Roughly 180 km east of the city of Nong Khai ( Bueng Kan which is the capital of the recently established 77th Thai province) is a huge sandstone rock named Phu Tok. It jots up almost 200 meters in the otherwise flat landscape.
At the top of the mountain is a temple, Wat Chetiya Khiri Vihan (commonly simply called Wat Phu Tok), which can be reached by a seven-level wooden spiral staircase.
This staircase itself is impressive, taking nearly five years to complete, as are the views from the top. Although vistas from top are impressive, it was the challenging and literally breathtaking climb to get there that stands out in my mind.
The temple is accessed by circling upwards on a network of rickety staircases built in, on and around the giant sandstone outcrop. Six levels of steps, plus a seventh-level scramble up roots and rocks to the thick forest at the summit, represent the seven steps towards enlightenment in Buddhist teachings. According to them, the last level of life is always covered alone so Phu Tok’s seventh level has an access so narrow one has to climb there in single file.
I felt a sense of achievement once I finally reached the top, grateful that the rickety staircases didn’t collapse or that I didn’t fall over the side while I navigated my way up the seven levels.
The first three levels took me up through spectacular forest below the tree line, passing by deep cuttings and huge tropical trees with their buttress roots.
Level four goes through a passage actually within the rock. A choice of two routes – the left fork is more interesting – leads to the fifth and most important level, where a sala houses the temple's main Buddha image in an airy, dimly lit cavern. Pilgrims can seek permission to spend the night on a wide polished floor.
The artificial ledges that cut across the northeast face are not for the fainthearted, but they are one way of getting to the dramatic northwest tip on level five. On the other side of a deep crevice spanned by a wooden bridge, the monks have built an open-sided Buddha viharn under a huge anvil rock. This spot affords stunning views over a broad sweep of the flat countryside below.
Kutì (meditation huts and living quarters for the 50 or so monks living in the temple) are scattered around the mountain, in caves and on cliffs.
The arduous work of building the staircases was seen by the venerable monk, Phra Ajahn Juan, as a form of meditation in itself. Ajahn Juan founded Wat Phu Tok in 1968 and died in a plane crash in August 1980 along with several other highly revered forest monks who were flying to Bangkok
