Wat U Mong

"...light breaks through in a world darkened by man's egotism and lust for domination over his fellow man and nature." Q. Beatrix of Holland

A beautiful stone staircase coexisting with forest moss.

Stone carvings that are gracfully falling back to earth after centuries of worship and prayer.

WOW!

What-a-wat! A Wat is a temple in Thailand..no you know. They are everywhere. There are 100's and 100's in Bangkok, 1000's in the country, and the concentration of Wat's in Chiang Mai is intense. You can walk to 5 or 6 within an hour!
One of the most visited is Wat Doi Suthep, which I think I spoke of the other day. Its VERY visited, and thus is very beautiful and well maintained.
One of the NOT SO VISITED Wat's in Chiang Mai is U Mong..."The Forest Wat with a Tunnel"
It's set just outside the city in the forest at the base of the mountain. Its very lush, and very overgrown and there were maybe 10 other people we saw while we were there. Which is really refreshing. The temple is not well maintained like so many others and consists of the ruins of yesteryear!
Its a beautiful, quiet and cool escape from the heat and noise of the city.
Oh heavens. It's just started to rain...and when it rains...well I need to get home. I'm only wearing flip flops and the streets have very poor drainage. And what with all the dogs and cats running amok, the lack of trash cans....well I have about 5 minutes!
Gotta run...