Oct 8

Oct 8 Tiger Temple

I found this cool looking temple on Google Maps, and went to go check it out myself. Since I'm stubborn and like doing things on my own, I rented a motorbike from the guesthouse we were staying at. A note on traffic in Bali versus Thailand:

Bali is insane. Thailand is chill. This is not how I thought things would have played out. Maybe it's because we are staying in a less popular area of Thailand, or that it's the offseason, but people are more relaxed on the roads here. The roads here are also much much better. Wider, better maintained, more traffic lights, people actually obey traffic laws, and there are a hell of a lot less people. Bali is like an overflowing river, Thailand is like a meandering stream. To be honest, I miss driving in Bali. Bali is Iggy Pop. Thailand is John Denver.

People really love this King dude. His face is everywhere.

I didn't really realize how many steps 1,237 was. It's a lot. Also, Thai people have a very loose definition of what qualifies as a "step." Steps vary between rectangular things western folks would actually recognize as a step, all the way to impossibly tall and thin precipices. More concrete ladder than step. Just don't slip.

This motherfucker tried to steal my camera. I had it securely strapped to my wrist when I felt a small tug behind me. This monkey shithead had both monkey paws/hands on my lens. Unfortunately I did not snap the shutter. That would have made a great picture.

Welcoming statues that mock you as you come sputtering and wheezing up the last flight of stairs to the top. I've been doing a great deal of sweating on this trip, but this might have taken the sweat cake. I sweat through my damn backpack. Completely worth it for the view though.

The temple is basically on top of one of these massive cliff things.

"Take the damn selfie, don't vomit on yourself...". If you zoom into my face, you'll see that I have expelled all the water within my body.

Booooop! That religious looking nipple structure is the starting point of this silly journey.

For buddhists being all about selflessness and disregard of material possessions, they do love a giant gold statue.

And gold bells.

Storm rolling in. It's still the rainy season here which means you get the occasional torrential downpour. You also get lots of sun, and seriously cool looking cloud formations. Don't be afraid of coming here in the rainy season. Sweet clouds, cheap prices, less people.