Trip to Phi Mai, suburban Nakhon Ratchasima and Prasat Phanom Rung
Hi All!
I'm in between trips today and trying to catch up. I made it back to BKK from the long weekend in Phi Mai and environs safe and sound. It was a bit of a drive, but well worthwhile. Sorry to have been so light on the text recently. I've been spending lots of time with the pictures and sometimes get lost and suddenly I realize I've spent 3 hours playing with the pictures and have no time left for text. Ah well!
A potentially huge disaster was averted yesterday. On Sunday night, I was taking my glasses off and somehow broke them. Panic city!!! Yikes!! Imagine a five day trip to the scenic north unable to see beyond the end of my nose! Fortunately there is an optical wholesaler here in my apartment building. They were able to arrange new frames for me with same day service. It wasn't cheap, but considering the alternative, it was well worth the price. Thank goodness the lenses weren't broken or things could have been very ugly.
Update on the averted disaster: on Wednesday morning, the screw popped out of the glasses and the lens fell out. Aaargh!!! My flight left so early that I couldn't get the glasses fixed before a I left so I traveled to Chiang Mai with limited sight to say the least. Fortunately, Chiang Mai is NOT at the end of the universe and very near the hotel I found a western style optical store. They fixed the frames no charge. I'm hoping that the glasses thing is done now.
As to the Phi Mai trip, I arranged a driver through the hotel. He turned out to be a good guy with fair command of my native language. Isaan is in the northeast bordering on Laos and Cambodia. It is one of the less visited parts of Thailand. For me that was great. One thing I have discovered about myself on this trip is that I absolutely detest being around large groups of tourists. Doesn't matter if they are American, Asian or European, all of the large groups I have encountered are totally annoying. They tend to be loud and disorganized with minimal concept of how to travel. So a huge bonus for me about the trip to Phi Mai was the absence of large tour groups. Several places the guide took me to, I was the only person NOT Thai. While it's not cheap to have a personal guide/driver one can actually see the countryside and interact to some extent with people one would NOT otherwise be able to get 'up close and personal' with. The drive to Phi Mai started out leaving through endless ugly suburbs of Bangkok. And believe me, the suburbs of Bangkok make East Colfax or Woodward Avenue look appealing. After about an hour we began to ascend to the Khorat Plateau. Khorat is a province... well not really... a state.... well not really.... heck let's just say it's an area. I won't attempt to describe the 'governmental' structure of Thailand, it seems similar on the surface to that of America but in reality is not similar at all. We ascended through some mountainous (hilly to those of us living in Colorado) areas that were quite beautiful, passing through a town called Pak Chong where lots of tasty corn is grown. Then we reached the actual plateau which was flat and hot. We passed through rice paddies and villages and towns of varying sizes, skirting Nakhon Ratchasima and Buriram which are quite large eventually reaching the town of Phi Mai. I got checked in to a smallish hotel with a nice pool and aircon that worked. I got to watch the usual Thai tv for a bit until it was time for dinner. The driver took me to a restaurant where I was the only farang and I had a good spicy Isaan style meal. Since they roll up the sidewalks in Phi Mai around 10, after dinner I watched a bit more scintillating Thai tv before crashing.
The next day brought a great breakfast of Shrimp and Rice soup, fresh OJ and the usual Nescafe instant coffee and then we were off to Phanom Rung. It was quite a drive, but the countryside was interesting, to a farang anyway, with rice paddies, villagers and the usual scrubby looking dogs running loose everywhere. The driver took me to the top of Prasat Phanom Rung so that I could walk down. It was built at the top of a fairly imposing hill. On a clear day theoretically one can see Phi Mai from the top. It wasn't clear so I was unable to test that theory. Prasat Phanom Rung sits in between Angkor and Phi Mai and was said to be an important stopping point between the two more important Khmer centers. It's been beautifully restored and at the bottom of the long long long flight of stairs is a great little museum that talks about the history of the restoration and tells the story of the stolen lintel that was later returned by a museum in the USA. Like all the Khmer ruins of this time, it was Hindu.
After Prasat Phanom Rung we went to Prasat Muang Tham which is known as the lower temple. It is smaller and also nicely restored. On the way to Prasat Muang Tham we passed some rice harvesters whose pictures appear below. Once there, I took a leisurely self guided tour while the driver relaxed in the shade. It was here that I took the picture of the temple dog posted below as well. In Thailand the temples are havens for all kinds of dogs. If anyone at all no longer wants a dog, they can take the dog to any temple and they monks are required to take care of the dog. By taking care of, essentially I mean they feed it and allow it to be there. In Thailand one can insult someone by calling them a temple dog or by saying they are lower than a temple dog. These dogs, while they look scruffy, don't seem to be aggressive at least.
From Prasat Muang Tham, it was back to Phi Mai to see the Khmer ruins I actually traveled to see. Prasat Hin Phimai is said to be the precursor for Angkor Wat. There are definite similarities. The restoration was directed by the same person that directed the initial restoration of Angkor Wat and in both places he did a truly superb job. In some places one can see the blocks and pieces identified with numbers and letters describing where the pieces were found. Great stuff. The next day it was homeward bound. We made a quick stop at some smaller ruins on the way back. The name escapes me and foolish me, I didn't get it written down. It was within ten klicks of Nakhon Ratchasima a city formerly known as Khorat. Below are a number of pictures of what I like to think of as suburban Nakhon Ratchasima. It's just amazing to me that only 10K from a large city one finds such a totally rural and unspoiled area.
The rest of the drive was uneventful and I was sorry to return to the city.
I'm in between trips today and trying to catch up. I made it back to BKK from the long weekend in Phi Mai and environs safe and sound. It was a bit of a drive, but well worthwhile. Sorry to have been so light on the text recently. I've been spending lots of time with the pictures and sometimes get lost and suddenly I realize I've spent 3 hours playing with the pictures and have no time left for text. Ah well!
A potentially huge disaster was averted yesterday. On Sunday night, I was taking my glasses off and somehow broke them. Panic city!!! Yikes!! Imagine a five day trip to the scenic north unable to see beyond the end of my nose! Fortunately there is an optical wholesaler here in my apartment building. They were able to arrange new frames for me with same day service. It wasn't cheap, but considering the alternative, it was well worth the price. Thank goodness the lenses weren't broken or things could have been very ugly.
Update on the averted disaster: on Wednesday morning, the screw popped out of the glasses and the lens fell out. Aaargh!!! My flight left so early that I couldn't get the glasses fixed before a I left so I traveled to Chiang Mai with limited sight to say the least. Fortunately, Chiang Mai is NOT at the end of the universe and very near the hotel I found a western style optical store. They fixed the frames no charge. I'm hoping that the glasses thing is done now.
As to the Phi Mai trip, I arranged a driver through the hotel. He turned out to be a good guy with fair command of my native language. Isaan is in the northeast bordering on Laos and Cambodia. It is one of the less visited parts of Thailand. For me that was great. One thing I have discovered about myself on this trip is that I absolutely detest being around large groups of tourists. Doesn't matter if they are American, Asian or European, all of the large groups I have encountered are totally annoying. They tend to be loud and disorganized with minimal concept of how to travel. So a huge bonus for me about the trip to Phi Mai was the absence of large tour groups. Several places the guide took me to, I was the only person NOT Thai. While it's not cheap to have a personal guide/driver one can actually see the countryside and interact to some extent with people one would NOT otherwise be able to get 'up close and personal' with. The drive to Phi Mai started out leaving through endless ugly suburbs of Bangkok. And believe me, the suburbs of Bangkok make East Colfax or Woodward Avenue look appealing. After about an hour we began to ascend to the Khorat Plateau. Khorat is a province... well not really... a state.... well not really.... heck let's just say it's an area. I won't attempt to describe the 'governmental' structure of Thailand, it seems similar on the surface to that of America but in reality is not similar at all. We ascended through some mountainous (hilly to those of us living in Colorado) areas that were quite beautiful, passing through a town called Pak Chong where lots of tasty corn is grown. Then we reached the actual plateau which was flat and hot. We passed through rice paddies and villages and towns of varying sizes, skirting Nakhon Ratchasima and Buriram which are quite large eventually reaching the town of Phi Mai. I got checked in to a smallish hotel with a nice pool and aircon that worked. I got to watch the usual Thai tv for a bit until it was time for dinner. The driver took me to a restaurant where I was the only farang and I had a good spicy Isaan style meal. Since they roll up the sidewalks in Phi Mai around 10, after dinner I watched a bit more scintillating Thai tv before crashing.
The next day brought a great breakfast of Shrimp and Rice soup, fresh OJ and the usual Nescafe instant coffee and then we were off to Phanom Rung. It was quite a drive, but the countryside was interesting, to a farang anyway, with rice paddies, villagers and the usual scrubby looking dogs running loose everywhere. The driver took me to the top of Prasat Phanom Rung so that I could walk down. It was built at the top of a fairly imposing hill. On a clear day theoretically one can see Phi Mai from the top. It wasn't clear so I was unable to test that theory. Prasat Phanom Rung sits in between Angkor and Phi Mai and was said to be an important stopping point between the two more important Khmer centers. It's been beautifully restored and at the bottom of the long long long flight of stairs is a great little museum that talks about the history of the restoration and tells the story of the stolen lintel that was later returned by a museum in the USA. Like all the Khmer ruins of this time, it was Hindu.
After Prasat Phanom Rung we went to Prasat Muang Tham which is known as the lower temple. It is smaller and also nicely restored. On the way to Prasat Muang Tham we passed some rice harvesters whose pictures appear below. Once there, I took a leisurely self guided tour while the driver relaxed in the shade. It was here that I took the picture of the temple dog posted below as well. In Thailand the temples are havens for all kinds of dogs. If anyone at all no longer wants a dog, they can take the dog to any temple and they monks are required to take care of the dog. By taking care of, essentially I mean they feed it and allow it to be there. In Thailand one can insult someone by calling them a temple dog or by saying they are lower than a temple dog. These dogs, while they look scruffy, don't seem to be aggressive at least.
From Prasat Muang Tham, it was back to Phi Mai to see the Khmer ruins I actually traveled to see. Prasat Hin Phimai is said to be the precursor for Angkor Wat. There are definite similarities. The restoration was directed by the same person that directed the initial restoration of Angkor Wat and in both places he did a truly superb job. In some places one can see the blocks and pieces identified with numbers and letters describing where the pieces were found. Great stuff. The next day it was homeward bound. We made a quick stop at some smaller ruins on the way back. The name escapes me and foolish me, I didn't get it written down. It was within ten klicks of Nakhon Ratchasima a city formerly known as Khorat. Below are a number of pictures of what I like to think of as suburban Nakhon Ratchasima. It's just amazing to me that only 10K from a large city one finds such a totally rural and unspoiled area.
The rest of the drive was uneventful and I was sorry to return to the city.