We ended our horse cart ride at the Khayminga Temple Complex. This complex had quite a number of pagodas, with most of them being not too large. Some of the temple complexes have gatekeepers or key holders. This person is like a caretaker. Many of the pagodas are locked or have some fencing with locks to keep people out. This can be because some of the pagodas have valuable artwork inside of them. From what we learned, most of the gatekeepers are rather easy to deal with. They just don’t want someone to steal or destroy the pagoda’s contents.

1. The temple in the first photo might be the Khayminga Temple but I’m not certain of that. It is in the Khayminga complex. But you can see the gates at the two entrances to the temple in the photo, for which you need to get the key to access the temple.

2. The gatekeepers usually live right in the midst of the temples and pagodas and that was the case here. You can see the gatekeeper’s house in the second photo.

3. The gatekeeper is in the third photo and she was a 78 year-old, cheroot-smoking grandmother. We had quite a chat with her as she told us about her family and the temples and her job.

4. To gain access to the gates and temples, it is customary to tip the gatekeepers. I took it a step further and smoked a cheroot with her. The coconut shells are ashtrays as she was very concerned about fires in her bamboo house.

5. The temples at Khayminga were old and probably done with bad construction or poor cement. Earthquakes in the area haven’t helped these pagodas. Anything look odd in the photo? (and I don’t mean Vicky or me!)