This is a very subjective issue, but I very much enjoyed my 45-minute hike to the temple and I felt like it made my experience there more meaningful and enjoyable. Afterward, I caught a ride back to town.

You can use a shared Taxi for 120 Bhat or 500 Baht for a privat Taxi. There is a Parking available.

HI. I do not know the tariff transport. I went walking through the forest.

Yes, there's another trail right up the road from Wat Pha La. It's steeper and a bit more complicated than the Monk's trail. Take lots of water. There's a few blog posts if you Google Monk's trail.

Noi abbiamo contrattato per un taxi con cui fare un giro a disposizione per tutta la giornata, che ci ha portato anche al cimitero reale e al tempio della montagna con fermata per pausa pranzo ad un ristorante. Contrattando si arrivano a prezzi decenti mi sembra sui 60 euro totali per 3 persone per tutto il giorno. In tuk non è comodissimo perché e abbastanza fuori e la strada in salita e il prezzo magari non è poi così basso.

Hallo Dagmar, Wij hebben gekozen om de wandeling door de jungle te doen naar deze tempel. De mensen van onze hostel hebben een taxi geregeld tot aan de voet van deze wandeling. Deze is best stevig bergop en op smalle weggetjes. Als ik het goed heb kan je ook gewoon met een taxi via de gewone weg tot aan de ingang komen. Groeten, Matthias

The grounds look down to the East and towards Chiang Mai so the direction that the sun rises. The sun sets behind Doi suthep mountain, which is behind the temple grounds. Both times of day are gorgeous, depending if you want pictures of the view down to Chiang Mai, or of the temple buildings themselves

I responded already but I thought I should mention that rabies is a terminal disease and dogs with rabies die within a few days. The disease causes mental deterioration and dogs with rabies are beyond any "pack" behavior, often completely unaware of their surroundings. Some dogs are usually found at all of the temples, as are temple cats and temple chickens. I suspect whomever wrote the post about "mad dogs" was phobic about dogs, unaware of the nature of rabies, or both. IT's a great place to visit, close to Wat Doi Suthep which is great for sunrise, and has a waterfall on the grounds and is near another.