Day 4 - Friday 21 November 2014, Khao Kho

Stop start.....As I am awake at 7pm again I am hopeful of an earlier start as I don't have to worry about packing. Neither do I have anything for breakfast, although I manage to get a coffee. However, as I continue to work on my blog time is ticking on. Although I'm on the road by 10am, almost immediately I stop for something to call breakfast. I have selected five or six locations for today's excursion. Apart from one they are all outside the general area of Khao Kho.
Khao Kho Wildlife Sanctuary.....The first stop is a rollover from yesterday. On the way back from Si Dit Waterfall I turned onto a road signposted Suan Sat (wildlife sanctuary/zoo).
Unfortunately I was too late to get admission then as the sanctuary closed at 4pm. I head back there now. As I reach the car park I'm surprised to see a number of songtheaws (passenger pick-ups) parked up in line. The zoo has visitors. As I enter and begin my trek around, those visitors reveal themselves doing much the same as me. Neatly dressed in blue uniform, a few dozen schoolchildren have come on a trip. I identify them as coming from Lom Sak. The zoo turns out to be a small affair with animals and birds mostly native to Southeast Asia, India and China. Pheasants, peacocks, jungle fowl and some exotic birds are represented. There are enclosures for deer and other hoofed animals, for Asiatic bears, small cats and macaques. The collection is limited but despite this I've decided to record what is here photographically and that has taken time. I should be able to use this material later. I'm sad to learn that animals are sometimes brought to the centre having been rescued by the police. By midday, I'm finished and to that extent my tour in the general area of Khao Kho is at an end. I return along the loop then head north.
Route 12.....The intention is to take in the remaining sites south of Route 12 which is the highway that connects Lom Sak in the north of Phetchabun province to Phitsanulok to the west. This highway runs straight through Thung Salaeng Luang National Park. With most of this park situated in the adjoining province I figure that after today it need not concern me. I stop for lunch at Ban Camp Son just before the junction with the 12. Apparently Friday is night market day and the area is busy. After lunch, I turn left onto the 12. I'm looking for Route 12. Confused? Well Route 12 is the name of a tourist attraction in itself. It's a collection of quirky souvenir shops, coffee shops and boutiques. Hardly 'Natural Thailand' is it? However, it is popular with tourists and if you just want to hang around here to relax, you can certainly do that. I then manage to waist more time to establish there is nothing left to explore in this direction and actually manage to cross the border into Phitsanulok at one stage. I turn my steed around and head back east past Route 12.
Wat Pha Sorn Kaew.....It's now 2.45pm. I seem to have lost at least an hour somewhere and the feeling grows that the day has been compromised. I'm sure I was on a roll, but it now seems the roller needs oiling! I head for an important Buddhist monastry, Wat Pha Sorn Kaew, just a few kilometres north of the route 12.
Its highly decorated chedi is visible for miles and I just feel this may be my last stop of this day. Arriving at the temple, I see its design is tiered to several levels within the spired chedi. Apart from that it's unlike anything I've ever seen in Thailand. Five images of the Buddha have been constructed nearby, and a further structure looks more like a Bavarian castle. It's clearly Buddhist but apart from that I'm at a loss as to where the designer got his inspiration. This is one of those times I have to pause, and it's not in awe of what I am seeing. Modesty is not what this monastery is about. It's a statement of grandeur and an echo of the past when such structures were created as a statement of wealth and power and its grip on the populace who financed it. As I look around I see the powers still exist; victory of the spiritual over the practical. I guess to some, an easy passage into the next life is more important than schools, hospital, transport infrastructure and the like: So wealth and poverty are set to remain together, as they have done throughout history.
There is an obvious need here to feature this temple in due course too. It needs a more detailed description. Due to the design on top of a small hill it is approached by long staircases. For the second time today I've arrived at an energy sapping site: It's time to retire.
Unnatural.....At 4pm there's barely time to do anything else. I had in mind a couple of sites on the way back. Another waterfall is just too far away now and besides I am told that access is difficult and requires a stiff walk. B.N. Farm specializes in more temperate crops not normally found in Thailand. That too has to go. It seems a pity, but I guess the pace of this tour has to slow at some point. At least on the way back to Khao Kho there is a 7-Eleven, a sure sign of modern living. It's time to stock up with supplies both for dinner and breakfast tomorrow. I've already consumed two rice meals today so I won't be ordering more food. As I write my notes I'm aware that the afternoon added nothing to the main theme of this tour so in that respect it's disappointing. It also raises the question; was I right to remain in Khao Kao for a third night? Tonight is the start of the weekend when Thais will flock to the area. I presume that a family has arrived and occupied the apartment above me but on the other hand from the sounds it could be a mahout and his elephant! That would be wonderfully natural.
Next Page.

Further pause for thought.
Having written my blog in the 'raw', as it were, it is seldom that I change it in retrospect. However, as I work on my site reviews more than a month later this site seems to haunt me and again cause me to pause for thought occupying much more time in review than at other sites. In fact this is the last temple on my review list of 24 and there seems to be a reason for the delay. The fact is I still can't get my head around it as the site is the most difficult I've had to review. For me to visit 24 temples on a tour that was to concentrate on the natural, is an event in itself yet except for Wat Phra That Pha Kaew I have managed to categorize each temple in turn according to a few simple features. These are history as at Wat Phrathat Sri Song Rak, culture as at Wat Phon Chai, architecture as at Wat Neramit Wipattasana and artistry as in Wat Phumin. The common denominator is that they are all Buddhist but the reason for their existence distinguishes one from another.
When I review a site I naturally look for these features and often site boards and brochures are most revealing. Failing that, the internet is a most useful source of information. In particular, I am most grateful to the Thailand Tourism website for material. Looking for features at Wat Phra That Pha Kaew that I could identify with, only a modern form of architecture and artistry is visible. Reading the tourism website it said this about its purpose:
'This temple exists with an intention to be a place for the Foundation of Mindfulness practice, which is a core Buddhist principle. This teaching is the great path to purity of body and mind, extinguishment of sorrow the Noble Eightfold path and Nirvana achievement in accordance with Buddhist doctrine.'
It soon became obvious that I couldn't summarize it, so I copied it 'en masse' for others to decide. The truth is it means absolutely nothing to me except that it is a doctrine that somebody believes in. The mystery to me in this modern world is why such huge resources were committed to it when there are so many more obvious causes to address.
Unlike in my reviews, here in my blog I am released to offer my opinion. Ed.