I must admit it's been the best night's sleep I've had for ages here at Be Rich and that's most valuable! While the room furnishing could be better arranged, my only other comment is that the tile decor in the bathroom is a bit weird. However, we have an American breakfast to look forward to albeit that generally consists of processed meat. Nevertheless, a breakfast is most welcome. As we check out, I notice that there are different styles of room and ours wasn't the most practical as mentioned. Overall, the hotel gets the thumbs up if only based on location. We now continue north on HWY 1 but soon get distracted.
We've hardly gone more than 10 kilometres when my partner turns off to the left, the signboard mentioning a Phra Non (Reclining Buddha). This takes us to the bank of the Ping River. Here is Wat Pho Ngam which houses the Buddha image of modern other than traditional design. The temple is uninspiring but does have a golden chedi more than 50 years old and in the grounds, an old pho (fig) tree from which the temple gets its name; ngam means 'beautiful'. This attraction visit has not affected my thoughts as to how the day will work out but just ten minutes further on, another attraction is sign boarded.
Doi Soi Malai - Mai Klay Pen Hin National Park is a small park which hardly features in guides, but we decide to take a look. I'm initially puzzled as to what's here but looking closer at the name, I pick out Mai (wood) and Hin (stone) from which we get Mai Klay Pen Hin (wood changed to stone, actually petrified wood). Examples of petrified wood are not that common in Thailand, and I've only previously found examples in Isan.
On reaching the park entrance there is no fee unusually, so we press on to the visitor centre where there's a lot to take in. After discovering an example in 2002, excavations lead to a profound discovery as more and more of the trunk was exposed. It was found that the trunk was 69 metres long, qualifying it for entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the longest length of petrified wood ever found. After steady work over the next 20 years, more examples were discovered bringing the number of sites recorded to seven, all of which are classified as having fossils some 120,000 years old. The area was then developed into a research and study centre adding information in English.
At the visitor centre there is a trail where four of the sites can be viewed. For the others, a vehicle is needed. Near to the centre is site 1 where the initial discovery was found and here there is enough information to gather to appreciate the whole site. In the end we visit 5 of the 7 sites with temperatures close to 40 Celsius. No wonder the trees were petrified! For the record, a vehicle is needed for sites 5, 6 and 7. I recommend site 6 but to reach this you need to go off-road which may not always be suitable for cars.
I leave this site wondering if I should expand what I can only summarise here for the moment; the paleontology and geology proving that fascinating. However, there is still a long way to go to reach our final destination.
We reach Lampang and fill up the tank and decline further distractions, pressing on to Lamphun where we have booked accommodation. Reaching the city we check in at Easy Hotel 1 which needs no introduction. We used it last year during a failed attempt to get tickets for a football game. While the circumstances are almost identical, right now there is something else on my mind. After a rest I head for the train station.
At Lamphun Railway Station, trains start to pass through in late afternoon departing from Chiang Mai on their overnight services to Bangkok. I arrive in time to record Special Express train 14 on video then wait an hour for the sleeper train 10 on a similar journey. We wrap up the day by taking dinner in the city. It's all good so far, but tomorrow we need to wake early as I focus on the railway again hoping for something very special.

Source: Visit