Nong Khai - Sala Keo Kou

This place – just east of Nongkhai city center off the road to Phon Pisai and near the alligator farm – is a large collection of concrete statues. To create these statues was the life aspiration of one man, Luang Pu Bunluea Surirat.

Bunleua Sulilat (1932-1996) was a Thai spiritual cult leader that inspired his followers to build numerous concrete sculptures. While he as a young man studied Buddhism, he grew convinced that the teachings of all regions could and should be mixed together. Therefore, there are Buddha images in different poses, Hindu gods, as well as character figures from the Ramayana epic and from Thai folk legends.

His venture into creating sculptures started in 1958 when he – for reasons I don’t know - ventured into Laos and a “Buddha Park” east of Vientiane. Twenty years later, he commenced work on a new sculpture park, Sala Keo Phou, on the other side of the Mekong River. 

I visited that “Buddha Park” almost 14 years ago and really wondered what purpose such a statue collection located 30 kilometers or so from Vientiane served. 

Now, after my visit to Sala Keo Kou armed with vastly improved proficiency in the local language, I have a better idea about the purpose.

Entrance to the Sala Keo Kou used to be free of charge, but a fee of 20 baht per person must now be paid. It was at first 10 baht (and only for white foreigners), but with such a low fee and with only few farang visitors, no income was generated. The money collected goes to spruce up the park with bushes and flowers and to repair / refurbish the concrete statues and their inscriptions. Weather and age were not kind to the statues, so it had become quite a challenge to read the inscription describing the scene depicted.

Now, things are better and it is recommended that you drop by if you anyway happen to be visiting Nongkhai city. 

Nong Bua Lamphu - Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are everywhere in Isan. I earlier wrote about the very good, but extremely remotely located, dinosaur museum in Kalasin.

http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2011/06/kalasin-isan-jurassic-park.html

A very interesting fossils museum is located in Nakhon Ratchasima and in Nongkhai, a dinosaur (wearing a hat) is found outside the aquarium. What a dinosaur has to do with aquatic life is a mystery to me, but equally baffling is that at its feet are statuettes of pigs and sheep, which also don’t have much to do with marine life.

Nong Bua Lamphu also has a dinosaur museum. The impressively named “150 Million Years Stone Shell Museum” is located on the main road (route 216) between Nong Bua and Udon. There isn’t much advance notice or signage about the existence until an initially puzzling warning sign alerts motorists to the fact they are only a few hundred meters from the entrance to the museum.

The museum is worth a visit but only if you anyway are in that neck of the woods. 

Another point of interest nearby is a temple – off highway east of Nong Bua Lamphu town – which is built entirely out of tree trunks and planks collected from nearby forests. The construction is still on-going (as it has been for a decade) as monks and local villagers chip in whenever construction materials become available.

Nong Bua Lamphu - Erawan Cave

The Erawan cave is located in a limestone cliff near the border to Loei. The cave entrance is reached by climbing a long winding trail of stairs, which – without a hint of irony – is named “Stairway to Heaven”. 

The stairs start at a Erawan statue and - after roughly 600 steps - end at the cave entrance where a large Buddha statue sits staring over the rice fields below.

The cave is very large, well lit, and – unlike other caves – spacious as the inside is “open” and nearly devoid of stalactites  This means that there isn’t much spelunking to do; no challenging tight spots, no risk ascends or descends, no need to carry a torch. In a way, it can be described as a family friendly cave.

Surat Thani - Koh Samui

Bangkok, Koh Samui, and Koh Phangan were my destinations the first time I visited Thailand. Back then- before the airport on Samui opened for commercial flights – things were very different from now. Back then, backpackers and sex addicts were just about the only tourists making it to Thailand and sex tourists didn't venture outside Bangkok.

I remember Bhoput as a tiny sleepy fishing village with a few restaurants – one also served as post office and as a place where one could cash in travelers’ cheques (credit cards were not something backpackers had) – that among other things served omelets with magic mushrooms. On the beaches outside Bhoput there were some small family-run resorts with basic bungalows and basic facilities - nothing like the 10,000 baht/night resort with an artificially enhanced beach (see picture above) that I last Songhkran was cornered into staying at. Having a private hot tub in your room is nice, but it doesn't make my day.

Anyway, back then Bhoput was primarily known as the place one could get on a long-tail boat and head to Koh Phangan. Back then, there was no such thing as full moon parties. Back then, there was no electricity on Had Rin. The bungalows were small huts mostly made of bamboo and banana leaves. At night, people gathered around bonfires, talked, played guitar, drank, and enjoyed being away from civilization. To reach the other parts of the island, one had to take a long-tail boat or walk around a cape to the next beach, but this was only possible at low tide. I decided for a challenge and decided to climb the steep ridge that isolated Had Rin from the rest of the island. That was not a wise move – but I was young and foolish and had plenty of time on my hands – as I ended up drenched in sweat while spending hours trying to navigate my way around dense humid jungle in 30+ degrees Celsius.

Now, Had Rin is full of air conditioned bungalows, tacky souvenir shops, bar beers, and 7-Eleven stores. Not even the illusion of “getting away from civilization” left.

Koh Samui has also gone upscale and become plasiticized (if such a word exists). During my first visit, I had to drive my rented motorcycle into the jungle (track too narrow for cars) and then trek to reach a waterfall. 

Now, what one has to navigate one's way past is not a dense jungle, but a multitude of elephants-for-rent and peddlers of time-share deals.

Between the main road and the beaches of Chawaeng and Lamai, there used to be a tiny dirt road lined with a few basic resorts. Now, these villages have developed into modern towns complete with Starbuck’s and McDonald’s so that it easy for the tourist to forget he / she is not on Ibiza or Miami Beach. Even Big Buddha has succumbed to commercialization.

Memories of back when things were more “original” are all I have left, and to keep them, I tend to avoid visiting Koh Samui.

Petchaburi - Panoen Thung

I visited the viewpoint before:

http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2012/05/petchaburi-kaeng-krachan.html

This time I noticed some warning signs that were way off the mark.

At least during the dry and hot seasons, the road is so good that there is absolutely no need for engaging 4WD, nor is there even on the steepest ascents a need to gear down to first gear. Most ascents can be done in third gear.

On the road to Panoen Thung as well as at the viewpoint, there are plenty of spots for bird watchers to frolic and butterfly enthusiasts can also find plenty of spots to enjoy their hobby. But getting to the viewpoint cannot be considered an off-road challenge.

This time, I went on the track that continues along the top of the ridge after having passed the viewpoint. However, after roughly seven kilometers, the park authorities had blocked the road, so I didn’t reach the waterfall. 

Phang Nga - Koh Surin

When arriving (by boat of course) to the small archipelago Mu Koh Surin, the view is stunning. You feel like you have arrived at the setting for these advertisements seen for Bounty chocolate bars and other goodies peddling images of snow white powdery beach sand and palm trees billowing in a gentle breeze.

Mu Koh Surin is a national park located in the Andaman Sea, 80 minutes by speedboat from the coast. If you do not bring your own tent, basic accommodation (tent or large bungalow) can be provided by the national park on Koh Surin Nua. Due to the limited capacity, it is highly recommended to call in advance if you plan to go over a long weekend where many other often get the same idea. Since there is only one speedboat “ferry” per day, which departs from Kuraburi, you should secure your ticket in advance unless you have the cash to rent you own boat.

Once on the island, there isn't much to do apart from enjoying the sights. The small shop and restaurant close at 8 PM while lights are out by 9 PM. Koh Surin is not a party island like Koh Samed or Koh Phangan – people go to bed (sleeping bag) early and get up early.

There is a nature trail (2+ kilometers long) between the two camps on the island, but most visitors focus their activities on the sea. The bays have wonderfully clear water and coral reefs can be reached after swimming 25-30 minutes. A park ranger told me that corals on lower water depths were killed a couple of years ago when a warm ocean current persisted for too long. But there are still many fish even at the lower water depths.

If it is not up your alley to have to swim 30 minutes before you can start diving to watch corals, then day trips can be arranged where long-tail boats will take you to good snorkel locations. 

Tak - Umphang

Umphang is at the end of the road. Well, not exactly, but after reaching Umphang, there really isn't anything but dead-end roads. Umphang should be a Mecca for nature lovers as there are many waterfalls, rivers, caves, and hot springs to explore. But Umphang's sights aren't easy to reach, one has to take a boat (raft) or trek for hours - or even days - in order to reach them. Umphang is for hard core nature enthusiasts.

Umphang is also difficult to reach. While the provincial capital (Tak) is on the main highway between Chiang Mai and Bangkok, Umphang is over four hours drive from Tak. The last 115 km takes around three hours as the road winds its way around and along the mountain ranges that divide Thailand and Myanmar. 

Umphang is copying Pai and Mae Hong Son by making the serpentine road's 1,219 curves a marketing tool by selling T-shorts and tacky souvenirs stating something along the lines of "I survived the 1,219 curves to reach Umphang". 

However, the people of Umphang should remember that Pai didn't become a hot destination for Bangkokians until after the 2009 movie "Pai in Love". So maybe Umphang should vie to be a location for a funny / romantic Thai movie? "Chua Fah Din Salai" (a movie from 2010, based on an almost 100-year old book) took place in Tak, but was a love story without a happy ending.

That was a detour. Fact is that 10 years ago, there was literally nothing in Pai. Now, it is so crowded during the cold season with tourists that drive there merely in order to be able to say "I survived the many curves to reach Pai" when returning to Bangkok. But not after having had a cup of coffee or two and taken 1,000 photos.  

Around Umphang, there are no towns - only villages. Many people are Karen, which is not surprising when one considers that Tak borders Karen State - one of the 14 states of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. In Umphang, a tiny walking street is created on weekends with low-key entertainment, e. g., magician show for kids and a merry band of park rangers, that ends around 9 PM. 

In summary, Umphang is a great but hard-to-reach destination for nature lovers.