Thailand - Pai - Mae Yen Temple White Buddha
May 23 - From our guesthouse in Pai, we could see that there was a large white Buddha on a hill top, and thought that it would be cool to explore. We found out that there was a road and stairs that led up to it. We decided to go mid-morning, before it got too hot in the day. We hiked to the base of the hill, and then climbed up, up, up! There were a lot of steps, and even in the mid-morning sun, we were pretty hot by the time we reached the temple. Thankfully the view was worth it! There were beautiful bright flowering trees around the temple, and we spent some time soaking in the view (and Mike of course took a lot of pictures)! Sadly, we realized that in order to reach the white Buddha, we would have to make our way up many more stairs. Unlike the stairs up to the temple, these ones were relatively new and were even. When we reached the top, we were given another great view of Pai and the surrounding fields. After regaining our energy in the shade of the Buddha, we hiked back down. Once in town we went to replenish our supplies at the 7-Eleven where we met our guesthouse owner. We told her that we had just hiked to the top of Mae Yen Temple, and she looked a little puzzled and asked us why we didn’t go later in the day to see the sunset? A very good question, we thought! All well, we still had a good journey up and a sunny and warm day to enjoy the view.
~ Leah
The white Buddha in the distance
Mae Yen Temple entrance
Walking up the stairs to the temple complex
The view of Pai and the surrounding valley from the temple
Reaching the White Buddha required more stair climbing
The temple complex seen from part way up the stairs to the White Buddha
The White Buddha