The remarkable thing about this tour was the lack of research and general preparation going into it. I always maintained that I preferred to make my decisions as I went along with only a rough idea of where I was heading. In truth though a framework was in place based on tours that I had planned in the past that I never got round to completing. Nan Province was one of those tours. So was the rail journey from Keang Khoi along the Pasak River basin that set the whole tour alight and created huge momentum that continued throughout the tour. Both of these led to the idea that the tour should be primarily about Thailand's natural beauty and to the decision to hire a car as a consequence. As it proved, there was no other way to achieve the tour objective and give it the justice it deserved.
With 16 days (15 nights) allocated to the tour, these hitherto cancelled tours were not going to be the only venues on this tour and I quickly added Phetchabun Province to the list. Based on just a few reports I realised that this province had its own abundant natural resources that could only enhance the tour objectives. Beyond this broad outline I had planned nothing. As I set off with the rail tour as my initial objective, it was clear that Phetchabun would provide the initial destination. Adding Sri Thep Historical Park to my list on the way was a real bonus and added to the tour objectives. On day 2 of the tour, knowing I would be staying in the province for a while it was important that I collected information and used the morning wisely by visited the museum and cultural centre. I then headed off to Khao Kho where I knew the natural beauty of the province would be exposed. However, I was unprepared for the wealth of opportunity the area provided. Natural features there were in abundance as well as cultural and historic sites that really I could not ignore. Even at this early stage I had to revise my projected length of stay in Phetchabun Province. The four days I predicted eventually became six as I moved northwards near the parks using Lom Kho as a base. The ascent to Phu Thap Boek was particularly inspiring.
Leaving Phetchabun Province I made a brief visit to Dan Sai in Loei Province before taking a rest stop across the border in the province of Phitsanulok. I then moved further north through Uttaradit's borderlands before entering Nan Province. Here the true nature of these forest lands took real hold on the tour as I completely underestimated the sheer size and majesty of the highlands. In Nan, I deviated from the tour theme somewhat and spent more than a day on visiting temples alone. This was not really for religious purposes but provided me with a wealth of cultural and historical information which I felt could not be separated from the natural. This obviously extended my estimated stay in the province and it was looking likely that I would not be leaving the province for several more days. When I started travelling in the parks this became even more obvious. So vast were the parks and so challenging was the driving that I concluded that one park per day was all I could manage. When I glanced at my general map I identified four national parks as well as some forest parks. I had already crossed one of the parks on the way to Nan; the other three should have been possible. However some parks were not on my map and I eventually located seven. This now became an impossible task. In the end I managed three parks, only one of them on my original list. Two huge parks remained totally unexplored but if I thought I wanted to see 'Natural Thailand', I sure found it anyway. After more than six days in the province, substantially unexplored it remained. With all the driving in an area of outstanding beauty one thing I didn't achieve, which would have put icing on the cake, was to actually stay overnight in one of the parks in a tent or cabin. I wondered if I hadn't taken the tour theme too seriously.
Towards the end of the tour having resigned to designating the tour essentially a two province tour I took a slow route back to Bangkok via Phrae and Phitsanulok, both deserving of a tour in their own right. It all reinforced the fact that there remains so much more to discover about Thailand that's held a grip over me for so long.
Now for some facts and figures: The distance travelled was 3,140 kilometres (196 kilometres/day) at a cost of 6,180 baht (386 baht/day). There were eleven resorts, hotels, motels or guesthouses used at a cost of 6,530 (408 baht/night). The rate I use generally is 51 baht/UK pound or 32 baht/US dollar. The average expenditure/day was 1,394 baht. Exactly 600 baht/day was used for food, souvenirs or entrance fees/donations. The overall expenditure compares with a budget of 2,000 baht on many previous tours. With the car hire working out at just under 1,000 baht/per day, it's clear that the savings made on the tour went a long way towards offsetting the car hire, a most interesting result. It's also worth noting that souvenirs are not normally included in the budget.
Finally, despite all my careful analysis and record keeping, there is one thing that I simply cannot put a value on: It's what didn't happen on this tour that seemed to burden me on previous tours. There were no health issues, not even stomach upsets and there were no equipment failures or accidents with the car. Oh! yes. There was one. In the forest a large bird flew out of the tall grass and smacked into the driver's door. The pheasant came off second best but seriously when I consider what could have happened and has happened before this is a fact that cannot be ignored. If I have any concerns about this tour at all it's over the sheer volume of material I've collected and how to make use of it. If there is to be a sequel to this tour, it will happen around two months from now. When I'm back in the UK I probably won't have enough spare time to complete my site reviews and publish my photographs. We'll just have to wait and see.
First Page.