the first part under construction, it's back to normal.

Other famous trees are blocked off by ropes as well...

...but others are open.

We explored for over two hours, grabbed a bag of fresh pineapple...

...and then hopped on the tuk tuk to go to the next temple on the list.

Ta Keo

This is a smaller mountain temple that is pretty quick to explore. I was really happy that they didn't have new staircases here, and we got to climb the steep stone original stairs. Only when we got to the top, we realized that wasn't the right way up.

We ended up spending a half hour here, most of which was spent trying to get pictures like these.

It's funny because from the ground, the people couldn't see Isa, so all they saw was me balancing on one foot on a staircase for about ten minutes.

We stopped at Angkor Wat for sunset but left (by mistake) before the sky really lit up. We caught this on the drive home.

Chiang Rai White Temple

There are basically two things to see in Chiang Rai, the white temple and the black temple (well, black house, but whatever). Today, we did the white temple.

We walked over to the old bus station in the center of town and asked around for Wat Rong Khun. They pointed us to platforms 7 and 8. We bought our tickets from the lady there - 20 baht each (about $1.50 total). I've been doing better at reading Thai (I already speak/read/write Cambodian, and Thai characters are similar), so I was sure we were right because it said วัดร่องขุ่น on the little sign.

We got on the bus and waited forever until it was finally full, and then we headed out down the main road toward the temple. You can see the temple off to the right after about 30 minutes, so you won't miss it. The bus lets you off on the left (they drive on the left side of the road), so you have to cross the highway to get to the temple. No crosswalk, but it's not too bad if you're a little patient, and there's a traffic light and a median to help you out.

It was a little cloudy and drizzly when we arrived, but it cleared up a little later to give us some nice pictures.

The grounds around the temple are immaculate and pristine. They really do a great job keeping the buildings sparkly white and the grounds colorful and trimmed.

As you start to explore and look closer, the place gets weirder and weirder. This is not your normal temple.

Demons guard the bridged entrance to the white temple.

The hands of those suffering in hell? Reaching up toward the heavenly white temple?

Hellfire and damnation await those who smoke here.

Beheaded heros/villains in a temple?

This is probably the last thing I want to see before I pray/meditate in a temple.

If you go off to the left, there's a separate building that wasn't open to the public yet, but it was even cooler than the main temple.

The attention to detail is just incredible!

The white temple is so shiny and sparkly!

The artist that has designed and dedicated his life to building this masterpiece is named Chalermchai Kositpipat, and supposedly he was working up on the roof of one of the buildings today. He has been building this place for more than 15 years, and he has plans for it to continue long after his death. You can see parts that are mapped out for additions, and you can see signs throughout that it is definitely a work in progress. This would be very cool to come see in another 10 years or so.

You can see that they've mapped out a grid on the back wall of the temple for future artwork

We wanted to support his efforts, so we donated to the temple (the temple and grounds are free to visit) and got this ornament to add to the collection.

Photography is prohibited in the main sanctuary in the center, which is too bad because it's almost impossible to describe. Take the normal buddha storyline, but then add modern characters and events, both fictional and real, and mash them all together in one giant mural across all inside surfaces. Oh, and a weird giant face eating the entry door. And buddha on top. Some of the scenes include spider-man, superman, Harry Potter, Jack Sparrow, the WTC attack, Pearl Harbor, Sailor Moon, Hello Kitty, and Michael Jackson. Artists were adding scenes while we were in there too, so this may be a constantly changing canvas. All in a Buddhist temple. It's interesting and unique, to say the least.

For more info on the white temple, click here for a very helpful page.

On the way back, we flagged a songthaew for 20 baht each and and Isa sat up front and I sat in the back with this guy.

He didn't speak any English, but that didn't stop him from having a full conversation with me in Thai. Every once in a while I would just smile and nod and agree with him, and it made him happy and he kept talking and gesturing with his hand like he's doing in the picture. For 30 minutes. I think he was genuinely sad when we got to town and I got off.

Doi Suthep

We started the day off at church. We just did sacrament and then took off to explore Chiang Mai. We went back to the hotel and changed and then took the moto up to Doi Suthep. This is a temple up on a hill out west of the city limits.

It takes about an hour to get out there, but it's a scenic road that winds through the woods. The hardest part is passing the crazy buses that try to run the scooters off the road. Along the way, we stopped off at another temple called Wat Suan Dok. This temple had amazing murals and paintings all over the walls that tell the story of Siddhartha Guatama (the buddha).

And then we walked next door to what we think was actually Wat Suan Dok. It's a little more impressive.

After winding our way up the mountain road and finding a parking spot in the packed area just below Doi Suthep, we started up the stairs toward the temple. The stairs had these little Hmong girls dressed up in traditional costume that looked so sad and bored. They just sat and waited for somebody to come take a picture with them and then they'd beg for money. They were cute though.

The temple is actually called Wat Phra That, and the mountain it's on is Doi Suthep. Yup.

As you can see, it has a great view looking out over Chiang Mai, which I think is the main reason for taking the trip up and paying the 30 baht admission fee (about $1). I also think that's the reason this place was packed! All the temples in the city were practically empty, but this one had people everywhere - and it covers a pretty good sized area.

Also at the temple were monks...

...this cool green/emerald buddha...

...and this not-so-great little dance troupe that looked like they hadn't practiced at all but just decided to dress up and dance around without any rhythm or coordination and see if they could get the white people to give them money. And it worked.

After leaving the temple, we found a giant gong and sat down for a quick lunch of peanut butter and jelly sushi (there's no fish in it, it just looks like sushi).

Then we drove back down the mountain and into town to rest for a bit before going out tonight for the Loi Krathong celebrations.