Day 1, Friday 5 April, Mai Khret, Prachin Buri

Happy Birthday....... Today was penciled in as a blank day but staying at the residence all day is not the best idea on my birthday and I've been looking around for ideas. An evening meal seems all that's necessary. Tomorrow for the weekend we have already booked to be in Pak Chong overnight returning Sunday. Finally, I decide to move closer to Pak Chong but staying overnight in another province to mark my 74th Birthday. We will be in Prachin Buri tonight.
First of all I have to admit I never thought I would still be touring but having visited all of Thailand's provinces now I'm all for winding things down and slowing the pace. With that in mind there are simple objectives set for today. Principally I've brought forward my plan to move away from the stresses of Bangkok and there are areas close to Khao Yai that I haven't considered yet. Secondly if the schedules work I'd like to see more trains and the best option for that is in Prachin Buri later in the day.
Searches Resume....... As we set out, nothing else is on the menu, and we spend most of the morning on a leisure drive east of Bangkok. The first stop of the day is not on the menu, but they have a different menu to me. In the many klongs there are ducks and a duck makes a good noodle soup.
After lunch, we head north to within view of Khao Yai National Park and land sale boards start to appear. Katoon now gets to work with two quite interesting leads. We are definitely getting a feel for the price of land here and it's not out of reach. Given that we have another two days of searching I think it's not wise to commit right now. However, we have had some interesting chats with vendors and that has made a big hole in the afternoon.
We now head to our pre-booked accommodation which is my choice today for obvious reasons. I hope I haven't fouled up. We follow the route via GPS and out of nothing an attraction appears.
King Taksin Shrine....... The shrine to King Taksin the Great, located in Nong Saeng, Pak Phli District seems to be a recently constructed and must be the most lavish shrine to the king I've seen. All the the main features you would expect are here. The building itself is in the form of the hat that he wore and replicas of military hardware and wonderful bronze statues of him on campaign are found in a splendid display.
King Taksin rose as a clever military leader at a time of conflict with the Burmese army which sacked Ayutthaya in 1767, an infamous day in Thai history. At that time Taksin lead an organised retreat leaving the Burmese triumphant. Out of harms way he built a new army and a navy to man an armada of ships that would sail up the Chao Phraya River and defeat the Burmese in a surprise attack. He would go on to be crowned King although his kingship was no match for his military skills. Thai people know that without his actions life would be very different today. The location of the shrine is along the route he used in the retreat from Ayutthaya.
Diva Garden Resort....... We arrive at Diva Garden Resort and it's well away from the city, but we need to pass it anyway if we need to be in Prachin Buri. We dump off some belongings at the resort where I know there may be restrictions but those will have to be addressed later. We head into the city where my second objective beckons. With a bit of forward planning I manage to capture two services at Prachin Buri Railway Station, one each way and that completes the day's traveling with one exception. Katoon manages to find a steak restaurant on the bank of the Bang Pakong River. I think that is the best I can do in the way of celebrations today.
Back at the resort I note that the shelf I thought I would use for my laptop is loose on the wall. I won't trust it. There is no effective plan B and that causes problems writing my blog. However, something like this was factored in as there is no need for a lot of work sitting at my laptop this evening.
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