Day 12 - Saturday 29 November 2014, Tha Wang Pha

A restless night.....The plan for today is to head for the Thai/Lao border market at Chaloem Phra Kiat on Nan Province's northern border then return to Pua. As this market winds down at midday it's important I get an early start as this location is 90 minutes away. I'd like to be there by 10am but overnight there is a problem. When I arrived at Rimdoi I was full of praise for this resort as it fitted in well with the theme of this tour. Yes, there were a couple of minor issues. The shower heater was really not up to the job, delivering water that was barely lukewarm. Then the bathroom seemed to be a magnet for an army of ants. A couple of counter-attacks seemed to hold them in check but whether they retreated to regroup for another charge I won't find out as I'm shortly to abandon my position and it's not because of ants or hot water. Something far more unnatural kept me awake well into the night. Loud music and the banging of drums don't normally come from the forest. I'll never know the source; whether it was a party, a celebration or simply a Friday night karaoke. It doesn't matter now as I pack my things. I'm still able to get an early start, but it doesn't bode well for the rest of the day. However, I'm on the road well before 9 am.
Chaloem Phra Kiat border market.....As I head north on the 101, almost immediately I pick up signs to some of the tourist attractions the area has to offer, but they all have to be bypassed at present, so I can concentrate on reaching the border. At least on this route the road is quite good while it broadly follows the valley floor; it's not until the last 20 kilometres or so that the road heads into the mountains close to the border with Laos. Progress slows as a number of heavy vehicles are also using this route through the forest heading for the border. By the time I reach the market it's well past 10 am. My initial thoughts were that I could do some shopping for something to take back home. I could stay here till midday. However, I soon realise it's not that type of market. The shoppers who make it here are from Laos, eager to pick up household necessities they find hard to obtain across the border. Thai traders do good business at this market bringing in food and household wares and equipment from all over Thailand e.g. fresh prawns and squid are available despite a distance from the ocean of some 800 kilometres. I'm reminded that everything that's sold here is available in Bangkok at a fraction of the price. Clearly I don't need to put my hands in my pockets then. At 11 am I'm on my way back, slightly disappointed, but there is really nothing here to warrant a longer stay.
Military museum and memorial..... As I continue my journey back alone the 101 my thoughts turn to those sites I identified on the way up. Curiously though, the signboards seem to have disappeared. Well not exactly, but they're facing the wrong way. Someone in their wisdom has thought it's unnecessary to inform those travelling south. If the market closes at midday surely days tripper will head there first. If they're not expecting any day trippers then why put the boards up in the first place? The result is comical as I have to drive slowly keeping my eyes on the wing mirror. Several times I have to turn the car around. Back in the town of Tung Chang I stop for lunch, a simple dish of sweet and sour prawns. The prawns though are hardly fresh as you would expect, I suppose. A number of sites are located near the town. My attention is drawn towards a war memorial and even after I stop I cannot figure out what it's for. Fortunately, there is a small museum nearby; a small display hall. However, it does contain some automatic weapons, small arms, ammunition and accoutrements. There is nothing in English for me to digest, accept a display of photographs and murals relating to war. I'm interested enough to call for an interpretation when the curator arrives. The murals puzzle me at it shows what I had assumed were Vietnamese soldiers against a background of Thai national flags. I'm told that this relates to the acceptance of surrender, but I still cannot work out why the soldiers were still carrying arms. Perhaps this was just for the Thai media. What I did manage to find out was that the soldiers were Thai who copied the Vietnamese uniforms in the name of communism. I have to go back to the information I uncovered in Phetchabun Province. These were the students who took up arms against their own government in 1973. Although this was a smaller affair it clearly required a stiff response. It seems that local Thai police and militia put down the uprising here and the memorial is dedicated to them.
Downbeat.....As I identify other sites more clearly, some are just too far away for me to visit them in the remaining time available today. Besides the restless night has started to catch up with me. I manage just a couple more temples, one in particular, Wat Tung Peung, houses a 700-year-old image of the Buddha. This means it dates back to the founding of the city state of Nan, then part of the Sukhothai Kingdom. A new pagoda is being constructed here presumably to house this precious relic. It's still not late but to be honest the day has not progressed with the same degree of keen anticipation as it did earlier in the tour. This may well be because there simply isn't that much time now left on this tour and the fact that I'm heading back with all the principal objectives achieved. I head back towards Pua but with nothing more I can achieve there, I use up a bit more time and head further south to the next town of Tha Wang Pha.
Coconut Resort, Tha Wang Pha.....Like Pua, Tha Wang Pha is not really a tourist base, but a town of its size always has accommodation available. I spend longer finding suitable accommodation though, as the prices I've been quoted are at the higher end of what I have been paying recently. In the end I succumb because it really is tedious sometimes living out of a car boot and finding accommodation for the night. There's no arguing about the quality of the chalets, but the resort is really too far away from the town and there's nowhere to take dinner nearby. It means I will be returning off a busy road in the dark. In the town I compensate for up market accommodation with down market dining. It's not intentional, but I don't think I could handle another large meal. As expected I struggle to find the turning back to the resort as buses and trucks thunder along the highway. My tone in the evening is quite subdued. Today I registered 2,000 kilometres on this tour. There's still a lot of driving to do in the next four days. This is almost certainly the last night in Nan Province.
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