Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep stands about a thousand metres up the mountain west of Chiang Mai and is the symbol of the city. The temple was founded in the late fourteenth century, and its founding story is the one every guide tells: a white elephant carrying a relic of the Buddha was released to choose the site, climbed the mountain, trumpeted three times and died where the chedi now stands.

From the car park a naga staircase of 306 steps climbs to the terrace, flanked the whole way by the scaled bodies of two serpents. The upper terrace is a compact courtyard around a gilded chedi, with cloisters of Buddha images, small shrines and bells that visitors ring as they walk the circuit. A viewing platform looks east over the whole Chiang Mai plain and the airport below.

The road up the mountain is steep and winding, and the temple is an active pilgrimage site rather than a monument - shoulders and knees covered, shoes off on the upper terrace.