Thailand Naturally (page 6 of 13)

Many people come daily to pay their respects and add a figurine to the ones already densely lined up on the forecourt. Hundreds of roosters and horses, mainly.



We saw something similar in Ayutthaya—a multitude of figurines like these outside a temple—and I wondered what they were doing there. Maybe it was a tribute there too... Thanks for the clue! :)

This brief stop in Tak ends with a visit to the night market. Kids play, birds keep an eye out for something to snatch, we don’t go unnoticed as lone farangs, but everyone smiles at us. Definitely need to come back...

Wow, that makes me want to go!

Thanks again, Joël! Thailand lends itself more to landscape or temple photos than wildlife. And yours really highlight the places you’ve been through 🙂

Thanks for the shout-out on my travel journal, by the way—things are about to get wild again 😉

Thanks again Joël, Thailand lends itself more to landscape or temple photos than wildlife. And yours really highlight the places you’ve been through 🙂

Thanks for the shout-out on my travel journal, by the way—it’s about to get wild again 😉

Now I’m looking at animal photos... (I’m only at the start, but this journal looks amazing!!!!) Thanks, guys, like I don’t already waste enough time on the Thailand forum... 😛

Thanks again for showing your interest. As for the end of what you wrote, you have no idea how spot-on you are—you’ll get confirmation in the coming weeks...

UTHAI THANI REGION

The Uthai Thani region is a concentrated slice of natural Thailand, and we decided to spend more time there than usual, sensing we’d made a good call.

And we were lucky—just as we were finalizing our trip, we noticed that on top of the fairly decent hotel options, a new high-quality place with a lovely pool had just opened. We jumped at the chance, even though it’s located on the outskirts of town. Plus, you should know that in Uthai Thani, you’ll only find one old tuk-tuk driver with an old tuk-tuk, the only one who speaks basic English. Here, you’ll need to figure things out another way.



Unsurprisingly, our first visit was to the temple on the hill overlooking the city, offering a great view. Before climbing the 449 steps, the lower part of the temple at the base of the hill features a bronze Buddha statue from the Sukhothai period. That morning, a tray of pork portions and four basins of eggs were offered to it. We also found a statue of Luang Pho Yaem, the monk who founded this temple.











The upper part is under renovation, but it houses a large Buddha under glass that appears to be in the Burmese style. There’s also a pot-bellied Buddha with a large hollow where its belly button should be—parents tell their kids to toss coins in it for fun!

At the other end of the plateau, there’s a pavilion with a statue of Rama I’s father. In fact, this man was originally from Uthai Thani.

Another ancient temple in the city still bears the marks of the terrible 2011 floods, as it’s located by the river. Old royal barges are carefully preserved there. The mural paintings are over a century old—those untouched by the water have remained in good condition thanks to the care put into their creation.











As every day on our journey, we came across a tiny hybrid creature—half little angel, half cuddle-head...











We also didn’t go unnoticed at the Saturday Night Market, where rural folks make a rare appearance in the city.







The blue hour...

Don’t worry, Joël—I’ve been following this travel journal closely even if I don’t comment 😉. Actually, I’ll need to plan a little trip to the Land of Smiles soon because I really want to go back 😎.

Well, all of this has a particularly soothing effect after a day at work... Thanks Joel (and Françoise!) :)

Excellent comment! 🙂

Great comment! 🙂

Going with the flow 😛

And goodness knows it’s growing more and more at this age! 😉

It's not just him who's letting himself go, unfortunately! Those unsightly love handles and little round belly... Oh no, girls won’t be looking at me anymore—so long to the "hello Handsome man!" 🤪

I’m surprised—though nothing surprises me anymore, who knows, Charles... In every little town in Thailand, at least once a week, there’s a big market with sometimes hundreds of vendors selling all sorts of things... I’ve always wondered how most of them make a living after deducting the cost of their often brand-new pickup truck, the fuel to get there, their wages, and the price of the stuff they sell...

Thanks, Joël and Françoise, for continuing to share your perspective on Thailand. 🙂

A great day of exploring. At the foot of a hill, a bit in the middle of nowhere, a wooden temple blends harmoniously into the vegetation. The locals provided the raw materials. The monks set up a large fish pond, a flower garden, and an artificial waterfall.















After that, we went to see the most beautiful waterfall in the area. Sure, you can spot it from the road in several places, but that’s not enough. The problem is, the lack of information often makes it hard to know what to expect in terms of difficulty. Tourist sites and blogs are at best vague, if not downright contradictory—and unfortunately, that’s the norm.

Actually, once we managed to find the narrow access to the site, we first had to go down about a hundred concrete steps, cross a stream bordering a small waterfall, and that’s when we found ourselves deep in the forest with a rickety metal staircase in front of us, fixed in places rather precariously.

Is that the waterfall? It's a bit small, don't you have any photos of the iron staircase?

This metal staircase winds around the rocky outcrop, snakes out of sight into the dense forest, and you don’t realize you’ll have to climb 458 steps if you’ve got the courage (or the recklessness?). It vibrates, shakes, creaks.

As often happens, the reward matches the effort. The site is exceptional, the viewpoint stunning. And when you turn around to head back down, you think it’s almost like a walk through the canopy.

The Thais call this the most beautiful waterfall in the region because the water bounces off several rocks and scatters into thin streams. It’s more aesthetic and delicate than a typical waterfall where the water plunges in one solid sheet. The water flow, like milk flow, depends on rainfall and the udder’s batch. 😏

https://youtu.be/zyLZTlmQP1Q

In video it’s really pretty, and in photos it should look great with a wide-angle lens!

Well, I didn’t have a Land Rover to get me there with all my gear. And come on, you can see the staircase was too narrow to carry a wide-angle lens! 😛

Land Rover to get me there with all my gear.

😏 😏 To be precise, a Land Cruiser

Little nature break...

https://youtu.be/nTSfiBcPoPU