Wat Phut Udomphom: fortune tellers, hell beasts & enlightenment

I saved this post for last. Out of all the wild amazing crazy beautiful stuff I saw, Wat Phut Udomphom (วัดพืชอุดม) really carried the torch, partially because of the vastness of the area it covers. This is another epic spot recommended by my hosts Sandy & Logan (Logan's company Free Size sponsored my programing in Bangkok). I feel like should mention I didn't know Sandy and Logan before this trip, they just happened to have great taste is weird spots, which was a super bonus for me. And, as it so often turns out, we discovered we have many friends in common (they used to live in Chicago). My world continually gets smaller on a daily basis.


Moral mural

Wat Phut Udomphom is built like what I imagine the definition of a compound is. There is a traditional temple near the back, a smattering of buildings here and there, a crematorium which is standard at a lot of Buddhist Temples. Where it starts to get a little strange is with the outdoor sculptures of gods riding beasts, demons busting out of the ground and animals tearing apart bloody disemboweled people. THEN you hit the REALLY weird stuff when you move indoors to the monks rendition of Heaven & Hell. When I say rendition I mean the monks there have constructed, painted and assembled this entire space. There is work in progress around the area and you can see monks painting devil faces as you walk by.







Maybe you saw my other post on Wat Rong Kuhn a Heaven & Hell themed temple in Chiang Rai designed by a contemporary Thai artist? If you did, as you will see Wat Phut Udomphom is an entirely different Heaven & Hell. Think 7 levels of Heaven where you climb from floor to floor on dangerously narrow and steep steps witnessing different blue sparkly dioramas depicting the joys of making it to this enlighten place. Then imagine walking back outside around the building into Hells jaws (literelay) housed in a sub-level football field size room. The easiest way is to describe it as a theme park, but that's not quite accurate, it's stranger, your at a temple. In Hell you walk through a maze of fenced off dioramas, many include a 5 bhat (.15 cents) machine that trigger's a Chucky Cheese style automotoronic event of what will happen if you end up there. All built by the monks.



Wat (which translates to temple) Phut Udomphom was a half day commitment. It could of easitly been a full day trip and I had Logan with me who luckly was able to take off work. I don't think I could of gotten there without his help (let's just say, I wouldn't of), he speaks Thai, had been there AND had a two different maps- all helpful in Thailand. Him and Sandy had only been there with family driving them, so they looked into bus options (very confusing) and we decided on getting a taxi for a flat rate to go. The temple is located about a 30-40 minute drive outside of central Bangkok. There is a lot more about this place that is amazing including all the machines you can get your lucky numbers from, karp the size of puppies to feed in the nasty river that flows by and I discovered a number of amazing moralistic murals painted inside a giant crab sculpture. Don't ask, I don't know... I'll let the photos tell you the rest.


Entrance to Heaven










Entering Hell





















This is my last Thailand post. I have so much more to share about my trip, but I need to move forward since so much is happening now that I'm home. If your really interested there are about a million photos on my flicker you can go through and if you have specific questions always feel free to shoot me an email (right at the top there on the right).

My lucky numbers & fortune....









If you can read Thai or want to look at the website Logan found for the spot check it out here.

Full photo set of Wat Phut Udomphom here.

Thailand Island Time: part two

For those of you who may not follow my blog often or know me well, I have been known to go extreme distances to see what I suppose is most easily called "outsider art". I don't really think about what I call it, to me it's more about the nature of people to cross a line of creating something wild. This spot takes the cake.



I made it out to Koh Kood. The next objective on the list was to wake up the next morning, take a speed boat that was arranged to pick me up at the guest house dock at 10am and make it to neighboring island Koh Mak. Sandy & Logan told me about a sculpture garden (dare I say sexy sculpture garden?) made by a self taught artist that had motivated this entire island adventure. It was a little complicated to get there, Sandy had helped me along with the guest house to arrange for the boat and then driver to pick me up when I got off the boat to take me there.

I hadn't thought through the experience of the visit entirely. Meaning, arriving solo and wanting to go see a sexy sculpture garden as a single-female-white-tourist could have the potential to be a little weird. And , it honestly it was a pretty awkward exchange with my driver who was so sweet. He definitely wasn't into the spot- or perhaps being there with me taking 1000 photos of naked ladies wasn't his ideal Saturday. I could think of a worse work day.

All the weirdness, if I didn't just imagine it, was worth it. If you find yourself on Koh Mak, you should go here. The island is tiny and even though it's not on maps, everyone knows where it is. Maybe you will be lucky and Somchai will be home. This is his yard where he eats at his lady table. His bathroom (see below) where he is surrounded by women holding his toothbrush, soap and towel.The lady-shower that shoots water out of her nipples. Oh and we can't forget the important woman holding the satellite dish. Pretty epic spot in the middle of the ocean on an island.



Sign at the entrance reads (in both English & Thai):

The kingdom of Somchai's affection: artist and art to immortal sculpture

With extraordinary ambition and affectionate inspiration, the nude woman sculptures of Somchai- the Mon artist around his domicile reflect his perception about affection in art and individual freedom. Using his own financial resources, these continuous artistic works were created from his own inspiration and profound imagination, without artistic pattern from any renowned school. A number of sculptures in Somchai's kingdom of affection are still there for visitors who come to view them. The artist stated this desire was that "my art still remains though I die".


Pathway into the yard. You can't tell but this is shaped like a dome, difficult to walk on but is apparently made this way to make you focus on your steps forward. I was told it was a meditation path.


which then turned into turtle shaped stepping stones.


















this is in fact a picnic style table with 2 benches with a table that happen to be pouring you a drink.



"my art still remains though I die" -Somchai

Read, Thailand Island Time: part one here

Full Island Time photo set with additional shots here.

Thailand Island Time: part one

When I was planning my trip to Thailand I wanted to see as much as possible. I couldn't just stay in Bangkok the entire time, so I went up north to Chiang Mai since it is known as the craft hub of Thailand. I knew I couldn't just see up north and miss out on what some call "the worlds best beaches". I planned a trip to an island.


Koh Kood

The problem was, how does one who knows nothing about Thailand pick out an island when there are so many to visit? For me it was as much about the place to stay as the island itself since I was traveling solo and wanted to feel safe. I just ended up asking everyone I knew who had been there what they did and decided on taking the advice from my hosts Logan & Sandy about a small spot called Bann Makok on *Koh Kood.

*Also spelled Koh Kut, and I think there was another way too. Everything has more than one English spelling in Thailand, it' proves to be very confusing when looking on a map.

Getting to Koh Kood was a bit more of an investment then I had realized I had signed up for. I took a 4 hour min-van trip from Victory Monument in Bangkok at 6am (arranged the day before with the help of Logan & Sandy who knew the small folding table to approach on the street to reserve my spot) to the town of Trat. Trat is where you catch the speed boats to the southern islands including Koh Kood and the much smaller Koh Mak (from where, if clear out, you can see Cambodia). In Trat I waited at a designated spot for a "taxi" (which was more like an open-air truck with benches) that took me another 30 minutes away to the dock.

Have you ever been on a speed boat? I had not. This one was rather large (I rode smaller ones when going between the islands). It sat about 20 people and ran 3 motors at once. It was the loudest 45 minute, open ocean trip I had ever been on. When the engine seized at one point, I pictured myself bobbing around hoping I wouldn't die there. The boat makes a number of stops at different resorts and islands dropping people off on the way. I was dropped off on a dock and met by people wearing shirts from the guest house who took me and my one small bag in a smaller boat up a canal to my guest house on the water. It was worth the trip.

I was only on the island for two nights and the next day I had arranged to take a day trip to Koh Mak to go find the sculpture garden of self taught artist Somchai. I'm saving that wild story for the next entry. If you go to the islands if you can swing it, I recommend you stay for a minimum of 4 nights. With that said I am glad I made the trip even with such a short amount of time but it would be nice to unwind a bit- apparently not what I'm best at....


A map of Trat where I was dropped off to wait for my boat. I definitely walked down to where it said "guy" out of curiosity, it was a restaurant.


Speed boat dock




Boat ride to my guest house Bann Makok




my rooms outdoor shower


sun rise view from bed






this guy joined me for lunch


You have to kayak down the canal to get to the beach













After an 8 hour trip to get somewhere, kayaking alone up a canal on an island towards your guest house as the sun is setting feels like you are really on top of the world.