Structurally similar to other Thai temples, the White Temple is outside of Chiang Rai in Northern Thailand. It was pretty spectacular, silver and white, sparkling like diamonds in the unrelenting sun. It was pretty, sure, but I couldn’t help but sigh internally. Another temple, great. 

Crossing the street, I noticed this concrete traffic cone… Strange, but kinda cool. 

Then there were the trees…

And the statues…

And well, I’ll just let the pictures explain the rest.

Inside the temple, where you were not allowed to take pictures, there was an elaborate, half-finished mural on the four walls surrounding to lone monk. On the front wall, there was a giant, hellish/scifi landscape of pinks and purples and oranges. And all over it, painted images of celebrities, like Michael Jackson, Harry Potter on his broom, Spiderman, Neo from the Matrix, Batman, Elvis, Jack Sparrow, George Bush, Osama bin Laden, the Terminator. The idea is that these heroes cannot save you or your soul, so you must trust in Buddha… That explains the hellish landscape of the temple, as if you’re going through hell to emerge clean on the other side after being cleansed. It’s a nice idea…

But REALLY weird to see.