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TOUR BLOG
DAY 1 - BANGKOK/PHETCHABUN, 18 November 2014 DAY 2 - PHETCHABUN/KHAO KHO, 19 November 2014 DAY 3 - KHAO KHO, 20 November 2014 DAY 4 - KHAO KHO, 21 November 2014 DAY 5 - KHAO KHO/LOM KAO, 22 November 2014 DAY 6 - LOM KAO, 23 November 2014 DAY 7 - LOM KAO/CHAT PRAKAN, 24 November 2014 DAY 8 - CHAT PRAKAN/NAN, 25 November 2014 DAY 9 - NAN, 26 November DAY 10 - NAN/PUA, 27 November DAY 11 - PUA, 28 November DAY 12 - PUA/THA WANG PHA, 29 November DAY 13 - THA WANG PHA/NAN, 30 November DAY 14 - NAN/PHRAE, 1 December 2014 DAY 15 - PHRAE/PHITSANULOK, 2 December 2014 DAY 16 - PHITSANULOK/BANGKOK, 3 December 2014 DAY 16 - CONCLUSIONDay 15 - Tuesday 2 December 2014, Pitsanulok
Breakfast included.....Arriving in Phrae yesterday hardly brings me that much closer to Bangkok, but it is feasible to make it in one day. However, two days is more than enough. My arrival at Paradorn Hotel has ensured that my routine will be different today as breakfast is included. I'm packed and ready to go before I go down to the dining area. Quite what I was expecting I don't know but while I see self-service coffee available the only indication that there is food as well is a large bowl containing kow tom (rice soup). However, there is an alternative; I can order toast and jam. OK I did't really expect an American breakfast with all the trimmings, but they are happy to do me two fried eggs for a small fee. Im happy with that.
Free Thai Movement.....With no urgency to get underway, I take an interest in a museum seemingly in the hotel grounds: A strange place to have one or so I thought yesterday when I arrived. The museum is dedicated to the Free Thai Movement. Again I'm at a loss as to what it's about. Let's find out! Before I even enter the museum it becomes obvious it relates to WW2. Only ever aware of the Japanese landings and the 'Death Railway in Thailand, this is news to me in an area nowhere near to Kanchanaburi where the railway was constructed. Inside the building on the first floor in several rooms there are exhibits, reconstructions and biographical and historical information. There is enough English narrative to enable me to get a detailed picture of what the museum is dedicated to. It's another chance for me to review a site in due course but basically The Free Thai Movement was a resistance movement in Thailand that operated covertly in cooperation with US intelligence. It's clear that they also received help in training the small force of operatives. Much of the narrative concentrates on the personalities who drove the resistance forward at a time when officially, Thailand was at war with the Allies. A tangled web of politics is revealed which continued after the war but which apparently led to Thailand remaining free from international intervention. What an amazing start to the day and I haven't yet left the hotel. And it's about to get even better. Just as I'm about to leave having taken my last batch of photos, a smartly dressed Thai man approaches me from the hotel where I had seen him entertaining a couple of foreign visitors. As he introduces himself I'm rather taken aback. He points to the memorial at the front of the museum where there is a life-size bronze of three individuals. It's too much for me at this stage to connect names with the resistance movement, but I already have a good idea of their roles. When I'm told that I'm speaking with the son of one of key leaders I'm almost speechless. Then soon we develop an interesting conversation and I learn that this is the only site in Thailand dedicated to the Movement. I inform him that I am very impressed with the work done here and will do my best to promote the site later.
It's then that I realise why the museum is in the hotel grounds. This proud yet humble man is also the hotel owner. How does one top that on a day when touring has effectively ended?
Old City.....As I depart, Katoon is keen to start the driving. It seems to be for personal reasons as the area is familiar to her. It soon becomes clear that the tour certainly hasn't ended. She's obtained a city map and heads for the old city where there are the remains of the old city wall and moat. It's well worth a stop with the option to walk along to old ramparts while the area is tastefully restored. It's just more piece of information for my archive. I manage to get my bearings from the city map and suggest we head for a temple near the river named Wat Chay Ta Wan. I'm interested in a photo opportunity to record my arrival at the banks of the River Yom, one of four major rivers that will eventually combine to form the Chao Phraya. The temple itself is from the 19th century but not that interesting, although the abbot has gone the extra mile to record in English the history of the area which was originally virgin forest.
More temples.....I've already visited three sites and Katoon is about to add more. Driving out of the city she heads for Wat Phrathat Cho Hae. This important religious site rivals the iconic Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai and is the most sacred in Phrae Province. It was built in the 14th century during the reign of King Lithai and is reputed to house Lord Buddha's hair relics. While this temple was never on my tour list, I'm being quite tolerant at the moment and I manage to collect some items that I can use as Christmas presents later this month. Just a few kilometres away, is another temple, nowhere near as grand, but this one is also sacred on account of its age. Wat Prathat Chom Chaeng is known to have been in existence during King Lithai's reign as the records show it was restored at this time. It has some rather remarkable features which I will deal with later. Time is ticking on, and it's time for lunch, now after 1.30 pm. I'm assuming that this really is the tour's end as there's been no sign of making inroads into the still considerable journey back to Bangkok. Suitably refreshed Katoon heads back to the highway and I pick up the signs to the route south. However instead of turning left she turns right. I ask her what's going on, and she explains there is one more place I should visit. I just can't see there's any more time left, but she seems insistent. I assume it's another temple, but it's not. It's a forest park clearly of national significance. She ushers me to look around, but I explain again there's no time. Simply reading the sign boards brings me to the conclusion that this site has to take at least another hour otherwise there's no point in me recording it. My impression is that it's an important geological site. On any ordinary day I would be glad to stop here at Phae Muang Phi Forest Park but given that Phrae was never on my list for a visit, even what I've managed today doesn't fit well in this tour. At 2.30 pm with no attempt so far to head for Bangkok my frustration spills over. Not surprisingly I get the car keys back and head for the main highway.
On the wrong track.....One of the possible stops on the return journey was either Den Chai or Uttaradit where there is a railway line. I figured that I might be able to take a railway journey through the mountains, but that idea has long gone. As I head south out of Phrae Province the road converts to dual carriageway and will be so now all the way to Bangkok. In Den Chai I pull off the main highway. Katoon assumes I'm heading for the railway station but in truth I'm confused with the signs and cannot pick one up to Uttaradit in the next province. By sheer luck I find my way to the railway station anyway, but I know at this time of the day little traffic is expected and so it proves. The station is practically deserted even though this is on the main Bangkok to Chiang Mai line. I make my way back to the highway where I finally pick up route 11 heading south through Uttaradit Province. With open road and little traffic, I finally get an honest spell of driving in and cover 200 kilometres effortlessly. After bypassing Uttaradit it's on to the next province, Phitsanulok. Even so it's well after 5 pm before I reach the outskirts of the city. Phitsanulok is slightly further from Bangkok that Phetchabun, but I can easily reach Bangkok in five hours from here. Perhaps that was what Katoon was thinking, but I didn't want to leave all the driving to the last day.
BP Tower.....As I turn off the highway heading into the city, the road is busy, but I easily pick up a sign on my left advertising accommodation. I see it's another apartment block but on quite a grand scale compared with the one I used in Phetchabun; same price though. It's spacious with all the normal facilities except a restaurant. I don't wait to settle in but head out onto the main road where there are dining options. One restaurant on the opposite side of the road looks a grand affair, one of the largest restaurants you will see. It's called Phak Bung Hurn Fah. This refers to a vegetable dish normally taken as a side, but it's become a gimmick to fry this vegetable over a fierce heat; add a splash of water, and you get a spectacular fireball. It's not unique but maybe here they do have something different as the chef attempts to toss the contents of his wok some 20 feet to his colleague on a platform above. The attempt to catch it on a plate fails twice, much to the amusement of the guests. They don't try it a third time. Naturally I'm in for another interesting meal to make up for the rest of the day. As it's my last night on tour I can afford to experiment and to good effect.
Next Page.
Phrae Province
Paradon Hotel, Phrae
Free Thai Movement Museum
Bronze of Founding Members,
Free Thai Movement Museum
Exhibit - Free Thai Movement Museum
Exhibit (the surrender),
Free Thai Movement Museum
Phrae City Moat
Water Lily, Phrae City Moat
Phrae City Wall Path
Wat Chay Ta Wan
River Yom in Phrae
Buddha Image - Wat Phrathat Cho Hae
Inside Wat Phrathat Cho Hae
Ceiling - Wat Phrathat Cho Hae
Merit making Area - Wat Phrathat Cho Hae
Temple Gate - Wat Phrathat Cho Hae
Staircase - Wat Phrathat Cho Hae
Temple Gate - Wat Prathat Chom Chaeng
Wat Prathat Chom Chaeng
Viharn at Wat Prathat Chom Chaeng
Mural Painting,
Wat Prathat Chom Chaeng, Phrae
Buddha Image - Wat Prathat Chom Chaeng
Exhibit - Wat Prathat Chom Chaeng, Phrae
Recent Chedi - Wat Prathat Chom Chaeng
Statues of HELL - Wat Prathat Chom Chaeng
Ancient Chedi - Wat Prathat Chom Chaeng
Den Chai Railway Station