Italy day 4: Florence Tuesday market [YQrtw Day 30 May 7]

Location: Florence, Italy

Today was Florence’s Tuesday market day. The hostel Aunty took me, another girl studying in France and the newlywed couple to the market which was just a walk away. (I wouldn’t really call it a short walk but it’s not too long neither.)

It turns out, most weekly markets are quite the same with lines of vendor selling things on makeshift tables.

What’s different about this market and the one back home is that people bring their dogs out. Vendors here that sell porchetta display a WHOLE ROAST PIG. There are also carts selling delicious coffee, serving the dark elixir in double layered plastic cups to prevent customers from burning their fingers.

The road for the market was very long. I managed to buy only a pair of 5 euro shoes and a bracelet which I thought was a necklace.

Aunty and us were separated on our way back from the other end of the market. We decided to feast on the local delicacies while waiting for her.

I bought a porchetta which was served in a jaw-breaking piece of bread. Some parts of the meat wasn’t seasoned well but when I hit the well-seasoned parts, it was heavenly. There were even bits of liver-like parts in my bread. Yum.

Our next stop was a gelatto place across the river.

We passed the US embassy along the way. The building was guarded by Italian officers in a brown-green uniform. They glared at us when we stood outside for too long to admire the river.

Finally we reached the gelato place and had a cheap two-scoop gelato for only 1.50 euro. The previous organic gelato I had in Pisa was 2.50 euro.

The Aunty took us down the road and pointed out to interesting places. We passed the Medici bridge and the Ufizzi (where there was a horrible queue).

We took time to admire the fake David’s naked body (there are plenty of naked bodies around, keep your pearls out for lots of clutching).

Then we were at a cafe at the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. The latte macchiato was so tasty! The cup was a larger serving than a cappuccino and was well worth the 1.60 euro. I heard that the desserts are to die for too.

While at the cafe, we used its toilet. The washroom was guarded by a lady and there was a entry fee box where everyone had to drop money before going in. This didn’t stop the line from hold at least 4 persons at any time.

After oohing and aahing at the beautiful exterior of the basilica, we stopped at Bifolli Shop which was packed with gorgeous toiletries. Since I did not have any luggage space, I was torn between a lavendar (my all time favorite plant) or a spice and patchouli (smells great on my skin) perfume.

In the end, spice won out. I am now a proud owner of a 19 euro perfume which I hope can mask my backpacker scent (not that I know if I have any).

On our own

Aunty brought the student back to the hostel, leaving me with the Taiwanese newly wed. They are a very great couple, allowing me to tag along with their shopping.

We checked out many candy shops, leather shops, souvenir shops. We walked from one end of the sights to the other and walked more.

The highlight of all this walking was the Plaza Michealangelo (and the Rose Garden along the way). The lowlight of all the walking was the slope to the plaza.

From the plaza, you can see beautiful Florence. It looks more like a medieval town than the present. I did wish that I could ride on a dragon back to town.

We walked back to the hostel. According to Google Maps, the journey would take us 40 minutes.

We did manage to drag ourselves back, stopping by a supermarket along the way.

At night, we had dumplings for dinner. I’ve been having Chinese food these few days because of where I am staying at.

Sightsee Paris by boat

View of Notre Dame from Paris Batobus Boat

I love taking the public transport and cycling when I travel.

I had the chance to take the boat on the Seine when I was in Paris. The Batobus (translated as boat-bus) was probably more for tourists than for local though.

Batobus Musee d'Orsay stop — Batobus Musee d’Orsay stop

On the Batobus

Since passengers sat in the boat under a glass cover, I felt like I was in an oven. Most of the passengers looked grumpy from the heat.

I didn’t get the chance to catch the sunset on the boat because the sun was setting around 9pm in Summer but I’ve seen photos of the lovely purple-orange sky.

Should you take the Batobus?

If you have time and a student card, the Batobus packages are quite worthwhile.

The boat is also good for shuttling you from each important site to another. Highly recommended.

Recap of 2012 travels

Hello everyone,

It’s the last day of 2012. For today, I am recapping the journeys I made in 2012, along with a few related entries.

(Some of the cities do not have related blog posts because I am working on a really limited internet connection back home in Sabah. I’ll follow up with the posts once I reach the land of high speed internet–Singapore.)

In case you find this entry a little TL;DR, I want to wish you a happy 2013. May the new year be filled with (productive) travels.

Ciao!

-Yun Qing

January 2012

Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

yqtravelling january seremban negeri sembilan — Seremban

In a nutshell: The Seremban which D and I visited was sleepy. There wasn’t much going around as it seems like most of the people prefer to look for a living in Kuala Lumpur.

Funny poster: Bill Gates, a murderer

Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

In a nutshell: The reason I dragged D along to PD was to wash my feet in the ocean. My family has a ritual of stepping into the ocean when the new year comes to “wash away the bad luck”. PD wasn’t as fantastic as what my primary school sample compositions tell me. I much prefer the beaches in Sabah.

2012′s first sunset

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Back home for Chinese New Year which is the most important festival for my family. I didn’t visit any new places while in Sabah.

February 2012

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Impromptu trip to meet up with Nguyen in KL. It was great fun meeting her again after my trip to Saigon after graduation.

Glutton in Kuala Lumpur

March + April 2012

Yogyakarta + Solo, Indonesia

In a nutshell: Back in Indonesia after D and my first trip back in 2009. It was great seeing the ancient monuments in Borobudur and Prambanan.

Sunrise at Borobudur: Expectations/Reality

In a nutshell: The side trip to Solo was fun too since we visited Candi Sukuh and watched Orang Wayang.

Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Finally back to crossing Malaysian states off my list. Ipoh will forever be remembered as the town with great food (almost as good as Penang) and a “castle” that is not really a castle.

May 2012

San Jose, California, USA

In a nutshell: On a business trip to cover an event in San Jose. I had the chance to visit Cupertino and see the Winchester Mystery House. I didn’t get to see much of the city because I was stuck in the convention centers getting my bills paid.

Do you know the way to San Jose?

San Francisco, California, USA

In a nutshell: Side trip from San Jose after the business trip. I had planned to visit Napa Valley for a night but decided to stay in SF for the whole week. I saw two great shows, visited many fine museums and cycled a little.

June 2012

Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Back home for a classmate’s wedding. didn’t get to visit other areas since I was back for only the weekend.

Anatomy of a Chinese wedding in Malaysia

July 2012

Hoi An, Vietnam

In a nutshell: A 5-day trip to central Vietnam. I had planned to visit another historical town, Hue, but decided to spend all the time in Hoi An. I ate a lot, drank a lot of coffee and cycled a lot.

August 2012

Jakarta, Indonesia

In a nutshell: A short weekend trip to the capital of Indonesia. We weren’t caught in traffic jams as we took the TransJakarta public bus. I didn’t do a lot of research so we ended up walking aimlessly.

September 2012

Tokyo + Kamakura Japan

In a nutshell: A day trip to historical Kamakura on the day I reached Tokyo. I love the little town with its little big Buddha and quaint streets.

In a nutshell: A 4-day business trip but I pre-extended the weekend before work. I had the chance to overnight in Ooedo Onsen Monogatari and catch Gintama Land before it was over.

#FoodFri Glutton at Tsukiji, Tokyo

Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Returned to Kuching. Trip wasn’t as great but I got to meet J the night before.

October 2012

Bangkok, Thailand

In a nutshell: My first visit to Thailand. I narrowed down my to-do list to a few sites and spent a productive weekend.

Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia

In a nutshell: State 9 of my Visit Malaysia project. A small town where our fourth prime minister, Dr Tun Mahathir, was born. Visited the Alor Setar tower, the second tallest TV tower in Malaysia, and saw a bird’s eye view of the town.

Dinner & miscommunication for breakfast in Alor Setar

Padang Besar, Perlis, Malaysia

In a nutshell: State 10 of my Visit Malaysia project. Went to the market bordering Thailand. I was a little disappointed that the market didn’t straddle the border with stall owners on one side accepting ringgit while the other baht.

A guide to walking from Malaysia to Thailand

November 2012

No major travelling for the month. It wasn’t as bad as I expected because I had other things to busy myself with during the weekend. For example, reading Web comics, watching Youtube, eating, reading things online etc.

December 2012

Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia

In a nutshell: Back home for the Christmas holiday because of forced leave implemented by the company. Went on a roadtrip with Mom to the north of Sabah. We read a lot, ate a lot of fruits while at the hotel. Also visited the “Tip of Borneo”.

How has your year of travelling been?

A walk among the dead in Montparnasse cemetery

Montparnasse cemetery, cross against a blue sky

[To increase the level of spook, check out My visit to the Empire of Death before this post.]

I didn’t plan for my third day in Paris to be full of death.

In the morning, I visited the Catacombs. When I was doing my travel research, one guidebook or another recommended Montparnasse cemetery where among the dead laid Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre.

I do not know much about de Beauvoir, apart from her being a famous feminist and a on-and-off partner of Sartre. I learned fake existentialism from a French-teaching armadillo on the University of Austin Texas’s Web site.

I do not remember how I got to the cemetery. I might have taken the train to Rapsail stop, since Google Maps is telling me that it’s a 1.5km walk from the exit of the Catacombs.

Following my trusty portable map and some road signs, I reached the Montparnasse cemetery area. There was a high wall separating the dead and the living. I wish it was a short gate so I could have jumped over it and get finished with my itinerary.

There was a high wall separating the dead and the living. I wish it was a short gate so I could have jumped over it and get finished with my itinerary.

I walked the a long stretch of road to the gates. For someone who do not know what is behind the walls, the vine-covered bricks might mean a private garden lay behind. A garden of the dead.

When I did reach the gates, I studied the map of the cemetery. The map was too high up for me to take a good picture to use as a walking guide. Instead, I studied where de Beauvoir and Sartre laid and mentally mapped my way there.

Looking for de Beauvoir

It wasn’t that easy finding their graves. I was expecting something grand with wreaths decoration which was why I missed out the grave when I walked past it a few times.

The tombsone was a pale marble, hidden among the other gray grave markers. Craved on the tombstone in gold were the names of de Beauvoir and Sartre and their birth year and death year. (Is there such a thing as a “deathday”?)

Grave of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre

The tombstone was small, I had expected something flashier given how big they were when they were alive. There were a lot of souvenirs on the tombstone. If it weren’t for the seriousness of being in a graveyard, I might have laughed out loud at the gifts.

Souvenirs from fans of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre

Souvenirs from fans of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre Love the family portrait — Souvenirs from fans of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Sartre
Love the family portrait

I particularly like the drawing of de Beauvoir and Sartre. A few lines from a de Beauvoir admire were scribbled on a piece of paper, probably torn out of a journal bought especially for the trip to Paris. A train ticket stub. A withering flower.

I regret not buying a bunch of flowers near the gates of the catacombs although it’s a little silly since the dead would not be able to smell them.

I didn’t expect de Beauvoir and Sarte to share one grave, like they aresharing an apartment. I thought that they each had their own plot of land, instead, they laid next to (or even on top) of each other.

Knowing what had passed between them during their final years, I wonder if the people who buried them were too romantic and decided that they must be together even in death.

While looking at the grave, I was overcome by sadness and wiped a few tears. What does it mean to live and be famous when in the end, we all would die and end up buried in the ground.

A walk in the park

Road sign in the middle of Montparnasse cemetery

After contemplating life at the grave of de Beauvoir, I decided to walk about in the graveyard.

The graveyard was shady, and very much like a park or a garden. I sat down at one of the benches and regretted not buying a picnic. Come to think of it, I might have lost my journal in the graveyard. I guess that’s much more poetic than losing it in the public toilet.

There was a grave marker in Chinese but I do not know the history of the two people who laid inside.

Chinese grave at Montparnasse cemetery — Chinese grave

There was another lady in the graveyard that day. She was refilling her bottle at one of the taps. I was worried that she might be drinking non-potable water.

The cemetery ground was large. I didn’t find other famous people’s graves even though there are supposed to be more.

I did find some lovely graves.

Yes, really large.

Cordoned tower of Montparnasse cemetery — Cordoned tower

Statue of sad lovers at Montparnasse cemetery

I was surprised to see an apartment next to the graveyard. Being raised in a Chinese culture, any accommodation next to a graveyard means “bad things will happen”.

But Montparnasse didn’t look that much like a graveyard, so I suppose not much bad things will happen.

Do you have a favorite cemetery?

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A trip to erotic temple Candi Sukuh: Part 3

It’s Friday again! And I will end of my three-part post of the visit to Candi Sukuh the erotic temple with a bit about food since Fridays are FoodFri here.

Part one talks about how I got to Candi Sukuh while part two is about how I was surrounded by symbolic penes.

After combing the site for graphic sculptures of dicks (sorry mom!), we set back for the flat lands. (Maybe I should clarify that I was the only one looking for dicks, not knowing that I was surrounded by symbolic penes.)

Our motorcyclists took us back to the little town where we ordered two glasses of coffee from the shop next door. The lady owning the stall was tonguetied when we asked her for the price. I imagined her brain making calculations of how much extra charge she could get away with.

The price wasn’t too expensive but we didn’t even get to have two sips of the coffee as the bus back into Karangpandan was here.

Lunch time

There were a lot of school kids on the bus but they didn’t sit. D said they probably paid less and weren’t allowed to sit. Or maybe they like standing.

Just hanging around after school. (Not the bus I took)

At Karangpandan, I went to one of the convenience stores to get some pain killers for my head.

We stopped by a small warung run by a lady with her daughters. The eatery was a wooden shack by the roadside with an aluminium roof.

We sat on the floor and ate two person’s portion of lunch. I had fried chicken and some sweet tea. The avocado juice was really amazing too.

We lazed around the warung for a long while before we headed back to the bus terminal for the bus to Solo.

Before we left, I took a photo of the newspaper front page which proudly proclaimed: “Solo nominated as one of the seven most amazing cities in the world, beating Jakarta and Singapore.”

Follow my 3-part adventures to Candi Sukuh:
In part 1, we took the bus which played sexy music videos while in part 2, I was surrounded by symbolic dicks which I took for home deco.

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A trip to erotic temple Candi Sukuh: Part 2

This post is part 2 of 3 of D and my trip to erotic temple Candi Sukuh in Indonesia. Find out how we decided to visit the location and our journey to the site in part 1.
xxx
The motorcycle drivers deposited us at the foot of a hill after a rather calm ride (no one was tossed off their bikes, thank goodness). The way uphill was steep and would have taken forever if we had walked.

We couldn’t see the ruins from the entrance but the site didn’t look big.

I read someone’s blog which described Candi Sukuh as a mini Mexican temple. Did the ancient architects go to the same school of building design?

After paying for our entrance, we read the only description available of the site in the form of a faded poster on a display board behind a pane of dirty glass.

After reading, we entered the real site by climbing a flight of stone steps. I would rather climbed through the narrow staircase of the stone building near the steps but the gate was locked.

The real Candi Sukuh

When I first saw the real site, I was slightly disappointed at its petite size. I was expecting something on a grander scale but the area was rather small and could be seen in about half an hour time.

It was interesting how the ancient people “layered” the temple grounds so the main building was the highest.

Once I’ve gotten over my first world problem of being disappointed by the smallness of the site, I was in awe of the sculptures. I could not even draw half of these beings, how did they get them onto the rocks.

There was a couple taking pre-wedding photographs on the temple grounds. I think it’s really cool to take photos there because it’s a lot more unique than the general fake screens we see.

To the altar of Candi Sukuh

The highlight of the site was the rooftop altar which could only be reached by climbing a narrow staircase. The width of the entrance showed how petite 15th-century people were but us 21st century big boned folks also made it.

On the rooftop, it was a bit dizzying to see the tea gardens. I kept thinking I might slip and crash head first onto the stone pavement. Ouch!

Hi from Candi Sukuh's rooftop altar — Hi from Candi Sukuh’s rooftop altar

My only complaint

One embarrassing complaint I have about Candi Sukuh is the lack of erotic symbols. For a fertility temple, there’s too little eroticism around.

I was hoping for something like Haesindang Park but I only found two statues that were explicit.

Why Candi Sukuh is called an erotic temple

I’ll leave you with this song from Flight of the Conchords titled Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor.

Follow me as I end my trip to Candi Sukuh with a hot sweet tea at a local warung.

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A trip to erotic temple Candi Sukuh: Part 1

This is post part 1 of 3.

I realize that a lot of my posts are about the destination: How grand the palace was, how sad the castle was and so on.

So this time, I want to do an experiment. Instead of bringing you straight to the destination, I want to bring you along on the trip to Candi Sukuh.

Are you ready?

Prologue

During my eight-day trip to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, D and I headed to Solo for a couple of days. I don’t remember why we chose to go to Solo but it might be because of the relatively short train ride to the city.

While in Solo, we took a day trip to Candi Sukuh. I admit that my motif for visiting was due to its unofficial title as being an erotic temple.

On the day we were heading to Candi Sukuh, we dropped by the tourist information center opposite Hotel Dana where we were staying at.

The man at the information counter tried to persuade us to take a taxi there but we insisted on taking the public transport for two reasons:

It’s more indie.
It’s cheaper.

However, we did take a cab to the main bus terminal because Trans Solo wasn’t as efficient as Trans Jogja (or Trans Jakarta, which I found out months afterwars)

From the main terminal at Solo, we hopped on a bus heading to Karangpandan where we to switched to a smaller bus.

The bus from Solo was a large bus. The seats were divided by a narrow corridor: the seats on the right could sit three petite locals while the ones on the left were for two. Being big-boned, we took the 3-seater for the two of us.

While waiting for the rest of the passengers to board, the bus was a bit warm and stuffy but it cooled down when the bus started moving as an endless gust of wind come in from from the partly open windows and the never-closed door.

As the bus chugged past fields of paddy, the bus conductor hungout of the open door, making sounds like an ambulance as we passed by motorists. “Wee-woo-wee-woo!”

In front of our row was a family with a doe-eyed child. The kid stared at us a while before turning to the front.

Show your sexy move

Usually when I am on a bus with TV, I am more likely to look at the box than the scenery. I think this has something to do with the TV being my baby sitter while I was growing up.

But I was really shocked when I saw the shows on the bus. They were was playing really sexy music videos.

Women dressed in strips of cloth writhed in front of the camera to loud techno music. I pretty much stared at the TV, wide mouthed. How on earth is something this sexy shown when Lady Gaga is “chased out of Indonesia“.

Later, the videos switched to wild life so I end up staring at the back of the head kid who had peeped at us from his seat.

At one of the stops, a boy came on board with a small guitar (a ukelele?) and serenaded each row. No one gave him money so he left after a round on the corridor.

Touchy feely on the bus

Finally, we arrived at Karangpandan station where we switched to a smaller bus. This bus was much smaller with two seaters on each side of the corridor.

I sat by the windows with D next to the aisle. A bunch of old ladies later came onboard.

The bus seats were rather cramped and I held on to the window edge with my fingers in case my butt slipped too far.

During the ride, I heard the old ladies chattering for a while. Then D spoke out loud, “Hello madams.” The old ladies twittered but stopped talking.

Later, D told me that the old ladies discussed among themselves how fair she was. This escalated to arm touching to see if the skin was real. When D greeted them in Indonesian, they looked sheepish. :3

Foot of the hill

The bus climbed up hills after hills on a narrow road. It then stopped in a small town. The conductor told us this was our stop for Candi Sukuh.

foot of hill where we got rides to the temple

We found a motorcycle workshop and asked if they provided lifts to the temple. (I’ve read on the Internet that it’s better to get a motorcycle ride than walk.)

Two of the men volunteered after we discussed a price. I went along with the younger driver.

Wearing my hair gel-smelling helmet, I enjoyed the view of the valley and the cool air. My driver kept persuading me to visit the tea plantations and another temple faraway.

After a very steep hill, our motorcycles stopped and the drivers told us that they will wait for us while we visited the temple grounds.

Continue with the adventure in part 2 of the visit to Candi Sukuh and see how the site resembles the ruins in South America.

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Getting a fake identity at Khaoshan Road, Bangkok

Have you ever been envious of how spies get to have multiple fake identities?

Well, you can get several identities too while you are at Bangkok’s Khaoshan Road.

Illegally, that is.

I first heard about the possibility of making fake IDs from a colleague. After some “research” on Google, I decided that I must visit Khaoshan Road to check out these counterfeit identity card makers.

There were a few stalls with photocopies of IDs. Photocopies of some of the more popular IDs were displayed on A4 paper while the rest were in the rather thick folders.

I didn’t study what sort of IDs they faked. From my photos, it seems like they can make certificates as well.

Some of the stalls were unmanned, as I assume that the person in charge is hiding away in a corner, in case the authorities come.

20 minutes for a student ID

In the name of research, I approached a stall looked over by a woman. It felt safer dealing with a woman.

She told me that it costs 300 baht to create a fake student ID and would take 20 minutes. I asked for a discount but was denied when she heard that I only wanted one.

When I agreed to the price, she called out to a man. He had a pad with details to fill out.

After I filled out the slip of paper. He said the university name was too long and I had to change it. I made multiple variations until he was satisfied.

He then pointed to the folder on the table. Flipping through, he pointed a copy of a Singapore I.C..

I almost fainted. Can you imagine getting caught with one of it? It’s a fine of up to S$10,000 or imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.

I waited for the final product in a cafe. When I received it, it did look like a real student card.

I’m refraining from posting it on the blog in case cops burst into my room to arrest me.

Have you ever had a fake ID made?

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Bangkok’s Grand Palace is the Versailles of the East

I made a travel plan for Bangkok because I did not want to commit the same mistake as I did in Kuching.

My plans for the Sunday was to see the Grand Palace and then walk north to the museum and then to Khaoshan Road. It was a relaxed plan since I didn’t want to stress myself.

My friend N told me that it would take more than 2 hours to admire the Grand Palace. Looking at the 2×4-inch map on Lonely Planet, I wasn’t too convinced.

I set off for the palace after a meal of noodles and beancurd at two of the hole-in-the-walls outside the palace gate.

When I reached the white walls, a loudspeaker spoke in a patient voice reminding tourists that there is only one ticket seller and trust no one. (It’s to prevent tourists from being cheated by swindlers.)

There was a bit more walking from the walls to the ticket selling booth. There were quite a lot of people around since it was Sunday.

The queue was short though, everyone seemed to crowded away from the ticket booth. I paid my 400 baht and got a lot of tickets.

I wasn’t even sure what most of the tickets were for.

I read that visitors need to dress modestly when visiting the Grand Palace so I brought along my own sarong cloth. I tied it haphazardly around my waist with one side higher up than the other.

When I headed in, I was stunned.

There was a small shrine dedicated to a medicine man. But the shrine was so over-the-top sparkly from the tiles that I just stared at it with my mouth open.

Wow.

I’ll let you look at the pictures instead of babbling about.

Versailles of the East

I immediately thought of Versailles when I saw all the golden walls.

The castle of Louis XIV The Sun King must also be as grand as these.

Violet building at Bangkok's Grand Palace — Violet building at Bangkok’s Grand Palace

The map that came along with the brochure was not that useful because I promptly forget which building I was looking at when the sparkling walls blind me.

Tiles of Bangkok's Grand Palace — Tiles of Bangkok’s Grand Palace

Statues of mythical beings

Guardian at Bangkok's Grand Palace — Guardian at Bangkok’s Grand Palace

Many green guardians at Bangkok's Grand Palace — Many green guardians at Bangkok’s Grand Palace

White guardian at Bangkok's Grand Palace — White guardian at Bangkok’s Grand Palace

Garuda at Bangkok's Grand Palace — Garuda at Bangkok’s Grand Palace

Many gold guardians at Bangkok's Grand Palace — Many gold guardians at Bangkok’s Grand Palace

Intricate shrine at Bangkok's Grand Palace — Intricate shrine at Bangkok’s Grand Palace

Hydra at Bangkok's Grand Palace — Hydra at Bangkok’s Grand Palace

Emerald Buddha

There’s a Chinese phrase “镇庙之宝” which loosely translates to the treasure that holds the temple. It’s the treasure which attracts people to a certain place.

At the Grand Palace, there is a temple for the Emerald Buddha. It is housed in a gorgeous building and on high steps so no one can go near.

There’s not photo taking inside the temple. Visitors sit on the floor and are not allowed to point their feet towards the small statue.