After an hour of driving up the highway north of Bangkok with my good buddy and fellow photography buff John, talking, catching up on recent life events, looking around enjoying the Thai countryside . . . this comes into view up against a nearby hill . . . . . why not drive up there and check it out, after all, that's what a photo ramble is all about.
Our sense of anticipation heightened as we approached.
Our curiosity was rewarded with this magnificent wat.
Thai Buddhist wats are never the same. They are filled with idiosyncratic decoration and images.
There are a lot of these giant Buddha statues around Thailand, but I think this one is perhaps the most aesthetically rendered of them all.
The golden Buddha was also spectacular.
Some of the wat structure seemed to still be under construction, like this wat altar. Beautiful
This stacked Buddha altar, in this light, was phenomenal.
The ceiling of this under-construction temple structure was also interesting.
Surface textures are among my favorite photo subjects. I was not disappointed at this wat.
After taking a number of selfies to post on Facebook, we left this amazing hillside Big Buddha wat. It was still early in the morning and we had three more hours of driving to get to our goal (although we are always open to side trips).
RAMBLE PART ONE:
Si Thep Historical Park & nearby hilltop temple
Our first stop was at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Si Thep Historical Park, an ancient city that was inhabited from the 3rd century until the 13th century.
There are many archeological sites in this park and you can access them by taking the shuttle bus around the park (included in the park entrance fee). You can hop on and off any bus that comes around.
This is a photo taken from a drone flyover of the park . . . taken from an excellent Si Thep Historical web site.
We hopped on the park shuttle bus and got off at the first stop. The ruins were impressive foundations of a civilization that had flourished a long time ago - 1500 years ago.
We hopped off at the next stop . . . and were stopped in our tracks with amazement! These were fantastic ruins . . . ones we knew little about before. This was going to be a fun exploration.
Ancient temple (Prang Si Thep) from the time of Ankor Wat, but not of the same civilization. These are from the Dvaravati (12th– 16th Buddhist century) culture. Fantastic.
Outstanding 1000 year old brickwork.
I believe these rough stones would have been covered with white plaster, and perhaps painted, during the heyday of this temple.
Another nearby chedi (Prang Song Phi Nong) was not so well preserved, but interesting nevertheless.
A remarkably well-preserved decorative door plinth from the 8th century.
The sign says, DO NOT CLIMB.
Although the sign said not to climb on the ruins, it didn't say you couldn't go inside the door.
The 8th century chedi interior . . . what remains of it.
An ancient cistern or pond or pool.
Some plaster is still visible after 1500 years.
A decorative part of a long lost temple or route marker.
We enjoyed ourselves as we wandered around the park grounds, taking photos of the ancient monuments.
We were walking around in this strange forest within the park looking for another chedi/temple, Khao Klang Nai, that was suppose to have remarkable stone carvings.
There it is!
There it was, Khao Klang Nai, a 5th century chedi/pyramid.
There was a weather covering on one side of the chedi, protecting the ancient 1500 year old stone carvings.
Another Aztec-like carved panel.
There were 30-40 of these fantastical carvings, too many to show here.
Extraordinary decorative art, 1500 years old.
We reluctantly moved on from this incredible site.
Enjoy this slide show of more of these amazing 8th century stone carvings.
We walked back to this snack bar area and waited for the shuttle bus to take us back to the car park. There was another section to the historical park that required us to drive.
A 15 minute drive away we found Khao Klang Nok, which served as a Buddhist temple and monastery from the 8th to the 13th centuries.
Khao Klang Nok (Si Thep) is a mainly fired red brick structure, with the volcanic stones used on the top. A remarkable structure dating from the 8th century.
The park posted this drone photo of the chedi as it was reconstructed.
8th century brickwork [reconstructed in 2008). Amazing.
I was completely mesmerised by the creativity of this ancient brick architecture.
Still magnificent after all these 13 centuries.
Stairway to the ancient chedi.
I wanted to go up these steps to see what I counld see . . . but they do not want you to climb on the monument. Oh well.
A very informative sign showing the 2008 archeological dig of the ancient city of Si Thep.
The Buddhis chedi is still respected to this day. We enjoyed marvelling at this ancient chedi, but we were moving on . . . it was starting to gt hot, and storm clouds were threatening.
Guided by GoogleMaps, we took to the small country roads in search of the next "point of interest" . . . but found these shepherds and their cows very interesting.
GoogleMaps showed a "Wat Pa Sa Kaeo" chedi (and a photo). We drove to the area, but there as no road leading to it. Instead we found an open gate in the chain link fence and walked towards the chedi we hoped would be there.
We found it, and it was marvelous. It really seemed like a "lost temple." to us.
More incredible bricks similar to the other chedis in the rest of the historical park . . . and from the same era: 8th century.
The chedi was falling over, but some effort had been made to prop it up.
Tere were other small structures within the enclosure of the wat. We were still technically within the broader boundaries of the Historical Park.
A not very informative information sign.
Temples are not the only things of interest here in central Thailand. We moved on from the park.
I always stop for amazing trees.
We set GoogleMaps to route us to the first bird sanctuary an hour away, which took us through this beautiful farm land. But . . . off to the left . . . we spotted hilltop temple. "Let's see if we can find the road up there."
Sure enough, we found an entrance to a wat and drove inside. As it turned out, this wat was highly developed for tourism. We paid a fee, left our car in a large parking lot and rode in the back of a covered pick-up truck up this road (it got very steep and winding) to the top of the large hill.
The first view as we arrived said this was going to be a fantastic place! After much searching, I found the name of this fantastic place: Wat Pa Siri Wattana Wisut.
The view from the hill top was fantastic.
Central Thai farmland as far as the horizon.
Recently flooded and ploughed rice paddy.
We sat here for quite a long time, taking it all in.
There was a giant Buddha image with an alter room beneath.
The altar under the giant Buddha had a exquisite jade Buddha.
After hanging out at the top of the hill for a while we boarded the pick-up taxi and headed back down the hill . . . . where we pulled over to take in this magnificent Hindu-style temple. Wow! What a surprise.
Unlike the other monuments and temples on this hill, the Hindu temple and grounds seemed to be finished with the construction. Very beautiful.
Not all major temples in Thailand are ancient . . . they are still building amazing structures like these. This is living spirituality, not just reverence for the past.
The temple door was open and inviting, so we went inside.
When my eyes finally adjusted to the low light, this is what I saw: a magnificent altar.
I spent some time wandering around the interior of this temple finding the best angles and compositions for photos.
Such remarkable color and architecture.
I could have spent all day here . . . but The Road beckoned.
We found this US$8.oo motel and drove to a nearby good noodle soup and chicken stand for dinner. We just beat the rain. Lucky.
The next morning he hit the road again. We swerved off the big road to the bird park a few times to find large wats and big Buddhas in the landscape. We met this roadside goat herder on of oour side trips.
A small village wat with very 'nieve' art and archecture.
The interior of this rural wat was especially beautifuul.
Very pretty wat grounds there.
This giant monk and elephants is what drew us off the highway.
This aging spirit house told the story of time and wether. We moved on.
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RAMBLE PART TWO:
Bueng Boraphet Bird Park
Our next stop, after a GoogleMaps dead end at another bird park that wasn't there, was the fabulous Bueng Boraphet Bird Park, a 224 square kilometer natural wonder. The park entrance was beautiful, and we knew we were in for a treat.
The park entrance area was very clean, organized and well maintained.
The park web page mentioned boat tours, and sure enough there they were. We paid for a tour . . . we were seemingly the only tourists at the park at the time, so we got a private tour. Nice.
We headed out in these channels into the vast wetlands.
Around the first curve in the canal we spotted our first bird, a white heron.
Around the next bend we saw the only real tree in the park . . . full of birds of all kinds. Fortunately I had my long telephoto lens for close-ups.
I took so many bird photos on our boat trip that I will enter many of them in a separate blog entry.
We moved on to a more open area . . . almost everywhere we looked there were birds sitting in the thickets.
There were some fish traps among the reeds and birds.
Our boat driver/guide was very good at pointing out the different kinds of birds hiding in the rich water plant growth.
The fish traps were fascinating.
We saw fishermen tending their fish traps.
We saw 7-8 longtail boats during our 2-hour boat tour.
Our guide mentioned the Thai names of these birds, but I did not write them down. I'm sorry I didn't get the names of these fascinating birds.
So much beauty to photograph out in the wetlands.
I found this bird passing by just walking on the bottom . . .
Every once in a while a bird would suddenly pop out of the undergrowth and take flight . . . and we quickly panned with our cameras . . . with varying results. I am not a very good bird photographer.
I am better at photographing birds if they sit still!!
But I do get lucky with a flying bird once in a while.
Our guide pointed out this bird and her four chicks (look closely!) scrambling across the water plants. Amazing to see how well adapted they are to their environment.
I am not an amateur bird watcher by any means, but this couple were a wonder to watch. Without the boatman pointing these out we would have never seen them.
There were miles and miles of these water plants covering the wetlands. An ecosystem unique to this lake?
After several hours we turned around and headed back to the dock.
Our flat-bottomed boat pushed through the 'fields' of these lotus pads and flowers on our return.
Just before we reached the dock on our return, this black heron decided to stretch. Thanks!
Back at the park entrance we took selfies in front of these carved birds (of course!).
A slide show of some of the amazing birds we saw.
Our drive from the bird park to Nahkon Sawan city was not as straightforward as we would have liked. GoogleMaps thought this was the best and shortest route. Nope. We backtracked a couple of times and finally found the main road into town after a one hour diversion. Oh well.
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PART THREE:
Nahkon Sawan City
Our last stop was in the city of Nahkon Sawan ("Heavenly City"), in central Thailand, 250kn (160 miles) north of Bangkok.
We woke up at out US$12.00 city center hotel and walked around the area toward a park. Lots of wet season fruits available. Fortunately, we found a sweet and friendly little roadside cart making delicious coffee.
We joined the morning joggers on our walk around the main Nahkon Sawan city park. There was an antique suspension bridge in the middle of it.
A very photogenic tree in the city park.
We walked around the small streets for a while, but knew we would end up at the hilltop wat that domiates the city skyline.
The hilltop wat above the city of Nahkon Sawan is called Wat Khiriwong. You are greeted by this amazing purple glass Buddha near the entry.
As this is a hilltop temple, some of the views give the illusion of being up in the clouds. Amazing.
There are several levels to the hilltop wat. At each level there are more and more beautiful sculptures and sacred structures.
Rooster statuary donations . . . thanks from prayers answered by devotees.
At the higher level we were always reminded of the grand views out over the city and surrounding countryside.
Grand views all around from the top of the temple grounds. Notice the Chinese cemetery (center far right).
Looking down into the Nahkon Sawan city center.
We spotted a giant Buddha statuary below and wondered how we could have missed it!!! The road up to the hilltop wat went right next to it! We would visit it when we got down there again.
From the top we could see the Bueng Boraphet Bird Park we had visited the previous afternoon in the distance (and the hill that overlooked it).
At the very top of the hill was the actual original Wat Khiriwong, abandoned for 600 years before being revived and restored in 1961.
The highest level wat had three floors with Buddha altars with cremated ashes built in.
Many fine golden Buddhas in this wat.
2nd floor ashes receptacles and Buddha altars. Those buried here are no doubt belong to those who have made large donations for the wat restoration.
The top floor held the most amazing altar, chedi, and painted dome.
I have never seen such a beautifully painted dome in any other wat in Thailand. Just fantastic!
A masterpiece of Thai Buddhist art.
We stopped at the entrance on our way out to admire several altars. This one with Buddhas heavily covered with gold leaf.
A small fortune in gold leaf covered this revered old monk.
I loved the use of modern LED lighting behind this altar.
We left Wat Khiriwong happy and peaceful.
We went back down the hill into town and found an alley that would take us to the giant Buddha statue we had seen from the hilltop wat.
The alley has some fine old, weathered traditional Thai wooden houses.
We were not disappointed with this magnificent giant Buddha.
There was a fine and active altar room beneath the giant Buddha.
There was an overgrown "Hell Garden" with several hell beings next to the Big Buddha temple.
The final image from our three daughters and two night adventure in the Nahkon Sawan region. We had a great time.