The Temple of the Leaning Rock, Wat Pha LatIt was one of the temples of Chiang Mai that surprised us the most, and it could not be otherwise. Although its importance has been declining with the passing of the years, we have to make an effort to imagine it long ago, when it was not strange to see a trail of monks winding through the muddy roads of the jungle, on the way to pilgrimage to the most important temple of the Northern Thailand, at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep.
Because the Wat Pha Lat temple is located hidden among the thick vegetation from the jungle halfway between the city of Chiang Mai and the templeWat Phra That, and its origin must be related to this. The temple served to give rest to the exhausted monks who made the monk's trail, pilgrimage road to the golden temple. Today there is a community of Buddhist monks, some of whom continue the same path barefoot and with books behind them almost daily to attend their English classes at the university.
Perhaps the word that best suits this place is “magical“, The magic of the path where you will be guided by rags of orange robes hanging on the trunks of the trees, the magic of the silence of nature and loneliness as you ascend step by step along the road, the magic of the encounter with the two nagas guardians of the entrance to the temple, the magic of being suddenly surrounded by a dreamlike environment, a stream with small waterfalls and fountains at your feet, terracotta and stone statues invaded by moss and the passing of the years, half-light temple , a handful of friendly monks ... and a film crew dismantling their filming gossip!
Yes, the tranquility of the place apparently broke that day because it was the ideal location to record a chapter of a Thai soap opera. A story of love and heartbreak, perhaps the same that we have with Thailand.
But, apart from this small revolution of people, we didn't see a single tourist there. This temple is outside the agendas of visitors to Chiang Mai who do not have the necessary time to approach this secret corner. Better not?
How to get to Wat Pha Lat
It can be reached by motorcycle following the road to Doi Suthep, although we advise you to do it by walking along the “path of the monks”, a winding road that climbs from the vicinity of the university through the hill.
To get there you have to take the Suthep Road until the final final final. You leave the university on the right and you reach a crossing, facing a little to the left comes a very steep path (this is not ours) and to the right there is another road with directions to the Zoo (Actually it is the back entrance of the Zoo). We take this road.
It is always straight and if there are doubts in any detour always to the left, there are quite serious ramps but do not worry. After a few minutes you reach a kind of information booth with a bathroom (it will be on our left), this is not. Continue a little further up and after leaving a gravel road on the left you reach two wooden houses with a large map drawn on a wooden panel. This is where you have to leave the bikes and start the “monk's trail” or "way of the monks." If in doubt, take as reference a huge television antenna that can be seen from afar and is near the parking lot.
They take like 45 minute walk, it has no loss if we always follow the path that seems main through the jungle.
The parking lot to leave the motorcycles, where the monk's trail begins
Map of the monk's trail to reach the Wat Pha Lat
