Day 2, Sunday 2 October - Bangkok
As expected....... For the price, my expectations of My Room wasn't great and so it proved. The night proved to be a restless one mainly due to the hard matress. It also didn't help that the bed was squashed up against a wall not all convenient if you need the bathroom. The most pleasing aspect of waking before dawn is the view across to the beautifully lit Phra Pathommachedi. This morning we were prepared for self catering in the room and it didn't help that there was only one chair to sit on with a shortage of fat surfaces as well. Now that's out of the way we can concentrate on the day itself and there is consensus that we should visit a small town in the next province of Ratchaburi around 30 minutes away. For my partner the town represents a little piece of history while for me it has a railway station and that's where we head first.
Ban Pong Railway Station....... Ban Pong Railway Station is the station on the southern line which is large enough to be a halt for long distance trains. Here, while I managed to miss a long distance train heading to Thailand's Deep South I'm in time for a train to Prachuap Kiri Khan and later for one returning to Bangkok from Hua Hin.
Saint Joseph Catholic Church....... With nothing else expected for a while we can move on first visiting Saint Joseph Catholic Church one of the more important buildings in the town.
Ban Pong Old Town....... Ban Pong Old Town was settled 400 years ago by the Mon people who's culture and tradition survive to this day. The proximity to the Tha Chin River also brought in Chinese traders. One of the attractions listed in the old town is the street art which is common in many provinces of Thailand.
Ko Si Narai Pond....... The area around Ko Si Narai Pond was once a settlement in the ancient Khmer Kingdom. The small museum of Kosinarai contains aetifacts collected from the local area including those found in the pond. It's clear that this is an area that few foreigners visit with nothing translated into English and stuff quite enthusiastic when they do arrive. The area around the pond is beautifully landscaped and you really should use the car park and explore the area on foot.
Chom Prasat Heritage Site....... Chom Prasat Heritage Site in SCG Packaging is a curious place indeed not so much because of what it is but because of where it is. The Prasat is a small Hindu shrine on top of a mound of laterite blocks suggesting that this was a substantial religious site in the past. The reason we're here is that my companion heard about it from a documentary on TV. This has to be a candidate for the most rarely visited site in the whole of Thailand. It would be better to visit on a weekend but today Monday it's a busy day at SCG Packaging paper mill, the company whose land the Prasat resides in. In order to gain access the security guard contacts the site manager who is more than happy to escort as to the site itself. He seems eager to take our photographs as having a foreigner guest on site must be rare indeed.
It's now well into afternoon and all the sites we visit on this mini tour are secondary to the football match we attended last night. Nakhon Pathom and Ratchaburi Provinces have been covered on previous tours with the latter on several occasions. However there is always something extra we can add. We venture further into a more remote area in Ratchaburi province to locate a temple that seems a good candidate for that something extra.
Wat Tahm Nam....... Wat Tahm Nam Translate as temple with water or pond in a cave and sure enough there is running water at the entrance to the cave traversed by a footbridge. While the buildings at this temple are unspectacular by far the greatest effort has put been put into the cave itself. Precious Buddha images and other religious objects are placed all around the cave. The cave system is larger than normal and it leads towards a cathedralesque cavern which because of its natural beauty and the lighting system provided is high on the list of the most beautiful caves in Thailand.
In terms of what I intended we have rather extended our reach planning to be back in Bangkok by late afternoon. With that no longer practical we might as well make the most of the day and find one more location that is suggested to visit.
OliKhoiHouse....... OliKhoiHouse in Nakhon Pathom province is one of those locations where you really need to have a specific interest to visit. In this case it's koi carp. Here the young owners of this attraction are happy to show us around even though we won't be buying any carp today. This establishment has a website and the aim is to import purebred koi carp from Japan, store and catalogue them waiting for prospective buyers to order over the internet. Taking care of their stock rewards them with higher prices as the specimens grow larger. Good luck to them. It's better than selling street food in Bangkok.
So that's all for this mini tour as we make our way back to Bangkok knowing that approaching from the west is going to mean heavy traffic. After shopping in the market we're back at the base after 7:00pm.
Conclusion.... This mini tour has really been a gap filler while we wait for an opportunity to go on much longer tours but of course provides me with more material for my website. We must be thankful that the rain stayed away long enough not to disrupt our plans.
First Page.
As expected....... For the price, my expectations of My Room wasn't great and so it proved. The night proved to be a restless one mainly due to the hard matress. It also didn't help that the bed was squashed up against a wall not all convenient if you need the bathroom. The most pleasing aspect of waking before dawn is the view across to the beautifully lit Phra Pathommachedi. This morning we were prepared for self catering in the room and it didn't help that there was only one chair to sit on with a shortage of fat surfaces as well. Now that's out of the way we can concentrate on the day itself and there is consensus that we should visit a small town in the next province of Ratchaburi around 30 minutes away. For my partner the town represents a little piece of history while for me it has a railway station and that's where we head first.
Ban Pong Railway Station....... Ban Pong Railway Station is the station on the southern line which is large enough to be a halt for long distance trains. Here, while I managed to miss a long distance train heading to Thailand's Deep South I'm in time for a train to Prachuap Kiri Khan and later for one returning to Bangkok from Hua Hin.
Saint Joseph Catholic Church....... With nothing else expected for a while we can move on first visiting Saint Joseph Catholic Church one of the more important buildings in the town.
Ban Pong Old Town....... Ban Pong Old Town was settled 400 years ago by the Mon people who's culture and tradition survive to this day. The proximity to the Tha Chin River also brought in Chinese traders. One of the attractions listed in the old town is the street art which is common in many provinces of Thailand.
Ko Si Narai Pond....... The area around Ko Si Narai Pond was once a settlement in the ancient Khmer Kingdom. The small museum of Kosinarai contains aetifacts collected from the local area including those found in the pond. It's clear that this is an area that few foreigners visit with nothing translated into English and stuff quite enthusiastic when they do arrive. The area around the pond is beautifully landscaped and you really should use the car park and explore the area on foot.
Chom Prasat Heritage Site....... Chom Prasat Heritage Site in SCG Packaging is a curious place indeed not so much because of what it is but because of where it is. The Prasat is a small Hindu shrine on top of a mound of laterite blocks suggesting that this was a substantial religious site in the past. The reason we're here is that my companion heard about it from a documentary on TV. This has to be a candidate for the most rarely visited site in the whole of Thailand. It would be better to visit on a weekend but today Monday it's a busy day at SCG Packaging paper mill, the company whose land the Prasat resides in. In order to gain access the security guard contacts the site manager who is more than happy to escort as to the site itself. He seems eager to take our photographs as having a foreigner guest on site must be rare indeed.
It's now well into afternoon and all the sites we visit on this mini tour are secondary to the football match we attended last night. Nakhon Pathom and Ratchaburi Provinces have been covered on previous tours with the latter on several occasions. However there is always something extra we can add. We venture further into a more remote area in Ratchaburi province to locate a temple that seems a good candidate for that something extra.
Wat Tahm Nam....... Wat Tahm Nam Translate as temple with water or pond in a cave and sure enough there is running water at the entrance to the cave traversed by a footbridge. While the buildings at this temple are unspectacular by far the greatest effort has put been put into the cave itself. Precious Buddha images and other religious objects are placed all around the cave. The cave system is larger than normal and it leads towards a cathedralesque cavern which because of its natural beauty and the lighting system provided is high on the list of the most beautiful caves in Thailand.
In terms of what I intended we have rather extended our reach planning to be back in Bangkok by late afternoon. With that no longer practical we might as well make the most of the day and find one more location that is suggested to visit.
OliKhoiHouse....... OliKhoiHouse in Nakhon Pathom province is one of those locations where you really need to have a specific interest to visit. In this case it's koi carp. Here the young owners of this attraction are happy to show us around even though we won't be buying any carp today. This establishment has a website and the aim is to import purebred koi carp from Japan, store and catalogue them waiting for prospective buyers to order over the internet. Taking care of their stock rewards them with higher prices as the specimens grow larger. Good luck to them. It's better than selling street food in Bangkok.
So that's all for this mini tour as we make our way back to Bangkok knowing that approaching from the west is going to mean heavy traffic. After shopping in the market we're back at the base after 7:00pm.
Conclusion.... This mini tour has really been a gap filler while we wait for an opportunity to go on much longer tours but of course provides me with more material for my website. We must be thankful that the rain stayed away long enough not to disrupt our plans.
First Page.
Nakhom Pathom Province
Phra Pathommachedi, Nai Mueang,
Nakhon Pathom
Ratchaburi Province
Ban Pong Railway Station, Ban Pong,
Ban Pong District
Elephant Roundabout, Ban Pong,
Ban Pong District
Ban Pong Clock Tower, Ban Pong,
Ban Pong District
Saint Joseph Catholic Church, Ban Pong,
Ban Pong District
Ban Pong Street Art, Ban Pong,
Ban Pong District
Mae Klong River, Ban Pong,
Ban Pong District
Ko Si Narai Pond, Ban Pong,
Ban Pong District
Chom Prasat Heritage Site, SCG Packaging, Ban Pong, Ban Pong District
Wat Tham Nam, Nang Kaeo,
Photharam District
Nakhom Pathom Province
OliKoiHouse, Thap Luang,
Mueang Nakhon Pathom District