So I Do Thep

 That was easy enough,

pretty straight forward...
certainly doesn't look like 300 steps...

that can only mean one thing...

It is not...

As always when I travel,

if something hasn't gone awry,

it probably means I'm not there yet...

and I was barely half way there...

It looked so close on my gps...

but that's the difference between displacement and distance...

After another 20 minutes of twists and turns,

we came across this odd cliff
(with a couple and a khom loi...
I didn't ask questions)
It was a nice view...

 that came with a warning...

 but with that straight drop,

I'd be scared regardless...

so we hopped back on to our bikes

and eventually arrived at our destination...

 

yea that's what I imagined 300 steps would look like..

fine... Wikipedia informs me it is 309...
maybe that 9 steps would be the difference 

between victory

and a heart attack

It is no wonder that everyone wants to have a photo

at the foot...
a souvenir of conquering the mountain

or maybe to avoid looking all sweaty in the photo...

and who wouldn't take the opportunity to make some money

but with such cute kids in such a get up...

who wouldn't want to grab a photo...? 

 once we hauled out huge asses...

and eventually arrived at the top 

after taking in a lot of the air up there

and stops ...for the scenary (really!!)

and taking time to feel the texture of the dragon

along the steps...

really.... it wasn't because we were out of shape...

I'm the perfect shape.. really...

round is perfect! :p

At the top...

we were welcomed by this... 

 not sure who the morbid one is...

but a crematorium at the entrance...

really?

but it was kind of hard to take it seriously

with tombstones like this..

even named bigot...

what's the chances...?

Well we weren't here for that...

we came all the way to see Wat Phrathat...

Also known as Doi Suthep
(which is actually the mountain's name)

But in all honesty
I think I've seen enough temples to last a life time

so I took interestin the little details..

like the statue named mom??

definitely scary for some...

or the musical instruments found along the way

the huge gong...

or these bells...

 which oddly was off limits...

not like that ever stopped anyone.. 

 for most visitors the place is just something to remember

 and take in the scenary

for me I got distracted by this cute little fellas

in the garden...  

 So if you feel like a little exercise

and a need to take in the sights...

I do recommend this cute little place

just 15 km outside of Chiang Mai....

just make sure you get the right 309 steps....