Wat Chong Kham and Wat Chong Klang, Mae Hong Son
Two Shan temples side by side on the lake in the middle of Mae Hong Son, reflected in the water at night.
Wat Chong Kham and Wat Chong Klang, Mae Hong Son
Wat Chong Kham and Wat Chong Klang stand together on the south shore of Nong Chong Kham, the small lake in the centre of Mae Hong Son. Their tiered pyatthat roofs and white walls, lit and doubled in the water after dark, are the image the town is known by.
Wat Chong Kham is the older, founded in 1827 by Shan settlers, and holds a large seated Buddha. Wat Chong Klang beside it keeps an unusual collection: a set of glass paintings and carved wooden figures brought from Burma in the nineteenth century, illustrating the Jataka tales and the life of the Buddha, displayed in a side hall.
The lake path between the temples and the town is where Mae Hong Son gathers in the evening, and a night market sets up along it.
- Ban Rak Thai, Mae Hong Son — A Yunnanese tea-growing village around a lake on the Burmese border, settled by former Kuomintang soldiers.
- Su Tong Pae Bridge, Mae Hong Son — A long bamboo footbridge across the paddy fields, built by villagers and monks to reach a hillside monastery.
- Tham Lod Cave, Mae Hong Son — A river cave over a kilometre long, crossed by bamboo raft, with prehistoric teak coffins inside.
- Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu, Mae Hong Son — Two white Burmese-style chedis on the hill above the town, looking down on the morning mist.
