Published: 04.02.2025
Today I went for a walk and exploration tour through Pattaya. Although 'walk' sounds quite leisurely at first glance, by the evening, the pedometer showed 29,641 steps; that’s over 24 km. So I wandered a bit on my paths and actually only had two fixed points. I reached the first one after a short while, a temple called Wat Nong Ao. Entering the temple area, I was immediately attracted by a lot of golden sights, which I wanted to slowly stroll and observe closely. A loud - probably religiously inspired - drum play caught my interest. I followed the sounds but likely entered from the wrong side of a side entrance, and in my daze of watching, I initially didn’t realize that I had stepped into the middle of a service. About 50 people, or 100 eyes, were staring at me, eagerly from both sides as the drumming continued. On one side sat a row of monks, and in the middle, a small monk, surely no more than 6 years old, was elevated on a podium (it somehow reminded me of the golden child from the Eddie Murphy movie), and on the other side was the audience present for prayer. I pretended as if my ‘appearance’ was intended, and quietly slipped back out the side entrance... Then I took my time to calmly look at the remaining temple complex; I was practically alone since everyone else was present at the service... Then I continued my stroll through the paths and streets, some lined with the beach, many - depending on the neighborhood also German-speaking - dining establishments, and all kinds of shops, as well as small temples, schools, where a busy student crossing guard with a whistle was just regulating the relaxed traffic again. Google also guided me to some more remote streets, taking in views of the locals’ gardens or passing Thai boys who drew my attention, past some small livestock farming and quite a number of street dogs. The dogs were all quite relaxed; still, I was glad for all my vaccinations done in Germany in those situations... After the walk in over 30 degrees Celsius, which felt even harsher due to the high humidity, I was then glad to have arrived at my main point for today; the 'Sanctuary of Truth.' I was briefly startled to read on-site that I should show my ID card or passport, both of which were in the safe at the hotel, but I breathed a sigh of relief that everything was not so strict here and slipped through the barrier after paying the entrance fee... I had 20 minutes to kill before our English guide was supposed to start, and I got my construction helmet. Our guide 'Ong' (?) talked like a waterfall and shared many details about the backgrounds of 'Sanctuary of Truth' with us. I have been to many museums and temples, but this one certainly deserves a special attribute: cobra class, which is why I will put down a few facts about the object here, which I normally tend to skip... The huge object is completely carved from wood. That is, the construction began in 1983, and numerous workers on-site are still carving daily... Within various representations, it goes about the seven truths (1.
