As soon as we pulled up to the entrance, we were swarmed by children. Some were trying to sell us cold sodas or incense sticks to offer in prayer. But most wanted to be our "guide" in our tour of the temple. Guide is not really a good term; shadow is more like it. Because there isn't actually any talking that accompanies the guiding. A child just starts to follow you around and occasionally points out something of interest or motions for you to take off your shoes. Below is my shadow. Somehow he picked me as we got out of the car, and he stayed by my side until I got back into the car. I guess it worked out well for him...he ended up getting $2 outta me.
With our shadows at our sides, our first task was to climb over 500 stairs. Sounds bad, but actually it goes pretty quickly. Along the way we saw monkeys and shrines for prayers and offerings. This is a particularly good shrine with several Buddha figures overseen by an odd statue that seemed strikingly similar to the monkeys running around the site.
At the top of the stairs, we were rewarded with a beautiful modern temple with lots of detailed carvings and sculptures. After walking all around it, I discovered the entry to go inside. I made my way toward it, but the guard motioned that I'd have to take off my shoes and leave them outside. I looked down at my $100 Keen sneakers and thought "I've seen Slumdog Millionaire where the kids make a living off stealing shoes from the Taj Mahal and selling them on the streets." So I declined and walked away. I'll have to go back again, and choose my footwear more wisely.
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