Browsing through my photo albums, looking for something to blog about, I stumbled upon pictures of me in Chiang Rai, Thailand. It’s been so long I really don’t remember the order of my trip anymore but the thing that was most memorable to me was visiting the Wat Rong Khun (White Temple). I knew the Thais are incredibly amazing when it comes to building temples but I was completely blown away by the magnificent White Temple.
Been in construction since 1997, it’s not a very old temple considering the average age of temples in Thailand probably runs in the upper hundreds of years. But it is very different from the regular temple that you can find in Thailand that it’s completely white and covered in mirrored tiles. The temple literally blinded my eyes for a second.
The weather was brilliant when I was there, the skies blue and the sun shone like it was determined to give everyone skin cancer. For some reason, I felt that the whiteness of the temple helped to reflect more heat onto its surroundings because while on temple ground, I felt like I was going to keel over and die. So please do bring ample supply of drinking water and wear loads, and loads of sunblock.
To visit the main hall of Wat Rong Khun, you’d have to cross a bridge, which is built over the “pit of hell”.
The details of the bridge.
When you look over, you could see a lot of hands reaching out of the pit, perhaps trying to grab you to join them :P It’s a little freakish.
Pit of hell under the bridge.
In fact, the people banished to hell were so pissed off by their fates, that one actually gave the world the finger, manicured nails and all.
Flipping the bird.
As the temple is still under construction, the main temple hall is quite underwhelming. Nothing compared to the exterior of the temple. Pictures were not allowed, so I don’t have any of the temple’s interior.
No idea when the construction is going to finish, it’s been more than 10 years after all. The thing is, the construction is entirely dependent on donations, so perhaps that’s the reason why it has taken so long.
Imagine these covered in mirrored tiles.
I’d love to go back there again with the bf cause it’s immensely beautiful. Apparently, it’s even more beautiful when seen in the moonlight!
