Too many temples
A month ago I was in Asia on a long trip, and so I was excited to see some temples. Temples are huge tourist attractions, especially in Thailand, but not all of them are equal (or so I've learned). Although these were legit holy spaces (you have to take off your shoes, can't wear shorts, have to cover your shoulders), by the time I visited Temple #246, I felt disillusioned. One temple had a woman trying to sell us overpriced pictures of us standing in front of a Buddha statue, and one temple had a confusing exit that forced us to literally "exit through a gift shop," which was a maze leading from one shop to another, each one full of overpriced Buddha keychains and elephant pants.
Although the temples were interesting architecturally, by the end of the trip I was getting annoyed that I had to keep taking off my shoes and putting on a cardigan in 98-degree heat for places that often just felt like a Thai Disneyland. Basically, I made the very novice tourist mistake of seeing too many damn temples.
Despite this, there were still two temples that really stood out for me and were a major trip highlight. One of them was the Wat Palad Jungle Temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We went there right after leaving the more touristy Golden Buddha. It was super hot and I had already seen one temple, so I wasn't even planning on staying there long. But as soon as I stepped into the place, it felt like I had stepped outside the world into a liminal space that was separate from everything else.
Golden Buddha, in comparison, was obnoxiously loud and touristy, but the Jungle Temple was the complete opposite: a serene, quiet space with no expectation, no pomp, no circumstance, no grandiosity, and yet it felt way more powerful than the other temples. I think my husband and I stayed there for hours and only left once it started raining, which forced us to leave. This was definitely one of those places everyone should visit once in their lives. It felt humble and special.
The second temple I really liked was in Hong Kong, the Cat Street Man Mo Temple. This temple doesn't have all the grandiosity of the Thai temples. It's honestly not special at all, and I doubt you'll find it on any TripAdvisor "must see" list. In fact, I think the only reason I ducked inside was because it started raining and I needed somewhere to go. But once inside, I was overwhelmed by what I saw.
The temple was packed, shoulder to shoulder, with people burning incense, rolling papers, folding papers, and then waiting in these long lines to burn them. Chinese spirituality is all about performing rituals for good luck, so on each table there was a sign that explained the steps for each ritual. I remember walking past a woman who had a basket with what looked like 200 tied paper things that she was wrapping and tying with string with so much earnestness.
There was no air conditioning or fans or anything, and the air was thick with smoke from burning incense. You could barely breath. Everyone was just sweating and coughing and performing these rituals with so much intensity that it was the most bizarre thing I'd ever seen. I remember leaving and thinking, "So that was an experience," without really able to articulate what kind of experience it was. Later when talking about it with someone, they agreed and told me, "Yeah, it's a very powerful place." And I feel like that's the best word to describe it. It was a powerful experience. And not touristy at all.
Out of all the temples, those are the two I recommend and are the only ones I'd visit again. (Keep in mind, I'm agnostic, so I don't go to temples for religious reasons or to pray or whatever. I'm there for the energy and the experience.) If I ever go back, I've learned my lesson: you cannot binge holy places.