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Day 7 - Saturday 14 March 2015
Disturbed……..With three comfortable nights in Ratchaburi Province under my belt there’s no reason the forth should be any different yet at the start of the weekend others have different ideas. The resort fills up and turning in at my normal time, 11pm, I find other guests finding a need to adopt unsocial hours continuing to drink and chatter. It’s too much and reception is informed. That seems to work but then I’m awake due to over indulgence in spicy food. The presence of mosquitoes also proves irritating. I finally get some sleep but will it comprise the day’s proceedings? I’m awake around 8.30am and with something stored in the fridge I can call breakfast, I can still get a reasonable start hopefully. My plans for the day are not clear but I start by heading for a couple of sites I mentioned before, that were closed on week days. The first is just 10 minutes drive away.
No Review……..Pavothai Museum and Resort is signposted from Suan Pheung and along minor roads to the south of the town. When I last passed by a couple of days ago, I was told the museum only open at weekends. Now it is the weekend and it’s still not open. The guard post isn’t even manned and the barrier is down. When a gardener is found he explains that the museum is closed for cleaning. What were they doing the rest of the week, I wonder and was it really worth a review? What I can review is just behind me. The Pachi River, hardly a river this time of year, meanders through Suan Pheung district and passes into Myanmar. I do have a natural category for rivers so I will feature it later.
Disturbed……..With three comfortable nights in Ratchaburi Province under my belt there’s no reason the forth should be any different yet at the start of the weekend others have different ideas. The resort fills up and turning in at my normal time, 11pm, I find other guests finding a need to adopt unsocial hours continuing to drink and chatter. It’s too much and reception is informed. That seems to work but then I’m awake due to over indulgence in spicy food. The presence of mosquitoes also proves irritating. I finally get some sleep but will it comprise the day’s proceedings? I’m awake around 8.30am and with something stored in the fridge I can call breakfast, I can still get a reasonable start hopefully. My plans for the day are not clear but I start by heading for a couple of sites I mentioned before, that were closed on week days. The first is just 10 minutes drive away.
No Review……..Pavothai Museum and Resort is signposted from Suan Pheung and along minor roads to the south of the town. When I last passed by a couple of days ago, I was told the museum only open at weekends. Now it is the weekend and it’s still not open. The guard post isn’t even manned and the barrier is down. When a gardener is found he explains that the museum is closed for cleaning. What were they doing the rest of the week, I wonder and was it really worth a review? What I can review is just behind me. The Pachi River, hardly a river this time of year, meanders through Suan Pheung district and passes into Myanmar. I do have a natural category for rivers so I will feature it later.
Pong Yub……..Just a bit further is Timberland Resort and the other site that was closed when I passed by. Pong Yub is featured in all the brochures and other sources relating to tourist sites in Suan Pheung District yet locals confirm it is not popular. I soon find out why. There is an entry fee to visit what is a geological phenomenon on the site of private land. While the land slip is a curiosity and worth a visit if it were free, in terms of how much time you need to spend here, it’s hardly worth the free; even the lower price for Thais. By 11.15am I scratching my head as I’m wasn’t prepared to have to make decisions on my next destination this early in the day. Yet I can’t think of anything else that would justify further time spent around Suan Pheung, and make adjustments to head north.
Ratchaburi Exit……..There appears to be a choice of minor roads that lead over the provincial border into Kanchanaburi Province without heading back to Ratchaburi. There may be other sites on route as I turn north off Highway 3208 but soon the resorts that have started to thin out, disappear altogether and there is nothing more of interest except for rice paddies photo and with light traffic, I just relax and take in rural Thailand. At precisely midday I cross the provincial border and head for the town of Ban Makham Tia. The rural roads take some figuring out requiring stops for advice but I find myself in a small town where at the crossroads I stop for lunch. While studying my map during the break I get my bearings and a plan soon develops. My original thinking was that by the end of the day little more would be achieved except to set up a base to take in two important sites in Kanchanaburi Province which had eluded me in the past. Kanchanaburi Province has actually featured twice since I set up my website but I was based in and around Kanchanaburi or Sangkhlaburi without a vehicle I have now. I’m here to plug some gaps but I’m soon distracted by a site I have actually visited before but a long time ago. Despite this there are two things about the site that I do remember.
Prasart Muang Sing……..What I do remember about Prasart Muang Sing is that it is an important Khmer temple. Even in earlier times I was left wondering how it was that a civilisation centred at Angkor in Cambodia could possibly have extended this far west close to the border with Myanmar. Yet this temple is contemporary with the Bayon Period at Angkor at the height of its power. The sanctuary was built in the reign of Jayavoraman VII in the late 12th century in the style of Mahayanist Buddhism. I spend a good hour around the site and for the second time in four months I find myself at one of Thailand’s important Khmer religious sites. My visit to Prasart Muang Sing means so much more to me now that I have studied and visited Angkor in recent years. This is one of those sites I will find great pleasure in reviewing and well, what a contrast already from Suan Pheung. This is real food and drink to me. Before I leave this site there is one other thing to mention which has also rested in my memory for so long. While excavating the ruin which occupies the east bank of the Kwae Noi River (River Kwai to Westerners), evidence of a much earlier settlement in the area was discovered. Prehistoric remains were discovered including human remains and grave goods. The day has already lifted my spirits somewhat and it’s barely mid afternoon.
Prasart Muang Sing……..What I do remember about Prasart Muang Sing is that it is an important Khmer temple. Even in earlier times I was left wondering how it was that a civilisation centred at Angkor in Cambodia could possibly have extended this far west close to the border with Myanmar. Yet this temple is contemporary with the Bayon Period at Angkor at the height of its power. The sanctuary was built in the reign of Jayavoraman VII in the late 12th century in the style of Mahayanist Buddhism. I spend a good hour around the site and for the second time in four months I find myself at one of Thailand’s important Khmer religious sites. My visit to Prasart Muang Sing means so much more to me now that I have studied and visited Angkor in recent years. This is one of those sites I will find great pleasure in reviewing and well, what a contrast already from Suan Pheung. This is real food and drink to me. Before I leave this site there is one other thing to mention which has also rested in my memory for so long. While excavating the ruin which occupies the east bank of the Kwae Noi River (River Kwai to Westerners), evidence of a much earlier settlement in the area was discovered. Prehistoric remains were discovered including human remains and grave goods. The day has already lifted my spirits somewhat and it’s barely mid afternoon.
Krasae Bridge…….. My next point of reference is Highway 323 which runs west from Kanchanaburi bisecting two major national parks, Sai Yok and Erawan. The route which follows on to Sangklaburi and the border with Myanmar at Three Pagodas Pass is crammed full of history. It’s why I’m here. To most visitors these days more recent history is all around and I soon pick up signs to a particularly interesting site and one which I have visited since I started this website. Krasae Bridge is a point on the famous Death Railway which runs from Kanchanaburi to Nam Tok station at Sai Yok Noi. It is likely unique perched as it is alongside a cliff face above the river. It’s attraction to visitors is perhaps the only reason this stretch of railway was preserved. Those who travel alone the line are treated to amazing views of the river and the resorts that line the banks. Arriving by car at this site is rather strange compared to the last time I was here on the train.
Sai Yok Yai……..It’s now swinging towards late afternoon and I already have my bearings for the important elusive sites tomorrow. I can more or less park up for the night now but curiously Katoon wishes to head on to the first site. I doubt if its open now but the lady is not for turning. That is until we reach the site by which time relative civilisation has long gone. Still it’s only just after 4pm and exactly as I expected the site has already closed. Now there’s a choice, carry on or head back. Either way we will find accommodation. I decide to head on opening up further options tomorrow. Then something does appear. Saiyokyaicoffee is a coffee shop with motel style accommodation. The building is new and the rooms clean and functional. What bother me are the price tag of 700 baht and the lack of a fridge. My indecision causes the owner to reduce the price to 600 baht and we get a deal. Its rural location is not a major obstacle on this occasion as there is a good restaurant opposite. As I wind down for the night I’m looking forward to tomorrow and reflect on a better day for a change. It’s now certain that Kanchanaburi is the third and final province that I have included in a tour now named ‘Western Provinces’. Although I’m barely halfway through a tour, I’ve decided to split the tour into two parts and the second part has nothing whatsoever in common with the first. There will be two tours back to back and quite why I’ve left Kanchanburi till last of the three provinces, I really don’t know! Next Page.