Thai Culture
Wat Pra Prabat Si Roy (Temple of the Four Buddha Footprints)

Temple of the Four Buddha Footprints, or Wat Pra Prabat Si Roy in Thai, is a remote and
spectacular forest temple located in Mae Rim’s Salouang district. Though it’s a highly prestigious and
popular temple among Thais, very few foreigners make it out here. This is a shame since it’s a
picturesque spot, with a lovely drive to get there, making it an interesting day or half-day out from
Chiang Mai.

Sure, it’s remoteness and the difficulty of access certainly accounts for the lack of
tourists-we’ve never found any organised tours here and it’s impossible to reach by public
transport-but if you’ve rented a motorbike or are prepared to hire a songthaew for the day, then it’s
worth the effort. The temple is very well signposted. All signs are written in Thai but they have a
picture of the Buddha footprint on them, so just follow the pictures.

Drive through Mae Rim on the main highway north, and some 5 km or so after the town look out
for a sign and a turning to the left. The sealed road then winds its way through villages and up
wooded hills for 25 km until you reach the temple. Every junction is signposted, and side tracks to
several waterfalls are even indicated in English. The pretty drive or ride-see view below-is around
45 km in total from central.

The temple itself is a fairly recent construction-and indeed the famous Buddha footprints seem
to our cynical, sacrilegious minds recently carved-but it’s a photogenic collection of various temple
buildings and hundreds of Buddha statues, set in a wooded valley surrounded by low hills. A basic
cafe in the car park will keep you fed and watered, while various vendors sell herbal medicines too.

As we said, part of the attraction is simply in getting to the Temple of the Four Buddha
Footprints. Note that it’s easily combined with a trip to the Mae Sa Valley or perhaps Mae Taeng;
Salouang village has some eateries and even a camp site half-way between the village and temple if
you want to stay the night in the middle of nowhere.

Around 30 km north of Mae RIm

How to get there: To get here, drive through Mae Rim on the main highway north, and some
5 km or so after the town look out for a sign and a turning to the left. The sealed road then winds
through villages and up wooded hills for 25 km until you reach the temple. Every junction is
signposted, and side tracks to several waterfalls are even indicated in English. Signs are clearly
marked in Thai, but they're easily discerned thanks to pictures of footprints.

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