Wats Up, Doc?

You really can’t visit every wat (temple) in Chiang Mai. There are so many of them. It would sort of be like petting every cat in Istanbul or buying a baguette at every boulangerie in Paris. Or, riding every cable car in San Francisco, popping into every church in Rome…you get the picture.

There are hundreds of Wats in Chiang Mai. Some are flashy stops for pilgrims as well as camera-toting tourists. Others are tucked down quiet soi and trok, hidden away from the crowds and traffic on the major thanon.

You will spend a lot of time taking your shoes off and putting them back on again. If you want to pray for world peace or ask a personal favor of Buddha, you will also spend a lot of time on your knees.

Even the president of the most powerful democracy on earth asks the occasional favor from Buddha, although through a proxy.

http://globalgrind.com/news/president-barack-obama-ask-monk-thailand-prayers-fiscal-cliff-details

Wat Phra Singh

It takes most tourists quite some time to realize these are not wax models or deeply meditating monks but very deceased and embalmed spiritual leaders