It was hard to say goodbye to ‘our’ elephants but we were looking forward to staying at our favourite place in the whole of Thailand, Oriental Kwai resort. Before then however we were stopping at a couple of places en route, just to break up the journey. The first stop was Lampang which is famous for the horse & carts which years ago were seen everywhere in Thailand as a form of transport. The town is now one of the few places where they’re used but these days they take the tourists on sightseeing trips around the town. Yes, we did do it, but it wasn’t terribly interesting though. If you go to Lampang, the place to eat is Aroy One Baht. Its absolutely manic with young waiters (and they were all young), racing around. The entertainment is free and the rice is just one Baht, which is about 2pence; the place is a magnet for tourists and watch out …the food is fiery, but delicious.
Leaving our hotel Auangkham Resort in Lampang we drove a few kilometers out of town to Wat Phrathat Lampang Luang. I loved the prayer lanterns at the entrance to this ancient Buddhist temple which is said to enshrine,(one of the many relics) of the Buddha.
Driving in this part of Thailand is so easy. The roads are good and pretty quiet. The only time we cursed was going along an area near to a sugar cane factory. There were lorries heading there in all directions, all over-loaded with sugar cane depositing quite a lot on the road. There were also small lorries with huge loads of big round bales, at least twice as wide as the lorry which virtually ground to a halt whenever there was a hill. Getting past these wide loads wasn’t easy but after a pit stop for lunch we arrived at the old town of Kamphaeng Phet. The town is famous for its Archaeological sites and historical Park and was once a massive fortress protecting the west of Thailand.
This historical Park is large and is a photographer’s dream. It’s located within a forest giving some degree of shade to the extensive monuments and ruins which cover the whole area. If you’re a keen cyclist you can hire bikes to cycle around the sites and explore. There is a road which takes you through the park which we drove along, hopping out along the way whenever we saw an interesting ruin. We then drove to the Visitors Centre where we paid a few Baht to wander around more of the site which has many landmarks, statues and points of interest. The light coming through the ancient monuments was superb that day, very soft which enhanced the setting.
We finally dragged ourselves away from the park as the heat had got to us so we headed to our hotel for the night. Strange place, very impersonal, even charged us for having a bottle of water out of the fridge but it had a nice pool and as we were the only people staying, we had the pool all to ourselves. I’m not going to name the hotel but I will mention that we had an excellent meal that evening by the river at the Baan Rim Nam River View restaurant. No-one could argue with the name of the restaurant, it’s right by the River Ping and has great views across to the town. This family-run restaurant is reasonably priced, the service was good and the fish, excellent.
Having paid our dues at the hotel we were on our way to Kanchanaburi and Oriental Kwai and couldn’t wait to get there. Could it really be the seventh time we’ve stayed there? The wonderful thing is …it never changes. How do you improve on perfection? It is without doubt our favourite place to stay and by that I mean anywhere in the world. The owners are lovely; the staff can’t do enough for you; the facilities are excellent; the grounds are idyllic and the food is delicious. It’s hard for us not to go back each year.
Because I’ve written about this area in my Blog before including the places of interest I have just add a few pictures and a short description of those places we went to this time.
Watt Metta Tham Photiyan is the most famous Chinese temple in Kanchanaburi province. There are several huge halls all very fascinating, teak wood is everywhere. One houses a huge statue of a Chinese goddess with eighteen arms. The complex is expanding quickly and already in one of the halls are many statues made of carved wood ready to be erected in place. The temple is 23kilometres out of Kanchanaburi.
A great temple this one as long as you don’t mind a steep climb. Going up and through the dragon’s body enthralls the children and adults too. Great views of the river from the top, you might find a monk there, sitting by a small tent, who for a few Baht will give you a blessing. You may feel after climbing all those steps that you deserve one! Wat Ban Tham is definitely worth a visit not only for the exhilerating walk to the top and the view but along the way you can divert off to go inside a large cave full of stalactites and stalagmites.
Another temple worth a visit is Wat Tham Pu Wa which is also full of stalactites and stalagmites and buddhist shrines. Don’t let the entrance fool you, the architecture is influenced apparently by the Khmer Arts and is not the most interesting building on the site. It is however the main entrance to this huge cave which has two floors, lots of statues and winding walkways often behind the huge stalagmites. This Wat is a renowned meditation centre and attracts both Buddhist and Chinese followers who come to worship the statues depicting each of the Chinese astrological signs. This Temple is close to Watt Metta Tham and so it’s possible to visit both on the same morning.
And finally …
The town of Kanchanaburi is definitely worth visiting. Most visitors congregate by the infamous bridge over the River Kwai, built during the Second World War by Asian forced labour and Allied POW’s. It’s easy to walk along but the majority of tourists don’t walk the whole way down the bridge or take the steps down to the Chinese temple, Guan Im Sutham Temple which is worth a visit. There are several stalls in the square by the entrance to the bridge, all selling trinkets or Tshirts for the tourists. The Floating Restaurant by there offers a wide choice of meals and is good value.
If you are wondering …we are already booked to go back to Oriental Kwai, we can’t keep away!
Travels with the Booths.blog 