Temple Adventures

The beautiful thing about Buddhist temples is that they are, by and large, friendly, relaxed places with a good deal of nooks and crannies to take little girls adventuring to. We were worried about taking them to a well-used cultural location, especially without their new friends, but as it turned out there was a good deal of stuff to keep the interest going. Walking up winding walkways, turning this way and that toward open spaces beyond. Scenic views. Once above the colors and textures that exemplify temples in Asia take over. Three dimensional columns; multi-colored roof tiles; cultural and religious sculptures; statues of 'gods' (?) with varied looks (some friendly and others scary, and one with eight arms and five heads). But despite the surreal effect of visiting as a westerner making their way through the praying (and continuously bowing) locals, there is a delightful yet solemn welcoming to these places, a peace that makes you recognize its importance as a place of worship. Add a water feature with - of course - turtles, some steep steps and a few trees to climb and you've got yourself a kid friendly temple popular with this particular group of out-of-town tourists!