One of the goals that I had while living in Thailand was to visit as many
Cambodian (Khmer) prasats/castles as
possible. There are between
30 and 35 of them spread across northern Thailand (Isaan). So some of
the trips
that I took were to visit as many of them as possible.
You will notice that most of the descriptions of the trips disclose information
about travel times, locations, and
streets/highways. The purpose
is to help both others and me if going to these places. Otherwise, I
hope that
you find the information entertaining ...
December 26, 2011 -- Prasaat
(went from Surin to Prasaat for sightseeing)
At 10:30am, I caught a tuktuk from my friend Brendan's apartment in Surin.
The driver's name was Jaeng.
It was 800 baht for the roundtrip.
At 11:30am, Jaeng asked for directions. At 11:40am, Jaeng asked
for
directions again. At 12:00pm, we arrived at Prasat Ban Phlai.
Notes -- (1) Refer to associated photographs;
(2) It was in poor
condition, driving in on a dirt road; and (3) It had three towers -- one was
collapsed. At
12:15pm, we left Prasat Ban Phlai. At
12:40pm, Jaeng asked for directions. At 1:00pm, we arrived at Prasat
Ban Phuleung. Notes -- (1) Refer to associated photographs; (2)
It was in great condition; and (3) There was
a 50-baht entry fee.
At 1:20pm, we left Prasat Ban Phuleung. At 2:10pm, we arrived at the
Surin bus station.
(Note: Prasat Ban Prasat was not open for some
unknown reason.)
June 10, 2012 -- Pattaya (begin)
(went from Buriram to Pattaya for partying)
At 11:15am, left Buriram and arrived in Pattaya at 6:35. (Note: So, it
took 7 hours and 20 minutes.) If you
ever drive from Buriram to
Pattaya, as a reference, the bus took highways 218, 24, 304, 314, 7 (4:30),
315, 361,
and 3. We passed through the cities (among others)
Kabinburi (mountainous, Hwy. 304), Prachinburi, Sa
Kaeo, Phanom
Sarakham, Chachoengsao (Hwy. 314), Chonburi (Hwy. 315, 5:00), and Sri Racha
(6:05). The
sun set at about 6:20.
Note: All of the bars have at least one of the Thai beers on draft, unless
noted otherwise. My friend from
Leeds, England and I barhopped
along 'Walking Street' that night. We went to many bars.
June 11, 2012
That night, my friend and I barhopped along Buakhao Street and Soi Diana this
night.
June 12, 2012 -- Pattaya (end)
In the morning, I went shopping for t-shirts at a "day market".
(Note: It's amazing how different the same
sizes of shirts are -- a
large shirt from one manufacturer might be the same size as a double extra
large shirt
from another manufacturer.) At 8:55pm, I left Pattaya
and arrived in Buriram at 3:00am. Not bad -- 6 hours
(because of
the time)!
November 14, 2012 -- Kap Choeng
(went from Buriram to get non-immigrant 'B' visa renewed)
At 9:35am, left Buriram with Khun Nong from his restaurant, Boraan Dee.
We took Hwy. 219 and I gave
him 500 baht for petroleum. At
10:15am, we arrived in Pratkhonchai. We spent 10 minutes fixing the
loose
tailpipe. At 10:25am, we took Hwy. 24 east. At
11:00pm, we arrived in Praasaat. We took Hwy. 214 south
and went
another 27km to the immigration office. At 11:30am, we arrived in Kap
Choeng. At 11:40am, I
began the renewal process. At
11:45am, I was finished with the renewal process. (The process was so
quick
because I printed the necessary form from the Internet/WWW, filled
it out prior to going on the trip, and it
was ready for the
"happy" immigration officer.) At 11:47am, We took Hwy. 224.
At 12:34pm, we arrived at
Prasat Tammuan. At 12:50pm, we
arrived at Ban Kruat. At 1:20pm, we began eating lunch. At
1:32pm, we
finished eating lunch. At 2:56pm, we arrived at Wat
Palangihntahn (tones: mid-high-rising-low). (Khun
Nong went to
the temple whenever he was in the area. It is the temple where they
extracted dried volcanic
rock in order to build several (all?) of the
Cambodian/Khmer temples in the Esan/Isaan area of Thailand.)
At 3:15pm,
we arrived in Pratkhonchai. At 3:55pm, we arrived in Buriram.
January 27, 2013 -- Chiang Mai (begin)
(went from Buriram to Chiang Mai for sightseeing)
At 8:30pm, arrived at the bus station. At 8:35pm, it began raining --
very unusual for that time of year, and
it continued raining for about
3 hours. At 9:00pm, the bus left Buriram. Note: It was supposed
to leave at
8:43pm. At 4:30am, arrived in Pitsanalok, stopped for
food, and changed drivers (Nakhon Chai Air busline
changes drivers
approximately every 5 hours for trips over that much time.) At 4:50am,
left Pitsanalok and
while driving into mountains, the road was wet ...
but only while climbing. Strange! At 7:30am, watched the
sunrise. At 8:20am, passed through Doi Prabat. At 8:30am, passed
through Lampang. At 9:30am, passed
through Lampoon/Lamphun.
At 10:00am, arrived in Chiang Mai. After checking into the hotel,
my friend
(who lives in Chiang Mai part-time and in The United States
part-time) and I spent about one hour renewing
my non-immigrant 'B'
visa. It was worth it since we were close to the immigration center and
for me to do it
otherwise involved hours of driving time plus hundreds
of baht. (Do you remember the story about the trip
to Kap Choeng
above?) We ate dinner at the River Market Restaurant -- a very nice,
expensive; had sushi
and sashimi (very good).
January 28, 2013
(went to Doi Inthanon National Park)
At 8:10am, left the hotel via a 10-passenger van. At 8:35am, turned onto
Hwy. 108. At 9:20am, turned onto
Hwy. 1009. At 9:30am, we
paid park fee at entrance -- between 150 and 250 for non-Thais. At
9:45am,
passed Sirithan Waterfall. At 9:55am, arrived at the top
of mountain ... and the end of the road. Notes --
1) Elevation: 2,565 meters (8,530 feet). (Note: Refer to the two related
photographs.)
2) Walked to the shrine for King Inthanon, the 7th ruling prince of Chiang Mai
(1870-1897)
3) An army base was stationed at the top of the mountain.
4) Walked for about 10 minutes through heavy forest and foliage
5) Went to the Thai National Observatory
At 11:40am, arrived at the Thai National Observatory ("NARIT" -- National
Astronomical Research Institute
of Thailand", a public organization).
Notes --
1) In addition to the primary 2.4-meter telescope, there was a 14-inch, LX-200
Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain
telescope. (Note: Refer to the related
photographs.)
2) The primary telescope's dome was 10 meters high
3) As is written on one of the plaques -- "The NARIT extra-solar planet search
group focuses on both
spectroscopic radial velocity and transit time
variation methods of planet detections."
January 29, 2013
I was very tired from the previous day. So, I spent the day relaxing at
the resort.
January 30, 2013 -- Chiang Mai (end)
(went from Chiang Mai to Buriram)
At 3:40pm, left the hotel. (Note: It rained while driving away.
Was
Chiang Mai sad to see me leave?) At 4:00pm, arrived at the
bus station. At 4:20pm, the bus left Chiang Mai.
Note: It was
supposed to leave at 4:15pm. At 12:15am, turned onto Hwy. 225.
At 5:00am, arrived in Buriram.
February 17, 2013 -- Suwannaphum
(went from Buriram/Surin for sightseeing)
At 10:40am, left Buriram. At 11:35am, arrived in Surin. At 1:00pm,
left Surin. At 2:27pm, arrived in
Suwannaphum. Note:
Intended to get off the bus at the community/village Sa Khu, prior to arriving
in
Suwannaphum, but I missed it. While waiting for the bus to
return to Sa Khu, I ate lunch. At 2:55pm, left
Suwannaphum.
At 3:00pm, arrived in Sa Khu. (Yes, it was only a 5-minute ride.)
Walked around Prasat Ku
Phra Kona for about 1 hour and 15
minutes. Besides there being 450-year old castle structures and newer
wat/temple structures, there were monkeys and monks. Also, a
well-kept grove of trees borders the area from
the road to the
prasat/wat (castle/temple) entrance. (Note: Refer to associated
photographs.) After finishing,
I walked to a restaurant across
the street. In poor Thai, I spoke to the people there and learned that
there
were no rides available ... to get anywhere. So, I walked
6km to Suwannaphum. I left at 4:15 and arrived at
5:40. At
5:55pm, left Suwannaphum. At 6:40pm, I arrived in Roi Et. At
7:00pm, left Roi Et. At 7:30pm,
arrived in Mahasarakham.
February 17, 2013 -- Mahasarakham (begin)
As mentioned in the previous section, at 7:00pm, left Roi Et. At 7:30pm,
arrived in Mahasarakham.
Ex-coworker and friend Craig Whatson met me at
the bus station and we went to the part of town where he
lived and
worked -- near Mahasarakham University. (There were two main parts of
town, near the university
and near the bus station -- downtown.).
We ate at a Thai restaurant along the road near where he lived. For
entertainment afterwards, we went to a bar called 'Boss' with his Thai friends
and their friends. (One woman
seemed especially
"frisky".) It was one of the most popular places in that part
of town and had a live band.
Note: His friend Peak, a recent graduate
from Mahasarakham University, offered to drive me in his car the
next
day in order to see the prasats/castles and wats/temples that I wanted to see.
He said that I could call
him anytime after 8:00am.
February 18, 2013
At 9:15am, I called Peak and he didn't answer. So, I left him a text
message. At 10:00am, I ate breakfast at
the same Thai restaurant
that Craig and I ate at the previous night. At 10:30am, Peak called me.
He said
that he had been out very late the previous night and had
a bad hangover. He said that he would call me 30
minutes later
about when he would pick me up. At 11:15am, Peak called me. He
said that there were
problems at his job and that he would have to work
that day. He asked if it would be okay if he picked me up
at
5:00pm and I agreed. At 4:45pm, Peak called me. He said that he
would pick me up 15 minutes later in
front of the 7/11 near Craig's
apartment. (Note: I spent the day in Craig's apartment, primarily
staying out
of the hot weather.) At 5:15pm, Peak picked me up.
He then picked up a lady-friend and we drove to see the
prasats/castles. At 5:50pm, we arrived at Pra Tat Na Doon.
It is a stupa (Peak pronounced it as "stup").
(Note: Refer to associated
photographs.) At 6:10pm, we arrived at Prasat Santharat. Although
it was
completely dark, I still took some photographs. We also
walked around it for about 15 minutes. (Note: Refer
to associated
photographs. If you can see what appear to be bubbles in any of the
pictures, Peak's friend
stated that they were ghosts. Really?!)
Later for dinner, we ate at a different restaurant along the road with
two other English teachers. For entertainment, we went to a
coffee shop where we met a third English
teacher; he was Thai.
Afterwards, two foreigners, including one American, joined us. Later
during the
conversation, the American said that if I was interested in
teaching at their university, I would probably be a
perfect fit.
(Thanks, but no thanks.)
February 19, 2013 -- Mahasarakham (end)
At 8:30am, Craig left for work. At 9:00am, I bought some breakfast-type
food from the nearby 7/11. At
10:30am, I took a (dark blue)
songtaw from the same 7/11 to the bus station (about a 20-minute ride).
At
11:10am, I took a bus from Mahasarakham to Roi Et, arriving at
11:50am. (Note: Refer to the Roi Et notes
for details and
associated photographs.)
February 20, 2013 -- Roi Et
As mentioned in the previous section, arrived at 11:50am. With the help of the
people working at the bus
station ticket booths, I bought a 10-baht
ticket to Bueng Phalan Chai Lake/Moat. (Note: Refer to associated
photographs.) I spent about 1-1/2 hours walking around the lake/moat and
taking photographs. They have a
50-or-so-foot Buddha statue, an
exercise park, a children's playground, water spouts/fountains, and gazebos
and small islands in the lake/moat containing various vegetation.
I then walked across the street and took
photographs of Wat Bueng.
(Note: Refer to associated photographs.) After taking photographs
and helping
a few monks practice their English, I got a songtaw ride
back to the bus station. Note: The monks said that a
songtaw
costs 10 baht, the drive asked for 40 baht, and I negotiated for 20 baht.
At 2:00pm, I left Roi Et. At
4:30pm, I arrived in Surin.
I had dinner with my friend Brendan, his wife Yada, and their son Leo.
Afterwards, I returned to Buriram.
March 3, 2013 -- Kanchanaburi (begin)
(went from Buriram/Bangkok to Kanchanaburi for sightseeing)
At 9:40am, I left Buriram. The bus to Bangkok cost 248 baht. At
3:40pm, I arrived at Bangkok's Mo Chit
bus station. At 4:10pm, I
left Bangkok. The minivan to Kanchanaburi cost 120 baht. At
7:45pm, I arrived in
Kanchanaburi. The minivan dropped me off
at the bus station. I took a motorbike taxi to Chukadon Pier. It
took 5 minutes and cost 20 baht. I had to call Kasem Island
Resort in order to get a ferry ride to their hotel.
It took about 5
minutes to cross the river to their island. Ferry rides are free all
day until 10pm when they
cost 200 baht and at midnight cost 400 baht.
I checked into the hotel. It cost 1,200 baht per night.
The
rooms were situated over the river. There were no chairs, the
bathroom is a room outside of the bedroom, and
it had mosquitoes and
geckos. Otherwise, it was very nice. At 8:45pm, I ate dinner at
the hotel. The prices
were reasonable and it had a resort feel in
the indoor/outdoor restaurant. (Note: Refer to associated
photographs.)
March 4, 2013
At 7:30, I woke up. The weather was overcast, breezy -- nice. The
temperature did not got too warm all day
long. At 8:45, I ate
breakfast. At 9:30, I took a ferry to Chukadon Pier. At 9:45, I
took a tuktuk from
Chukadon Pier to the train station (100 baht).
I shared it with a Canadian man and his Japanese
girlfriend/wife.
They lived in Tokyo. At 10:55, I took a train (100 baht). The
woman at the hotel informed us
that it left at 10:30. But the
signs at the station said 10:50. There were reserved seats available for
300 baht.
It meant that a person was assured to not have to stand during
the ride. At 11:05, we crossed the bridge at the
River Kwai.
I had three options -- (1) Get off the train prior to crossing it in
order to simply walk back and
forth across it; (2) Get off the train at
the first station after crossing the river (~5km) and then taking either a
taxi or a longtail boat back to the city; or (3) Take the train up into
the hills and get off at any desired station.
I took option number three
but mistakenly thought that Thamkra Sae was the final stop. I had lunch
there
and bought two t-shirts reading "Kanchanaburi" on them for 100
baht each (cheap!). The prior station was
Lumpum. At 2:15,
I took the train back to the city. I did not have to pay another 100
baht for the return
trip. (Was it a 100-baht round trip?)
The hills were covered with farms growing bananas, coconuts, corn,
sugar, and rice. I walked back and forth across the bridge when we
returned to the city. It takes 5 minutes
to cross it one way.
At 4:15, I went through the war Museum (40 baht). It is a
2-minute walk from the
bridge. I ate dinner at a foreigner
restaurant and then had a few beers at different bars to end the night.
March 5, 2013 -- Kanchanaburi (end)
At 7:30, I woke up. It was another nice, overcast, not-too-hot morning.
At 8:30, I ate breakfast. At 9:00, I
took a ferry to
Chukadon Pier. At 9:20, I took a motorbike taxi from Chukadon Pier to
train station (60 baht).
Between 10:00-12:45, I took a minivan to
Bangkok (120 baht). Between 11:45 and 12:00, we got fuel (NGV).
Note: Some Web sites/pages claim that buses and minivans will not go from
Kanchanaburi to Mo Chit.
However, this minivan did it. After
arriving in Bangkok, I walked directly from the minivan area to the bus
area. Having traveled through Bangkok via buses several times, I have
thoroughly learned the Mo Chit bus
station. Scary!
Between 12:50 and 6:55pm, I took a bus from Bangkok to Buriram.