Wat Rong Khun or The White Temple

We've got a few bits or organise before we get into Laos so spend the morning doing laundry, buying toiletries and other bits we have run out of.  

We have decided we're going to the White Temple later but in the meantime find a bizarre park just out of town.  Its full of flowers, mainly lilies, and there are literally thousands of them of different colours.  There are also fairy tail type princesses made from flowers and a very large double base.  Its very twee but nice and quiet and we find a shady spot to sit for an hour or so and watch the world go by.

We head to the bus station and get on a bus to Wat Rong Khun which is a bizarre Disney type place (have we stepped into a parallel universe today?).  Its actually quite pretty and interesting.  To quote Wikipedia:

"By the end of the 20th century, the original Wat Rong Khun was in a bad state of repair. Funds were not available for renovation. Chalermchai Kositpipat, a local artist from Chiang Rai, decided to completely rebuild the temple and fund the project with his own money. To date, Chalermchai has spent THB40 million of his own money on the project. The artist intends for the area adjacent to the temple to be a center of learning and meditation and for people to gain benefit from the Buddhist teachings. Kositpipat considers the temple to be an offering to Lord Buddha and believes the project will give him immortal life. Today the works are ongoing, but are not expected to be completed until 2070. Admission to the wat compound is free. Donations are accepted, but are not to exceed THB10,000, as Chaermchai refuses to be influenced by big donors."

There is also a dark side to the art and there are hands reaching out of the lake near the entrance, pigs heads and other things dangling from trees and even a head from the movie, Alien, coming out of the grass.

After dinner, a foot massage and a chocolate brownie with ice-cream we head to bed.  Laos tomorrow.