Temple at Don Sak!

So while we were at Don Sak, I noticed that their was a gorgeous building, that I assumed was a temple.  I asked about it, and I was right, it was a temple.  They asked me if I wanted to go and visit it, and I said yes.  It was pretty spectacular.  I prayed with them, and I got to see my first Thai monk.  He asked me questions, but I didn't understand, so my host mom spoke for me. 

These are the pillars that are within the temple.  They are very tall and are very well decorated.  The bottoms have more blues and greens mixed with the gold, while the top parts have more red and gold. 

A picture of the alter.  It wasn't Buddha season (thats what my mom called it) so there wasn't a lot of people there.  Actually it was just Namwarn, mom, me and a monk. This is on the otherside of the church, and in the room directly behind the alter, there is supposedly a piece of the original Buddha.  I think it was a piece of his toe, or a bone from some part of him.  I thought that was a pretty neat thing. 

This is my first host mom and I praying at the alter.  When you first walk in, you step over the threshhold (its considered very taboo if you step on it, and I have no clue what happens if you do.)  On the two glass vases behind us, there are two flower bouquets that my mom and I placed there as an offering to Buddha.  The red box to my left is where you can give donations to the temple and its monks. 

So this is the outside of the temple.  The colors aren't as bright in this picture because it was backlit.  But it is very big and beautifully decorated.  The main colors here were red and gold, with blues and greens in certain areas.  Everything (as far as I could tell) was symmetrical, and very ornate. 

So this is a gate.  If you go through it there is a flight of stairs, that are very small.  I have found that my feet are huge when it comes to certain stairs, and I have to take my time, otherwise I run the risk of falling.  Anyways, everything here is done up with gold and bright, vibrant colors.  You can't really see them in this picture, but they are pretty nice to look at. 

This is the bottom of the stairway.  As you can tell, it also has a beautiful archway as an entrance.  I climbed down these stairs with Namwarn, and she told me how when she was little she fell down a flight of these stairs.  I felt bad for her, and immediately slowed my pace so the same thing wouldn't happen to me.  There were about 100 stairs, but by the time I was at the bottom it felt like 1000.  It really showed me that I am out of shape, and with all the food they like to feed me, I am going to have to work on that, otherwise I'm going to be the size of an elephant by the time I come home. 

So this is the temple at Don Sak.  It has a real name, but it is very long, and I'm not totally sure how to spell it.  When I write down the names of things (like temples) generally it is phonetic spelling and not the actual spelling.  I am trying to find a book that has information on my town and the surrounding area, but so far I have not been successful.