Day 8 - Wednesday 25 November 2015

A change of plan........As I repeat yesterdays excursion to the market to get some pastries, it’s misty and quite comfortable. I can sit out on the veranda gazing over the cloud topped mountains and enjoy my peaceful surroundings for a while. Yet I’ve also been busy revising my travel plan. It seems that my thinking yesterday was quite clear after all. Basically I’m extending the tour by a couple of days, making it a 16 day tour. That will give me more options on my next leg of the tour. Today I’ll be leaving Ban Ta Khun but not before I take a trip around the area.
Kiri Rat Nikhom........Kiri Rat Nikhom is the market town of Kiri Rat Nikhom district, one of Surat Thani’s central provinces. I’m heading here out of curiosity. To reach it I have to head back along the 401 and pick up country roads crossing the Phum Duang River at Wat Intrawas. It’s a distance of about 20 kms from Ban Ta Khun. Kiri Rat Nikhom is a railway terminal on a branch line from Surat Thani which I never knew existed. When I reach the station it’s deserted as expected. I figure out there is just one train a day to and from this station, a down train departing at 06.00 and an up train departing from Surat Thani at 16.55. The journey takes an hour. What does surprise me is the condition of the track. It’s been upgraded recently with concrete sleepers. The track extends beyond the station. I wonder why. But then I’m told the line is being extended in the next few years to provide a service to Phuket. Connecting Phuket to Bangkok by rail would be a major event. Watch this space. There is nothing else to see in Kiri Rat Nikhom so I retrace my steps.

Wat Intrawas........At the river there are real festivities underway which attract my attention. Today is the annual Loy Krathong Festival, popular throughout the region. While the launching of the krathong normally takes place after dark, the whole day is a bank holiday and one of celebration. Now before lunch there are boat races taking place on the river attracting great excitement. It would be a pity not to become part of it even for a short while. But I must move on. I head back along the 401 and through Ban Ta Khun.

Wilderness........The area of course is noted for its natural features and when I see a sign to the left marked ‘cool spring’, I make a detour. The road is already quite rutted but signs to natural features take me onto dirt roads through palm nut and rubber trees. It’s like a wilderness. I do manage to locate Bang Khuy Waterfall but the ground is waterlogged in places and I’m lucky not to get stuck. With a number of other features signposted I spend an hour in these conditions but all I end up doing is finding dead ends in the forest. I give up and head back to the main road. Near the junction with the 415 to Phang Nga I stop for local food but now broken sunshine is making it uncomfortably hot. Under my original plan I would be heading directly to Phang Nga from here but instead I continue on in the direction of Khao Sok National Park.

Temples and Viewpoints........I’ve done no real research on the district of Phanom which I'm now in but as it features the impressive Khao Sok National Park; I’ll do my best to pick up some important sites. My only travelling guide is my map but fortunately it is detailed enough to allow me to pick out some interesting locations. It’s not long before the impressive limestone stacks rise all around. Within this boundary are some significant temples. The first temple I locate is Wat Phanom. This temple houses an old viharn. It is located on the banks of the Phum Duang River where steps lead to a floating platform where you can ritually feed the fish (tinfoil barbs). Wat Song Phi Nong is another temple listed on the map about 9 km east of Phanom. It is a Buddhist monastery. Wat Tham Wararam is located on the Sok River which cuts through the limestone cliffs in an area of outstanding beauty. Limestone caves here are known to have been in use in Neolithic times with the discovery of fragments of pottery, bone and shell. Today the cave extends right under the mountain to an outlet on the river. Once again you can feed the river fish and support the temple at the same time. This is a must site to visit.

Khao Sok National Park........I hadn’t quite realised how far the entrance to Khao Sok National Park is along highway 401. If I had departed using the 415 I would have had to double back some 40 kms at some stage. As it is I can press on. Now southwest of the mighty Chiew Lan Lake in the stunning Khao Sok National Park, I find the park entrance just a few kilometres from the provincial border with Phang Nga Province. By this time it's raining again and perhaps supports my decision to leave the area soon. But first I drive right up to the park entrance, just a couple of kilometres from the main road. Here as expected are the resorts that attract so many foreign visitors, keen to explore the natural beauty of the park. It’s a location certainly worth a stopover at least but with the weather as it is, I will head out of the district with some reservation. It’s been a real pleasure to be able to feature it here. It only remains for me to cross the boundary into Kapong district, Phang Nga province.

Conclusion........I include a brief conclusion here as I intend to close this tour entitled ‘Surat Thani’ and open a new page, ‘Phang Nga’. It’s important to note that Surat Thani Province is the largest in southern Thailand. I really can’t do it justice in just over a week. However I’ve covered two important sites in the province, Koh Tao and the Ratchaprapha Dam/Khao Sok area. Missing at the moment is Koh Samui. I just wonder whether there are still any unspoilt areas on this island. There’s still plenty to explore in Surat Thani so there seems to be no closure on this province. I'm closing the door for the time being to keep the storm out but about to open a new one which is totally unexpected.