The island itself is pretty big, but the ring road around the island takes only a couple of hours - so we hired a driver to take us on a tour to make sure that we got see all of the sites.

First stop, was Wat Plai Liam and the big Buddha. He seemed like a happy guy that clearly uses lots of sunscreen so we immediately had that in common…

There were actually 4 temples all adjacent. There was the lady Buddha with lots of arms - we learned this signified lots of protection…

We kept going and saw Wat Phra Yai - the big wheel symbolizes the circle of life….

This one was kinda weird. The mummified monk… He died in 1973 while meditating, and his body has been preserved and displayed in a seated meditation posture ever since. 

He apparently has quite the sunglass collection…. They were added because his eye sockets weren’t looking so great, and the glasses made the display less disturbing to visitors.  People actually leave their sunglasses outside his glass box and the other monks change them out. Not sure if I understand that one… 🧐

He told followers before his death that if his body decomposed normally, it should be cremated, but if it remained preserved, it should stay on display as a spiritual teaching - so he is still there hanging out.

The red temple…

The Grandma and Grandpa rocks that are supposed to look like body parts, but not sure that I totally see it…. 😬

The falls were pretty, but the water was not very inviting so we skipped the swim…

It was a full day exploring the ring road! We leave tomorrow and head to Japan via Bangkok. Can’t wait, and hoping for some cooler temps!