Heading for the mountains

The last day in Chang Mai and we headed off to the temple of Wat Phra That Doi Suthep situated at the top of the mountain. The view over the city was obscured by the smoke generated by the burning of the leaves, but nevertheless the spectacle inside the temple was beautiful. It was certainly worth the the trek up the Naga steps to look at the wealth of gold on the pagodas and the Buddhist relics.

Again, the quality of light makes a huge difference to the patterned and elaborate surfaces, as well as defining the amazing designs on the traditional Thai rooflines.

I think it’s the layers of surface and colour that intrigues me the most, and I hope that is coming through in the photographs that I’ve included in the blog. I even prefer the identity of certain structures to be lost by cropping them in the viewfinder, just to allow the surface pattern to be the focal point.

An exciting end to the day comes in the form of the overnight train from Chang Mai back to Bangkok.
It’s a novel way to travel and again gives a different perspective on the Thailand landscape; not sure how much sleep we will get though.