Wat Chong Kham and Wat Chong Klang

The two temples stand together on the southern shore of Nong Chong Kham, the lake in the middle of Mae Hong Son, and they are Shan and Burmese in form rather than Thai - tiered wooden roofs with layered finials, corrugated metal now over the original timber, and a mirrored and gilded interior finish. Wat Chong Kham, the older, was built in 1827 and holds a large seated Buddha; Wat Chong Klang, beside it, holds a set of glass paintings on the life of the Buddha and the Jataka tales, painted in Burma in the nineteenth century and brought here, along with carved wooden figures depicting the Vessantara Jataka that were also imported. The two lit up at night and reflected in the lake are the standard image of Mae Hong Son. The lake is the centre of the town's Loi Krathong and the Poi Sang Long ordination festival in spring. Both temples are free.

What you actually see

• The Shan architecture - tiered roofs and finials, unlike Thai temple form.
• The glass paintings - nineteenth-century Burmese work at Chong Klang.
• The carved figures - Vessantara Jataka wooden figures, also from Burma.
• The reflection - both temples lit at night in the lake.

When to go

November to January; avoid February to April, when burning-season smoke fills the valley. Evening for the lit reflection. Free, and an hour covers both.

Honest expectations

Small - both temples together take an hour. The glass paintings are in a dim hall and photography is restricted. Burning-season air from February to April is genuinely bad. Temple dress code applies.

Nearby

Doi Kong Mu is on the hill above; the Mae Hong Son night market runs by the lake.