Wat Nong Wang

Phra Mahathat Kaen Nakhon at Wat Nong Wang is a nine-storey stupa completed in the 1990s beside Bueng Kaen Nakhon, the lake in southern Khon Kaen, built in a north-eastern Isan style with tiered white and gold levels rising to a spire. Each floor holds something: a relic chamber at the top, a local history museum with material on Khon Kaen's founding and Isan culture on the middle levels, murals covering the interior walls, and displays of monastic and everyday objects. The ninth-floor balcony runs right around the outside and gives a view over the lake, the city and the flat country beyond, which is what most visitors climb for. Stairs run the whole way with no lift. It is free, open through the day, and sits on the lake circuit that residents use for walking and running in the evening. Dress code applies as at any temple.

What you actually see

• The nine tiers - a modern Isan-style stupa beside the city lake.
• The museum floors - Khon Kaen history and Isan cultural material.
• The murals - interior wall painting through the levels.
• The rooftop balcony - the view over the lake and city.

When to go

November to February; late afternoon for the light and the lake circuit below. One to two hours. Stairs only - there is no lift.

Honest expectations

Nine floors of stairs with no lift. Entirely modern, from the 1990s. Museum labelling is almost entirely in Thai. Free with donation boxes on several floors.

Nearby

Bueng Kaen Nakhon lake is alongside; the Khon Kaen National Museum is north.