Day 18, Wednesday 15 May

Off target…….. Today was the target date for completion of this tour. An extra day was built into my budget just in case. Yet here we are at the limit of our distance from Bangkok, searching for attractions in new province. So don't worry if you see me with a gun; I'd never have the acuracy to shoot anyone!
Mopping up…….. Thankfully I’ve had just about a full night’s sleep despite this wretched cold but waking really early has enabled me to get my notes up to date. With limitations at SV2 Boutique Hotel nobody considers we should stay here another night: But what is the plan now since we've only just arrived in this province? Well to start with we need to continue where we left off yesterday.
Wat Si Khom Kham…….. While passing Wat Si Khom Kham yesterday, we were held up in traffic due to annual festivities taking place at this temple. It’s clear that most of the celebration takes place after dark when the whole compound dazzles with coloured lights. Clearly this is not the best time to visit this temple. Now in the morning things are quieter but the place is still buzzing with activity. I understand the festivities go on for 3 days. Fortunately, Katoon is able to park up in the complex which helps as it’s quite warm today.
Wat Si Khom Kham is a royal temple formerly known as Wat Prachao Toneluang. The name derives from the characteristics of the largest seated Buddha image in Lanna which measures 14 metres wide at the lap and 17 metres tall. It took 33 years to build and spanned 3 rulers, Phaya Muangyee, Phaya Huakian and Chao Muangtu. This image called Phra Chao Ong Luang or Phra Chao Ton Luang, now more than 500 years old, was built in the Chiang Saen style of the Lanna Kingdom.
Within the complex is the Cultural Hall, unfortunately closed today due to the festivities. It was set up due to the initiative of the Vice Councilor of the Sangha Council, Region 6, as the abbot of Wat Si Khom Kham wished to keep intact his collection of ancient objects, he had accumulated over 40 years. When it was suggested that the collection was of national importance, the Fine Arts Department agreed to take it over. The museum opened in 1996 at a ceremony presided over by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.

Pho Khun Ngam Mueang Memorial…….. Returning once again to the promenade alongside Kwan Phayao, we locate the Pho Khun Ngam Mueang Memorial. This touching memorial of then-Phayao state (known as Phu Kamyao) celebrates the remarkable growth and prosperity of the kingdom of monarch Pho Khun Ngam Mueang some 700 years ago. During his reign, the city-state flourished and saw its territory expand. It was often said that wherever the King travelled, the weather obeyed his desires. The king was also a close ally of Phokhun Mengrai, ruler of Chiang Mai Kingdom, and Phokhun Ramkhamhaeng of Sukhothai Kingdom, swearing a historic oath of non-aggression at the Ing river, near the current Phayao Freshwater Fishery Station. The monument is open 24 hours a day. It is located inside the public park on the banks of Kwan Phayao.
Heading further along the promenade, the monastery and museum of Luang Pho Sri La comes into view on a small island in Kwan Phayao. There is a pier on the promenade from which you can take a round trip to the island. Katoon seems interested but we have to wait for a boat to return. When this seems to take ages, we agree to call the trip off.

Now just after 24 hours. I wasn’t expecting to be running short of ideas regarding attractions in Phayao but is does seem to be the case that to achieve anything more in this province, we need to travel further afield. Ideally, I’d like to be in Bangkok tomorrow night. To achieve that we’d have to leave now but Katoon would like to visit another district and that must mean an extension of this tour for an further night.
Wiang Lor Ancient Town…….. As I plot a course to Chiang Kham district, I realise that this lies to the northeast of Phayao and we’re already at the furthest point north on this tour. The district is an hour’s drive away but it’s still not long after midday.
Heading along highway 1021, blue sign boards indicating tourist attractions soon appear and we find ourselves heading to an ancient site in Chun district. Arriving at the site. I realise from photographs I’ve seen that this is one of Phayao’s top attractions.
The principal site in Wiang Lor is Wat Sri Ping Mueang identified by its bell-shaped chedi in Lanna/Sukhothai style. Unfortunately no written evidence of the foundation of this temple has been found probably because the area subsequently came under Burmese occupation. Within the compound, bases of a viharn and ubosot have been found. Since the end of Burmese rule a small viharn was built as the local people had nowhere to worship. Today a more substantial building has been added to meet these needs.
While I busy myself taking photographs and trying to make sense of it all, Katoon is busy talking with local people. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that a ‘Wiang’ must mean that there are other monuments in the area.

With the help of locals we locate a few of the minor monuments. They all seem to have been in use during Burmese rule and abandoned afterwards. Pottery and Buddha images from these sites are from Lanna kilns (16th/17th Century). Local people confirm the existence of many ruins in the area, some across the Ing river. It has to be remembered that this ancient site is an opportunistic find and that no prior research had been done. It would later transpire that there were other significant ruins in the area which were sadly missed. This was clearly a major settlement of the ancient Lanna Kingdom. Nevertheless I can leave having added some interesting detail of a secretive culture that existed in a remote corner of modern Thailand.

Continuing on towards Chiang Kham, I constantly pick up signs to a location that I have long given up on reaching, having made so many adjustments to this tour but must for the moment put it to the back of my mind. First we need a late lunch, fill up with fuel and add those sites Katoon has on her wish list.
Wat Nantaram…….. Wat Nantaram is the easier of two important temples in Chiang Kham district located in the town itself. It’s presence here is not a total surprise.
Wat Nantaram was built of beautifully ornate teakwood in classic Shan style (Mandalay). After the Burmese rule came to an end in the late 18th century, wealthy Burmese remained in the country involved in the teak trade (with a little help from the British). A number of temples in this style were built, the most notable, the largest, is Wat Sri Chum in Lampang. The Buddha images in the main hall here are classical Burmese, including an exquisite white jade example. In the subsidiary hall the Buddha images are Lanna in Chiang Saen style, evidence that there was a temple here well before the Burmese came or at least that these images were removed from Chiang Saen after the city was sacked in the 16th Century.
This is an amazing piece of Thai history and there is a small museum at the rear as a bonus.

Wat Phrachao Nang Din…….. Moving out of town a few kilometres is Wat Phrachao Nang Din. The Thai name of this temple translates as Buddha (image) sitting on the ground. The reason for this is that an attempt to build a plinth has so far proved unsuccessful. If legend is to be believed, this image is as old as Buddhism itself.

The visit to these two temples seems to have satisfied Katoon’s appetite for now and has not used up much time. I now have a big decision to make. Dare I bring that illusive attraction I mentioned earlier, into the equation? I could from here, make it far enough south by dark to allow my return to Bangkok tomorrow but it would still be a big ask. The total distance is around 450 miles. It’s already part of my thinking to return to Bangkok a day later. If that’s the case then could I be brave and go that extra distance, stretching it to close to 500 miles?
Phu Chi Fa…….. The name Phu Chi Fa has a ring to it and it’s been beconning for some time. I know I can reach it easily, either tonight or in the morning. Katoon thinks we can reach it and look for accommodation. But there is a problem. To expect a good standard of accommodation on a high peak, near arguably the most iconic viewpoint in Thailand is a big ask. To improve the options we initially head for Thoeng in Chiang Rai Province. That won’t take long. Then at 3.30pm we head into the mountains. The problem I have is that I really don’t know what to expect. It’s a real (hopefully not) leap in the dark. To get there needs 45 minutes of constant climbing.
Finally reaching Phu Chi Forest Park, the staff are about to pack up and go home: There are few visitors left. At least the first box is ticked. There won’t be an entry fee. Reaching the car park, it's deserted. Normally there are market vendors here but they too have gone home all except one. Now the final piece of the puzzle is in place. I can reach the viewpoint tonight. It’s located 750 metres along a rough track.
Phu Chi Fa also called Phu Chee Fah, is a mountain area and national forest park. It is located at the northeastern end of the Phi Pan Nam Range, 12 km to the southwest of Doi Pha Tang at the eastern edge of Thoeng District, Chiang Rai Province. The cliff is part of an elevated area, the Doi Pha Mon sub-range, that rises near the border with Laos sloping towards the Mekong River. The highest point of the ridge is the 1628 metre high Doi Pha Mon.
With views over the surrounding mountains, it is one of the famous tourist attractions of the Thai highlands near Chiang Rai. Tourists visit the mountain especially at dawn in order to catch a glimpse of the "sea of mist", the view of the fog-surrounded hills, with heights ranging between 1,200–1,600 metres to the east of the mountain.
The weather on Phu Chi Fa is cool, averaging around 20° C. It has three seasons: hot, rainy, and cool, influenced by the tropical monsoon. Reaching this viewpoint is easier than I expected but it’s not really the right time of year to come, still in the hot season. The landscape is a surprise after visiting Doi Inthanon. Unlike many of the mountain peaks over in Laos, it is not forested at the peak. It resembles more a savannah landscape. It’s the rainy season when the mountain is at it’s best and tourists flood here.

As we make our way back to the carpark, the off season here may work to our advantage. There are bound to be vacancies at the resorts clinging precariously to the mountain sides. Well there certainly are but the price tag is still too high considering it will soon be dark and we just need a room. But a room without some of the basics, fridge, air-conditioning and probably no wifi signal, proves decisive. I don’t want to play Robinson Crusoe while I still have a trump card. The unexpected simplicity with which we made it to the Phi Chi Fa viewpoint has left us with just enough time to get back down the mountain before dark.
Realising there is another route back to Chiang Kham via Phu Sang National Park photo we go for that but soon realise that it’s a bad road in places and progress is really slow, most of it along narrow mountain roads. As the light fades, we find ourselves at the park entrance for a comfort break. Across the road is a water feature, a waterfall that spills over a dome shaped rock into an otherwise placid stream below. The water is apparently warm, suggesting it comes from a spring, We can only afford moments here but with better driving conditions, we just about make it into Chiang Kham as darkness falls.
Short circuit…….. We arrive in Chiang Kham in the dark but at least the town is familiar to us now. Surely it shouldn’t be a problem to find accommodation. But oh dear! The first choice we can’t find, the Google Map app sending us the wrong way. A second proves unsuitable and a third suffers the same problem as the first. I’m forced to use the basic map and use it manually. There is one obvious choice at the higher end of my price range; surely that will be easy to find but within a couple of hundred yards, Katoon turns back, totally distrustful, believing she’s spotted something on the way into town but that waists more time. Finally we return to that obvious choice and there is not one but two hotels next to each other. After a number of circuits around the town, we can finally make our pit stop at Chiang Kham Grand Villa. Well I wouldn’t call this accommodation a villa but the pits are just across the road, a filling station with a mini mart and that will go someway to make up for a very late arrival for us now at 8pm. Well the day has certainly been interesting but I’m still suffering from this head cold going into a 3rd night. Next Page.