Day 10, Thursday 21 February
New Province…….. Arriving in Phatthalung is a major achievement and allows me to add a new province to the list of ones we've stayed in but it's come at a price. The coughs we've been suffering are hard to shift and are limiting our rate of progress. Aches and pains still prevail with me but there's no need to panic just yet. Relying on brought in food and coffee for breakfast we stay in the room until 11am. When we do make a move it's only to change accommodation. Katoon is playing her game of musical chairs, well rooms again.
Lampam Resort …….. After checking a few options in the town, we head east out of Phatthalung the short distance to the edge of Songkhla Lake to Lampam Resort, a group of cabins and chalets in a picturesque location beside a canal that feeds the lake. We decide to take a lower priced cabin which is spacious and practical. The rooms have recently been painted, just a pity about the colour and the fridge can only be described as ancient. However, a cabin is a cabin not a hotel so comparing apples with pears is pointless.
Settling in we remain in situ, both to recuperate and to avoid the fierce sun onside today and that could be it for today but at 2.30am after a rest we agree to make a preliminary recce of the surrounding area.
Phatthalung Museum and Palace…….. A couple of minutes from the resort is Phatthalung Museum and Palace. Here, the two traditional buildings were registered by the Fine Arts Department in 1983 and were the former homes of the governor of Phattalung and his family in the latter 19th century. There are some outstanding examples of local museums, promoting their heritage. Sadly here, there is nothing apart from the fabric of two historic buildings leaving a lot to the imagination as they've neglected to provided anything in English. Until they do so, I would suggest you don't pay the 50 baht entry fee (Thais 10 baht). You can view the buildings from the road.
It's still quite hot but Katoon wishes to continue with the historic theme and gives me a location some 20 minutes away back through the town of Phatthalung.
Muang Kao Chai Buri Forest Park…….. Arriving at Muang Kao Chai Buri Forest Park, I see nothing historic about it. The park is situated within a group of limestone crags and at the visitor centre there is welcome shade with a comforting breeze blowing. At the centre, Katoon starts making enquiries. On the other hand, I help myself to a coffee for free and introduce myself to park staff. As with many forest parks, they are free to enter.
Sal Lak Muang (city pillar shrine)…….. Located on the edge of the forest park, I'm rather surprised to see a pillar shrine here in the middle of nowhere, but I begin to understand that there is history all around me. Relying on Katoon to do some translating, I discover that there was a substantial community here back in the late Ayutthaya period some 250 years ago. That community collapsed after the 2nd sack of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in 1767. The pillar shrine was clearly built in commemoration of the former town of Chai Buri.
Wat Khao Muang Kao…….. Just a couple of kilometres further on is presumable what Katoon had in mind in terms of an historic site and voila she’s hit the jackpot. For anyone who has visited Ayutthaya, I would totally accept that from an architectural viewpoint this is all you need to see but I’ve become an amateur historian and finding a fortified position around one thousand kilometres south of the seat of power is an amazing discovery. Wat Khao Muang Kao was likely abandoned after the 2nd Burmese invasion bringing the Ayutthaya Kingdom to an end.
The ruin is situated on a low hill, a strategic position with good views of the countryside all around. Some renovation work has taken place here restoring the ramparts. There are 3 levels and at the top is a bell-shaped chedi build in Ayutthaya style. At the base is evidence of what remains today was a much larger structure.
Having accepted that this was an important site towards the end of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, I'm not comfortable with those ramparts which perform a function not often found during the Ayutthaya period. Desperately trying to find out more, I note that someone posted a note reporting that it was the French who built a fort here in the early 17th century. Well that explains the ramparts but asks a whole new set of new question which I can't answer.
Just across the road is the modern Wat Khao and a little further on is Wat Chaeng. It's time to head back but not before Katoon locates a Buddhist shrine in the forest known as Sala Tanyor which seems to have some historic significance too. Nearby is a well and channels for water distribution.
At this point we've achieved much more than I was expecting. Nevertheless, there is still quite a bit of daylight still left. Dare we go for one more site visit?
Phatthalung Grand Canyon…….. By now I'm used to Thais calling every hole in the ground a Grand Canyon. The one here however, is not unattractive with the scars of past excavation and consequential flooding of the site. It's a pleasant enough site to just chill out but is presently deserted despite it being within easy reach of the city. Now it's really time to head back to the city to finish up with another favorite location of mine.
Phatthalung Railway Station…….. Phatthalung Railway Station is a 1st Class railway on the State Railway of Thailand Southern Line. There are 18 services a day passing through this station so there is a reasonable chance I might see one. However, it seems I have just missed two of them: Well maybe not. Trains in Thailand are regularly late. When I notice a chalkboard near the station master's office giving latest updates, I realise both are late. I'm prepared to wait half an hour for the services to pass through. Meanwhile, Katoon is helping herself to street food to take back to the room but I've already told her I'm not in the mood for it. Getting back to the cabin with a cold beer is all I ask. Oh, and some respite from these annoying coughs which is making planning difficult is what I crave most.
Next Page.
New Province…….. Arriving in Phatthalung is a major achievement and allows me to add a new province to the list of ones we've stayed in but it's come at a price. The coughs we've been suffering are hard to shift and are limiting our rate of progress. Aches and pains still prevail with me but there's no need to panic just yet. Relying on brought in food and coffee for breakfast we stay in the room until 11am. When we do make a move it's only to change accommodation. Katoon is playing her game of musical chairs, well rooms again.
Lampam Resort …….. After checking a few options in the town, we head east out of Phatthalung the short distance to the edge of Songkhla Lake to Lampam Resort, a group of cabins and chalets in a picturesque location beside a canal that feeds the lake. We decide to take a lower priced cabin which is spacious and practical. The rooms have recently been painted, just a pity about the colour and the fridge can only be described as ancient. However, a cabin is a cabin not a hotel so comparing apples with pears is pointless.
Settling in we remain in situ, both to recuperate and to avoid the fierce sun onside today and that could be it for today but at 2.30am after a rest we agree to make a preliminary recce of the surrounding area.
Phatthalung Museum and Palace…….. A couple of minutes from the resort is Phatthalung Museum and Palace. Here, the two traditional buildings were registered by the Fine Arts Department in 1983 and were the former homes of the governor of Phattalung and his family in the latter 19th century. There are some outstanding examples of local museums, promoting their heritage. Sadly here, there is nothing apart from the fabric of two historic buildings leaving a lot to the imagination as they've neglected to provided anything in English. Until they do so, I would suggest you don't pay the 50 baht entry fee (Thais 10 baht). You can view the buildings from the road.
It's still quite hot but Katoon wishes to continue with the historic theme and gives me a location some 20 minutes away back through the town of Phatthalung.
Muang Kao Chai Buri Forest Park…….. Arriving at Muang Kao Chai Buri Forest Park, I see nothing historic about it. The park is situated within a group of limestone crags and at the visitor centre there is welcome shade with a comforting breeze blowing. At the centre, Katoon starts making enquiries. On the other hand, I help myself to a coffee for free and introduce myself to park staff. As with many forest parks, they are free to enter.
Sal Lak Muang (city pillar shrine)…….. Located on the edge of the forest park, I'm rather surprised to see a pillar shrine here in the middle of nowhere, but I begin to understand that there is history all around me. Relying on Katoon to do some translating, I discover that there was a substantial community here back in the late Ayutthaya period some 250 years ago. That community collapsed after the 2nd sack of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in 1767. The pillar shrine was clearly built in commemoration of the former town of Chai Buri.
Wat Khao Muang Kao…….. Just a couple of kilometres further on is presumable what Katoon had in mind in terms of an historic site and voila she’s hit the jackpot. For anyone who has visited Ayutthaya, I would totally accept that from an architectural viewpoint this is all you need to see but I’ve become an amateur historian and finding a fortified position around one thousand kilometres south of the seat of power is an amazing discovery. Wat Khao Muang Kao was likely abandoned after the 2nd Burmese invasion bringing the Ayutthaya Kingdom to an end.
The ruin is situated on a low hill, a strategic position with good views of the countryside all around. Some renovation work has taken place here restoring the ramparts. There are 3 levels and at the top is a bell-shaped chedi build in Ayutthaya style. At the base is evidence of what remains today was a much larger structure.
Having accepted that this was an important site towards the end of the Ayutthaya Kingdom, I'm not comfortable with those ramparts which perform a function not often found during the Ayutthaya period. Desperately trying to find out more, I note that someone posted a note reporting that it was the French who built a fort here in the early 17th century. Well that explains the ramparts but asks a whole new set of new question which I can't answer.
Just across the road is the modern Wat Khao and a little further on is Wat Chaeng. It's time to head back but not before Katoon locates a Buddhist shrine in the forest known as Sala Tanyor which seems to have some historic significance too. Nearby is a well and channels for water distribution.
At this point we've achieved much more than I was expecting. Nevertheless, there is still quite a bit of daylight still left. Dare we go for one more site visit?
Phatthalung Grand Canyon…….. By now I'm used to Thais calling every hole in the ground a Grand Canyon. The one here however, is not unattractive with the scars of past excavation and consequential flooding of the site. It's a pleasant enough site to just chill out but is presently deserted despite it being within easy reach of the city. Now it's really time to head back to the city to finish up with another favorite location of mine.
Phatthalung Railway Station…….. Phatthalung Railway Station is a 1st Class railway on the State Railway of Thailand Southern Line. There are 18 services a day passing through this station so there is a reasonable chance I might see one. However, it seems I have just missed two of them: Well maybe not. Trains in Thailand are regularly late. When I notice a chalkboard near the station master's office giving latest updates, I realise both are late. I'm prepared to wait half an hour for the services to pass through. Meanwhile, Katoon is helping herself to street food to take back to the room but I've already told her I'm not in the mood for it. Getting back to the cabin with a cold beer is all I ask. Oh, and some respite from these annoying coughs which is making planning difficult is what I crave most.
Next Page.
