These are images of Wat Khao Sukim in Chanthaburi Province, Thailand. I do not think many foreign tourists visit this temple. The reason I ended up there was simple: I confused it with Khao Khitchakut.
I had heard that Khao Khitchakut was an amazing place, but I knew almost nothing about it. I did not know what it looked like or what made it special. I rented a motorbike in Chanthaburi and headed in what I thought was the direction of Khao Khitchakut. At that time, Google Maps was not nearly as convenient as it is today, and I did not have a map with me. I relied on road signs, but somewhere along the way I misunderstood something and became convinced that this was Khao Khitchakut.
After returning to Bangkok, I told a friend who had recommended Khao Khitchakut that I had found it interesting, though not quite as impressive as he had described. What he was talking about and what I had actually seen were so different that I finally realized I had gone to the wrong place.
I was so frustrated that I returned to Thailand again just one month later and went back to Chanthaburi to rent another motorbike. However, the rental shop owner told me that Khao Khitchakut had already been closed for the season.
More than fifteen years have passed since then, and I still have not had another opportunity to visit Khao Khitchakut.
As I mentioned in my post about Wat Pho, I generally believe that traveling without preconceived ideas is more enjoyable. However, that experience made me realize that it depends on the situation. If I ever get another chance to visit Khao Khitchakut, I will make sure to do more research beforehand.
I became so absorbed in writing about my mistake that I neglected the main subject of this post. Wat Khao Sukim itself is a temple that houses a large number of Buddha images.
