I'm waiting tonight to savor Kate's latest heavenly post
And why would it be the last?
Here I am again 😉
A day in Phetchaburi
72 hours of beach, coconut trees, white sand, pool, and sun loungers is still a lot. To break the relaxing pace of these "sunglasses-swimsuits" days, we set off this morning to visit the small town of Phetchaburi, an hour's drive from the hotel.
It was really a great idea to discover this small, lively, and traditional urban center, quite far from Thailand's usual tourist circuits.
But before wandering through the streets of the town center, we had to change our euros into baht, an operation that turned out to be almost miraculous—more difficult than turning water into wine. I think the employees must have had strict instructions, but it took so long! After presenting my passport, which is normal, I hand over my crisp new 50 euro notes, all clean, and wait to receive my baht, confident. However, I notice that the young woman at the counter looks quite stern. She starts by examining each bill one by one, refuses two that are slightly creased, notes down the numbers, checks something on her screen, conducts another inspection, makes me sign I don’t know how many forms, and finally hands me, after a good 20 minutes, some rather worn-out baht. The transaction is complete. Apparently relieved, she finally cracks a smile, which I happily return. End of the banking suspense...
Leaving the relatively busy street where the bank was located, we head into the small adjacent streets lined with shops. On our right, we spot a gateway leading to a covered market: the Phetchaburi Riverside Old Market. We enter the large wooden hall and stroll among the stalls of vegetables, fruits, and fish. There aren’t many people at this hour, and the atmosphere is truly peaceful. The large central space opens onto a lovely terrace by the river, where a row of small kiosks offer street food.
After crossing the bridge behind the market, we discover a whole collection of temples scattered here and there along a series of small esplanades. The multi-tiered roofs punctuate the landscape with their elegant chopas, sculpted in the shape of bird wings. This walk under an increasingly dazzling sun offers a true explosion of colors: the bright white of the facades, the vivid orange of the roofs and window frames, and the multicolored hues of the surrounding gardens.
As is often the case in these Buddhist places of worship, the atmosphere is both spiritual and serene, without too much overwhelming solemnity, I find. We even enter one of them to see a monk and his cat, both quietly sitting down to lunch.
It’s time for us to do the same, so we head back to the market terrace to have lunch in the coolness of the hall. I later learned that UNESCO has classified Phetchaburi as a "City of Gastronomy" for its very diverse local cuisine, especially its desserts. Nathalie, who must have had some kind of premonition, tries—without knowing it—one of the most popular desserts in this region: a Khanom Mor Gaeng, unless it’s a Khao Lam, or maybe a Khanom Chan???
It’s starting to get really hot, but we decide to visit the Khmer archaeological site of Wat Kamphaeng Laeng after lunch, a 20-minute walk away. The red sandstone prangs in the Khmer style stand like ghosts frozen in time in this vast, grassy, and silent enclosure, where there’s absolutely no one. Everyone explores the ruins at their own pace. Once the visit is over, we sit for a long time on the lawn benches, contemplating these stone memories.
A taxi picks us up at the exit. And we leave this charming little town almost reluctantly. It’s time to return to our swimsuits. In the middle of the afternoon, we still have plenty of time to enjoy the "pool, sun lounger, beach, pool" routine...
