After Our Shopping At Lukdod,

it was a short trip to Soi 12 in Nagklua, we were going to look at The Sanctuary Of Truth, the lady in the center of our group was the guide, she was fascinating listen to as she spoke perfect English and had a huge knowledge of the temple and the meanings of the carvings, I have to say first and for most the pictures I have taken do not do justice to the Sanctuary or give an impression of the size, it is one of those places you just have to go and visit to see for yourself,

the Sanctuary was started some 30 years ago and has been added to ever since, it just towers up into the sky,

every gable has figures on them,

it is just so big, I wandered in here about fifteen or so years ago, but I did not have enough money on me to go in, the entrance fee now has gone down to 500 baht each, (and worth every baht), but I promised myself I would return, but it has taken now to do so,

they say not a single iron fasting has been used in its construction, just wooden joints and dowels,

every where you look it is a delight,

we were all given hard hats, work is on going and there are people working above you,

pose for the camera,

it looked like the carpenters needed a bit of a hand!

as we made our way to the entrance some of the wood was being stained,

the main entrance staircase,

but nothing prepares you for what is inside,

also you can go elephant triking here,

there are a few signs in English,

the inside is filled with the most intricate carvings,

this is a detail from the left hand side of the one above,

there are four doorways at 90 degrees to each other letting light in,

some areas are cordon off where work is taking place above,

the inside does have some lighting, but if you are serious about taking pictures a tripod is a must, also picture taking is allowed, but only for private use, commercial or professional photographers must have a license,

every where you look there is more to be discovered,

even the highest ceilings are carved, this is a picture I took using the maximum 5X zoom on my camera,

what was strange was that all of the Gods here were from one of the religions in India, which all of our friends worship in their temple back in the UK, also the same music was being played,

Diana and myself at the shrine,

work was going on in several places, either by carpenters,

or painters, in this case applying a stain to the wood,

a view of a flat board being held together by butterfly joints,

also buggie rides are available here,

the open door in between the two palms is a lift for the disabled to travel up in,

looking through the scaffolding a large carving is being hosted into place,

using a chain winch, careful does it!

strike the pose!

as does Diana,

notice the fire extinguisher,

it almost seems endless inside,

hard hats are a must,

scaffolding to the ceiling,

huge timbers surporting the roof,

look towards the top of the picture and you will see one of the workers in white,

a close up of him, with my head for heights there is no way I could possibly do his job,

a collection of some of the wooded joints used in the Sanctuarys construction,

a close up of a butterfly joint,

and the one used to join surports,

way to high for me!

back outside as we make our way to watch some of the craftsmen and women in the carving room,

first the 70 year old timber in made into basic shapes using power tools,

timber waiting to be used,

larger pieces I guess for roof surports,

inside the main wood carving building,

just as you go in there is a scale model of the Santuary,

inside the smell of wood and the constant tapping of hammers,

tools of the trade,

so far it has taken 3 months with 8 full time artisans to make this one panel, the dark shape a couple of feet in on top of the panel is the model they are working to,

this is what the finished panel will look like,

a block of wood with the first design stage mappped out on it,

such skill,

the second stage naerly compleated,

and another look at some tools of the trade,

an over view of the workshop,

some of the many cardboard cut outs used for templates,

this looks like a jumble of bits and pieces,

is a huge wood lathe, it is about 40 feet long or maybe more,

we spent hours here looking at the carvings, if you only want to go to one thing in the Pattaya area this the one we all recomend, then into the truck and nack to the hotel,

unfortunatly I picked up the Thai brochure, but it is easy to find, just look for Soi 12 Nagkula and follow the signs.