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Day 15, Sunday 2 December
Dissatisfied……..With Mayye booking the room for two nights at Samui Place, our hands are tied regarding choice of accommodation in Kalasin. With a number of issues arising including lack of space, this accommodation drops to the bottom of the list of places we’ve stayed in on this tour. Still not feeling 100% I’d rather not leave Kalasin at the moment especially as I cannot sign the province off as a completed tour. Instead we check out and look for another room in the city eventually selecting Farisa Garden Hotel. However just after midday the rooms aren’t ready so we may as well add more site visits.
Kalasin National Museum……..At the first port of call we take lunch and thank goodness it’s a much more modest affair. According to Google Map the Kalasin National Museum is located in a local government building in the city. However, on enquiry we’re told that the museum is closed now, with its contents being moved to new building. Under those circumstances it’s strange that we are let in to look around, especially as there are objects strewn about with no general order attached to the operation. Further, I would say that the museum has been closed for some time with dust and cobwebs all too evident and that all the valuable objects have already been moved. Quite what they intend to do with what appears to be a lot of junk here, I don’t know. I guess we will just have to see when the new museum opens.
Muang Fa Daet Song Yang……..The attractions in Kalasin province are not limitless. What remains to be seen requires a drive out of the city. As these sites are in different directions one has to ask whether the visit is worth it. In particular there are few ancient monuments in Kalasin province; the only ones of note lie in the ancient city of Muang Fa Daet Song Yang to the south of Kalasin in Kamalasai District. Within the ancient city there are a 5 pagoda bases on a square plot aligned in a north/south direction while to the north the principal pagoda has been restored.
Dissatisfied……..With Mayye booking the room for two nights at Samui Place, our hands are tied regarding choice of accommodation in Kalasin. With a number of issues arising including lack of space, this accommodation drops to the bottom of the list of places we’ve stayed in on this tour. Still not feeling 100% I’d rather not leave Kalasin at the moment especially as I cannot sign the province off as a completed tour. Instead we check out and look for another room in the city eventually selecting Farisa Garden Hotel. However just after midday the rooms aren’t ready so we may as well add more site visits.
Kalasin National Museum……..At the first port of call we take lunch and thank goodness it’s a much more modest affair. According to Google Map the Kalasin National Museum is located in a local government building in the city. However, on enquiry we’re told that the museum is closed now, with its contents being moved to new building. Under those circumstances it’s strange that we are let in to look around, especially as there are objects strewn about with no general order attached to the operation. Further, I would say that the museum has been closed for some time with dust and cobwebs all too evident and that all the valuable objects have already been moved. Quite what they intend to do with what appears to be a lot of junk here, I don’t know. I guess we will just have to see when the new museum opens.
Muang Fa Daet Song Yang……..The attractions in Kalasin province are not limitless. What remains to be seen requires a drive out of the city. As these sites are in different directions one has to ask whether the visit is worth it. In particular there are few ancient monuments in Kalasin province; the only ones of note lie in the ancient city of Muang Fa Daet Song Yang to the south of Kalasin in Kamalasai District. Within the ancient city there are a 5 pagoda bases on a square plot aligned in a north/south direction while to the north the principal pagoda has been restored.
Muang Fa Daet Song Yang, Kamalasai District, Kalasin Province
Prathat Yaku……..The principal pagoda, Prathat Yaku, also known as That Yai Temple was built in the Dvaravati Period. Later in the Ayutthaya Period it was renovated with the addition of a stupa to an octagonal plan. Finally, the top part was added in 1932 by a team of Vietnamese artisans. Yaku is a word in northeastern Thai dialect as the name of revered Buddhist monks. The stupa is thus believed to have been used to carry the ashes of a significant monk. The Yaku Stupa is built of brick on a multi-leveled octagonal base with indented corners and lotus-petal shaped decorative figures. There were originally 11 boundary stones, locally called sema placed in all eight directions around the pagoda. Some semas bear figures depicting the past life of the Buddha. The moats that surround the pagoda were constructed in 1983 for flood control. Prathat Yaku was registered as a national ancient monument in January 1937.
Aimless……..With nothing left to see in this area, and with others just too far away, Mayye has a free hand to do her own thing but seems content to drive aimlessly around, briefly entering Roi-Et Province to visit a modern temple with a beautiful pagoda in the same style as the one in Nakhon Phannom. Unfortunately, I can find no information about it, hardly describe it or even locate it. The result is that I return to Kalasin with little to show for most of the afternoon’s endeavors.
Aimless……..With nothing left to see in this area, and with others just too far away, Mayye has a free hand to do her own thing but seems content to drive aimlessly around, briefly entering Roi-Et Province to visit a modern temple with a beautiful pagoda in the same style as the one in Nakhon Phannom. Unfortunately, I can find no information about it, hardly describe it or even locate it. The result is that I return to Kalasin with little to show for most of the afternoon’s endeavors.
Unidentified temple with chedi in the style of Wat Maha That, Nakhon Phanom
Farisa Garden Hotel……..Back at Farisa Garden Hotel, things are looking up. We’re back to the style of accommodation we started the tour with, modern, spacious apartments for a reasonable price. When I note there is room service, it’s music to my ears. We don’t need to go out for dinner and eat for a fraction of the price we paid the previous evening. It just remains for me to write up my few notes and think about the final stages of this tour. Next Page.