Phuket: Wat Chalong & Big Buddha

After breakfast we got ready and flagged down a taxi outside the hotel. Breakfast didn't cut it so we went back into town for some Burger King (hey, a girls' gotta eat). We decided to take in some local culture so we picked a temple about an hour away for our adventure. We stopped at a stall and picked up a big grocery bag of longan fruit (similar to lychee) to eat on the way. I'd never eaten them before; they were like hairy, fleshy grapes with a small pit inside. (Don't eat the pit or the hairy part ;))

After lunch Julia flagged down a crazy disco taxi with with big speakers, lights, and an open back to take us on our temple jaunt. The driver was ready to party so he played some Thai club music to entertain us while we worked our way through our longans and slowly sweated through our clothes in the 98 degree sun.

First we went to the Wat Chaiyathararam Buddhist Temple (common name is Wat Chalong). It's the largest temple in Phuket, so it was crowded with Thai worshipers and tourists like us. 

There are a handful of customs that go along with visiting a temple: taking shoes off before entering the temple, cover your shoulders and wear a skirt or pants that extend all the ways to the knees, and don't touch any relics. Well...I was aware of the modesty thing, but when it's almost 100 degrees outside, there was no way I could stand to wear pants or a long skirt- I opted to wear a cotton shift dress. The other girls were even more naked than me wearing cute two piece sets. 

Thankfully on the way into the temple, there was a line of stalls selling offerings and clothing and we bought some large wrap shawls to cover up. A sweet old lady sold us all matching ones and showed us how to wrap our shawls. It's tough being modest in this weather.

Somehow it was hotter inside the temple than outside in the sun! We had to slip off our shoes before entering the marble sanctuary, and the marble was so hot it felt like walking on a fireball. Inside the sanctuary it was like an oven, trapping all of the incense smoke and candles. It was very beautiful, full of gold and marble, depicting Buddha and the monks who've cared for the temple. Admittedly, it was difficult for me to fully appreciate it's beauty, because I was busy sweating out every pore of my body- I even had sweat running down my legs and was worried I'd wet my pants. I like warm weather, but this is truly extreme.

Outside they were also selling flowers, frogs, snakes, and small fish to use as offerings inside. I'm thankful to report I didn't see any snakes slithering around, or else I would have been OUT of there, beautiful or not!

There were about four different sanctuaries at the temple, and when we walked into the biggest one, there was a docent there that took one look at our outfits and handed all three of us these long pink skirts to cover up- the PINK SKIRTS OF SHAME. They were basically pink polyester trash bags that immediately created a sweaty greenhouse gas effect and sped up our tours. 

We hightailed it to the closest water stand, then hopped a taxi to our next destination- "Phraphutthamingmongkhol-akenagakhiri," or the big brass Buddha. It's a big statue on top of a mountain about 150 feet tall. Its up in the hills, and the Buddha statue sat on top so he could see Phuket, Patong, and the islands around. We had a beautiful view from the top: