Yesterdays ride was a bit longer than most because for some reason the conditions were just perfect. Despite the fact that it was friday the streets were relatively empty, the sun was in just the right position during most of the completely unplanned route that allowed for me to be in the shade for most of it, and the humidity was low.
Most of what I encountered was the usual rice fields and typical rectangular houses, but of course, a temple or two can always mix things up.
I found "Wat Rong Sak" in the middle of friggin' nowhere and while most temples will have some level of guardian at the front, these guys were less ominous and more cutesy. It kind of reminds me of Doraemon. I don't know if that was intentional but I appreciated it.
This second fella actually looks a bit discouraged or bored, perhaps not enough evil spirits are trying to get into the temple?
Of course the main entrance had the usual scary looking tiger-dragon things guarding the front and I don't know what it is about these things, but they always impress me.
I was a bit sweaty from the ride so I didn't wander into the complex because I am not certain about the protocol and I don't want to accidentally upset anyone.
The temple itself was a small one, but the spacious grounds made it look pretty peaceful. To be fair i was pretty far away from civilization so the fact that the complex exists at all was impressive to me. There are so many temples just all over the place and I feel as though there can never be too many of these things.
I'm going to have to pay closer attention to how many churches there are all over the place when I return to the States because it is probably a similar amount, I just never really paid attention to their frequency because it is so commonplace to me.
This last thing was just some some cute something or other that was in the cafe I stopped in for an iced coffee before carrying on the 30km ride back to my start point. It isn't valuable or anything, it just seemed very not Thai to me.
Get out there and explore! I don't feel as though this was terribly possible where I lived in USA because either the areas were too populated or it would be miles upon miles between anything to look at at all. I will forever cherish this aspect of Thailand.