Yasothon Rocket Festival Bun Bang Fai

Bang Fai is not a military exercise but rather a local version of rain dance. The origin of the festival predates Buddha and it is held annually in Laos and in some parts of northeastern Thailand. The general idea was to shoot rockets up in the sky to wake up the rain god (Phaya Thaen) and kick-start the rainy season to bring much-needed water to the rice fields just as the rice planting starts. Later. Buddhist merit-making was added (Bun) thus making the festival "relevant" even as the religious base of the agrarian society changed away from its animist origin.

In Thailand, the biggest rocket firing takes place in Yasothon every second weekend in May. The festival starts Friday evening with concerts of "mor lam sing", the local folk singing. The city's main road is blocked for traffic and about a dozen stages are built to host the shows – music, raunchy skits, comedy, and traditional dance all at maximum decibel and plenty of alcohol.

Saturday, the main street is taken over by parades with floats and dancers that start / end in temples. 

Then Sunday, it is time for the rockets to be fired. Apart from the serious business of rain-making, there is a competition to be the local rocket champ. The team whose rocket goes the highest is declared the winner. Points are also given for beauty of the vapor trail.

For any team whose rocket doesn’t get off the launch pad, it’s tradition that other teams or spectators dump them in the mud.

At Yasothon, the competition rockets come in three sizes, Meun (10,000), Saen (100,000), and Lan (1,000,000), but this year, there were no lan rockets.

Bang Fai Lan are nine metres long and charged with 120 kg of black powder. These may reach altitudes reckoned in kilometers, and travel dozens of kilometers down range (they can go in any direction) while Saen merely disappear into the clouds. Many rockets have parachutes, but most fall where they may.

For more details on the history behind Bun Bang Fai, check out

http://bun-bangfai.blogspot.com/2009/05/rocket-festival-in-transition.html

Ayutthaya - Bang Pa In Palace

This royal palace is located a bit more than an hour’s drive north of Bangkok. Although the history of the palace stretches back to the 1600s, the buildings that can be seen today were mostly constructed during the period 1872-1889 under the reign of King Chulalongkorn.

Most famous (and most photogenic) is probably the Aisawan-Dhipaya-Asana Pavilion, which is located in a large pond in the so-called outer palace area. It is a copy of a pavilion in the Grand Palace in Bangkok and a great representation of traditional Thai architectural style.

In the inner palace, the Uthayan Phumisathian Residential Hall clearly resembles a Swiss chalet and the (smaller) buildings for the ladies of court are also in Western architectural style. However, Wehart Chamrun Royal Residence (a grand mansion) and Ho Withun Thasana (an observatory tower from where the picture is taken) are in Chinese architectural style.

However, apart from seeing the multitude of architectural styles, I mostly enjoy strolling around the lush gardens.

Rachaburi - Khao Krajom

Khao Krajom as most road-signs say (or is it Khao Khrachom as some signs say?) is a mountain top near the border to Myanmar. It is located in Suan Pheung district in Ratchaburi. One the summit, there are camping sites, basic facilities, good views, and a quiet calm as one truly feels far away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Map on sign near creek crossing

To reach the peak at over 1,000 meters above sea level is a challenge many Thai 4WD enthusiasts take on with gusto. During the dry season, it is not much of a challenge. However, the use of 4WD is recommended as one needs to secure grip on a “loose” surface.

Now track is dry and hard, but appears to be soft and slippery during rainy season.

The road from “civilization” to the peak is roughly 8 kilometers, which during the dry season can covered in around 30 minutes. During the rainy season, it takes 40-50 minutes. The first third of the 8 km is paved. During the dry season, the second half gets bumpy and dusty, but is not particularly challenging except for 2-3 spots that require a little bit “extra”.

River or rather creek to be crossed

One spot is a river crossing where people have to overcome mental blocks they may have that prevent them from driving through water. Water depth is unknown and potholes or obstacles can be hidden in the muddy water. I took the optimistic perspective that plenty of other vehicles had crossed before me. So, although alone in the wilderness at the time, I assumed that if those vehicles could cross, so could my vehicle.

To prove it could be done, I crossed back and forth six times. Despite water reaching ten inches up my doors, thus submerging my exhaust pipe in water for over a minute, the engine didn’t stall and no water entered the cabin. However, each time on the way back across the river, the tires would lose grip on the slippery pebbles on the river bed. Each time this happened, it sent some “what-if” thoughts racing through my mind.

The other trouble spots were some steep ascents – most notably the last 300 meters to the peak – where lose rocks and/or soft sand on top of a hard lateritic road surface made wheel spin inevitable. The only way to overcome this was to use the 4WD low range and climb slowly but methodically.

Top of Khao Krajom is within reach, but a final steep ascent awaits.

Except for these steep ascents, the rest of the road can easily be handled in 4WD high range by powering through in second gear and controlling wheel spins on sandy surfaces as / when they happen. Or one can make the journey at a more leisurely pace to potentially sight some wildlife – all I saw was some pheasant hens and a long dark grey snake crossing the road.

I look forward to trying to reach Khao Krajom during the rainy season where I expect the road surface will be slippery due to mud.

Ratchaburi - Huai Khok Mu Viewpoint

Huai Khok Mu is one of thousands of peaks along the Tenasserim Mountain Ridge. With a height of 867 meters, it offers good views of the valleys below.

Due to its close proximity to the Thai-Myanmar border (Mergui is not far away), the Border Patrol Police has a small base at Huai Khok Mu. However, it is not an area of military tension, so there are camping sites (but no bungalows or electricity supply) for people who want to spend the night.

The road to reach the top is a rough dirt road, but 4WD is not mandatory in the dry season. However, at a few locations, there is loose sand on top hard laterite, which can result in slides if one does not know what to do or what to expect.

Ratchaburi - Suan Pheung Revisited

Suan Pheung - see http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2011/10/ratchaburi-suan-pheung.html

Over the past five years, Suan Pheung has developed into a prime weekend destination for proclaimed nature lovers from Bangkok. Key attractions are proximity to Bangkok and that nature ( = mountain views) can be enjoyed from the air-conditioned comfort of your car. As a result of the increasing number of tourists, coffee shops, five star resorts, and cute photo opportunities have mushroomed in the Suan Pheung district.

Swiss Valley in Ratchaburi

One of the first big resorts wanted to imitate Switzerland, which appears to include sheep, tiny horses, and a fake windmill. I may be wrong, but to me, stereotypical Switzerland is about chocolate, cuckoo clocks, and snow-covered peaks.

Another resort has a Tuscan theme while yet another resort attempted to draw attention with a display of cardboard penguins and an igloo. I did not manage to figure out the background for that.

Cambodia - Development Continues Unabated

Although the growth in tourists visiting Sihanoukville has stalled, the tourists continue to flock to Siem Reap in ever increasing numbers. That the economy as a whole grows at a high rate, which is evident in the increasing number of cars on the roads of Phnom Penh. The river bank has become a promenade while the road running along this promenade has become a traffic nightmare.

The luxury cars parked outside Phnom Penh’s fancy night clubs indicate the existence of a class of noveau riche with plenty of cash to spend.

That the Pizza Company (Thailand’s copy of Pizza Hut) has opened up in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville is an indication that the Cambodian middle class is expected to grow. The huge Olympia development a stone throw from the king’s palace is another example of that somebody is willing to bet big money on Cambodia’s future.

During my road trips around Sihanoukville, I ended up west of the refinery and oil terminal. Out there, they were putting the finishing touches on a new power station (co-financed by the Asian Development Bank) as power transformers from China were about to be installed at the substation. I also noticed that work is on-going to (re-) build rail road tracks from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and to Sihanoukville. So, Cambodia wants to become a “modern country”.

An aspect of this is the pursuit of development is the popularity of learning English. Since the government schools are of pretty low standards, people attend private schools in droves. This has resulted in a huge number of private schools or “academies”, which then has forced some ingenuity in terms of naming schools. For example, American Idol International School and Rockefeller School.   

All this makes me conclude: Anybody new to this region better hurry – visit Cambodia now before the good old days with laid back atmosphere and grand old architecture are gone.

Or skip the main tourist destinations and visit Kep or Kampot. 

Cambodia - Sihanoukville Revisited

A couple of years ago, when visiting Sihanoukville, I got the feeling it had become like a town in the wild west – money could buy you anything and opportunities abounded for investors flashing cash. Russian tourists and Russian money (of dubious origin) poured in. Big plans were hatched and entire islands were snapped up (e.g., www.morakotisland.com) by investors with deep pockets.

Now, the situation is quite different. Some of the Russian money men stepped on the wrong toes and their projects went nowhere. The bridge to Koh Phous (Morakot Island) was opened with great fanfare January 1, 2012, but then closed almost immediately thereafter.

Russian tourists no longer flock to the beaches around Sihanoukville, so several hotel projects have been put on hold. For a guy like me, that’s great because I don’t like crowds and the beaches near Sihanoukville are superb.

One side effect the “Russian boom” (although now bust) has had is that the Internet got filled with warnings that the Cambodian islands all were about to be turned into playgrounds for the ultra-rich. Among back-packers, this created a rush to visit these islands before they disappeared. To stay on one or more Cambodian islands became an almost mandatory activity for back-packers passing through Sihanoukville.

As a consequence, the few rustic resorts that were on the islands could not cope with the demand and they expanded capacity. Moreover, entrepreneurs rushed to sign lease agreements and build new resorts in order to meet the demand. Still today, occupancy rates on the islands remain high so more and more bungalows are being built on the islands.

In other words, the big bad Russian plans are no longer a threat to the Cambodian islands, but the demand created by back-packers is gradually resulting in that the Cambodian islands soon will be Paradise Lost just like Koh Samui and Koh Phangan and many other Thai islands are.

Anyway, if you are not a beach freak, there is also a quite nice waterfall to visit while in Sihanoukville. That is, if you can find the dusty road that will take you there. They could do a lot to improve road signage in Cambodia, but I get by with sign language to get directions.

However, some times this approach may result in mistakes and detours, which simply has to be taken as an added experience. In one instance it may take you to a rural village during rice harvest or it may take you through a slum where one gets a taste of what it really entails living on less than USD 2 per day.