Day 16, Saturday 22 October

Underestimation....... Yesterday's excursions taught me not to underestimate the Gulf of Thailand's coastline. Despite the beauty of the rugged Andaman coast, the provinces of Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Surat Thani and Nakhon Si Thammarat should not be easily dismissed. This coastline deserves a revisit in the future but sadly for now we must leave and continue our journey north using the Petchkasem Road which we joined in Chumphon. In Pranburi we use the bypass which continues into Phetchaburi province and here there is an attraction I've visited before but not since I began recording my visits.
Wat Huay Mongkol.......Our first activity here is the ritual feeding of river fish that have grown to enormous sizes. Visitors purchase loaves for 20 baht. It all reminds me of the biblical stories involving loaves and fishes. Wat Huay Mongkol is a monastery built in 1964 from a former monk's residence. Those who visit this temple will pray for Luang Pu Tuad, the largest Buddhist statue in the world. Built in 2004 it's 9.9 metres wide and 11.5 metres high constructed on a plaster three story base. Under the base there is a large hall for religious activities on important religious days. Here also there are three-headed Erawan elephants made from auspicious wood located on both left- and right-hand sides and the three-metre-tall Thao Wessuwan similarly made.
Reaching here on a Saturday and during a long weekend too commemorating King Rama V, there is understandably quite a lot of support. Continuing my look around I record a shrine to Taksin the Great, one of so many in Thailand. There's a final visit to the nearby lake before we rejoin the bypass and head into Phetchaburi province.
Wat Khao Takhrao.......After our later 10am departure from Prachuap Khiri Khan it's almost time for lunch and there's an ideal location to head for. Rather than continue on the main highway we turn off in Phetchaburi and head for the coast once more. However, before we reach the coast there is one more temple, we could visit but it's one we visited before in recent years.
Wat Khao Takhrao is located on a small hill at Ban Laem District, 12 kilometers from Phetchaburi City and houses a highly respected sitting Buddha image locally known as 'Luang Pho Khao Takhrao'. The image was found at the mouth of Maenam Mae Klong in Samut Songkhram Province by Ban Laem villagers, who migrated from Ban Laem to Samut Songkhram during the fall of Ayutthaya in order to move away from the route of the Burmese troops.
Being a weekend, this temple is well supported with visitors and festivities arranged. Since I was last here just a few years ago a new temple building has been constructed and is in its final stage of preparation proving that people who come here are quite generous. New buildings will create even more appeal leading to even more generous donations. It's time for lunch.
Bang Taboon.......We head across the bridge over the Bang Taboon estuary where there are numerous dining options and our story has practically gone full circle. Although we are still in Phetchaburi province it's just the short drive to Don Hoi Lot over the provincial border in Samut Songkram province where we took lunch in very similar circumstances.
Selecting one of the restaurants we gaze out across the Bang Taboon and order the local specialty shellfish called hoi lot just as we did two weeks ago and repeat our recent over indulgences.
Finally, it's time to connect with the Rama II Road, highway 35 and head east into Bangkok but I'm not quite done yet. It's well into afternoon now but there is one more attraction I'd like to visit on the way. It shouldn't take too long as it's just off the main highway. Now after a scarcity of ancient sites to visit in the south of Thailand I now find something I understand.
Wat Yai Chom Prasat.......Wat Yai Chom Prasat lies in Tha-Chin sub-district, Mueang Samut Sakhon province just west of Bangkok. Here the ruined temple is 400 years-old assumed to have been built in the reign of King Chakkrapat. Originally the villagers called it 'Wat Yai' or 'Wat Chom Prasat' or 'Wat Yai Chom Prasat' but on a visit to this temple, King Rama V bestowed the new name of 'Wat Yai Sakornburi', elevating its status to Royal Temple. Wat Yai Chom Prasat is now an ancient site registered by the Fine Arts Department on 27th September 1936.
As well as on site information I can add more details from my own observation. At the time of the sack of Ayutthaya by the Burmese in 1767 this temple was in ruin. As a result of King Taksin's subsequent victory over the Burmese, many temples were reconstructed. Here at this temple, Taksin's building style can be seen with slightly curved bases for the halls that he built nearby. Further buildings were added after King Rama V declared this a royal temple.
I expected this to be the last visit of the day but apparently, it's not as my companion advises me of a particularly interesting and historic location 5 kilometres away.
Tha Chalom.......Tha Chalom is an interesting community located in a bend of the Tha Chin River. Tha Chalom has a history that goes back to the middle Ayutthaya period during the reign of King Maha Chakkraphat when he established Ban Tha Chin as a town. Tha Chalom and Mahachai on the opposite bank at that time were Chinese communities, there being many Chinese piers along both banks of Tha Chin River. Hence, the river named Tha Chin, which means 'Chinese pier'.
Today, Tha Chalom has a railway station, a continuation of a line from Thonburi station in Bangkok to Mae Klong station in Samut Songkram: A bridge over the Tha Chin River was never built connecting the two sections of line. A ferry is used instead. Tha Chalom is important enough to justify guided tours taking in a wealth of historic buildings. A particular favourite is the street art at Tha Chalom railway station and the views across the Tha Chin River.
Relief.......All this has taken time then as I reset GPS for our final destination there is bad news. Traffic congestion will add an hour and a half to our journey time today meaning that no written blog for the last two days can be produced tonight, the only consolation being that we have food left over from our lunchtime meal and with a cold beer that just about wraps up this fascinating 16-day tour.
Next Page.