I'd been meaning to make my way to this beautiful place for quite some time. But let me start off by saying I've never encountered a harder-to-edit batch of photos that I've taken. Not only is it impossible to showcase the striking contrast between the white of this temple and its surroundings, the sky also kept changing since a storm was on the way: haze to blue to gray.
Wat Suan Dok houses a gorgeous white royal cemetery. Each grave is uniquely carved and dedicated through its adornment to the memory of the person. There are pathways leading through the graves, some just wide enough for one person to squeeze through, others large enough for future graves to be built.
There were several novice monks around when I was there, a few were terrified out of their minds about my camera, literally stopping dead in their tracks before running quickly in the opposite direction. I rounded the huge golden chedi–the only golden thing about this temple, before the storm rolled in.
Ask the sky continued to darken, I took a last look at some of the remnants of Songkran, decorated trees and sticks to commemorate the new year. There is no way that I can describe the visual magnitude of this place. The experience of walking through the white statues in the quiet before a storm was breathtaking, the dark gray sky looming above me. It was a little like dread, knowing the darkness reflected that of the temple was enough to give goosebumps. There was beauty in the darkness, knowing that the Light of the World would shine into it just like the white of those graves stood against the heavy clouds.
