It was a nice day and a fun ride going through parts of the providences of Petchabun, Chaiyaphum, Nakhon Ratchasima and I think a bit of Buriram before entering Surin. I stopped along the way for a night in Nakhon Ratchasima but didn't make a note of the town or hotel name so I now have no idea where I was.
I was riding along route 225 in Chaiyaphum when I saw this entrence to a temple.
Google maps told me it was Wat Khao Bang Hoei Chumphon Simaram (วัดเขาบังเหยชุมพลสีมาราม) .
The temple was an interesting but unplanned stop. My first stop in Surin was the Elephant Study Center about an hour north of the city of Surin.
I only watched the elephant show at this stop but found it fun. Following is the video I have made from the clips I took at the show.
There was also a museum here but there was an additional charge and I'm too cheap to pay the foreigner price so don't know what was in the Elephant museum.
My plan was to find a hotel between the study center and Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai which is about an hour east of Surin city. It was starting to get dark and the hotel where I had planned on staying was full. I kept stopping at hotels and everywhere I went was full or closed. I tried six or seven places and then rode back to Surin city and found a hotel without a problem.
I did not enjoy this ride to the city. My helmet facemask makes it hard to see with the glare from the lights of the oncoming traffic. The facemask also got really dirty from all the insects I was riding into. I was really happy when I arrived at a hotel with a available room.
I have been in Surin a few times with my most recent stay in Surin in 2022.
My first day in Surin all I did was change hotels and checkin to where I would call home for the next 8 nights. Even if it not the same as a real home it's nice to stay in one place for awhile.
I rode out to Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai (วัดสระกำแพงใหญ่) the following day which is in the neighborhooding providence of Si Sa Ket. I'm a bit surprised I haven't been to this temple before since I have visited a less impressive Khmer ruin about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from here.
I also uploaded the following short to YouTube while at the temple and ruin.
The following picture is from a spot away from the temple so am not sure if it's associated with Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai or not. I didn't see anything on Google maps at this spot and would have missed it if I hadn't seen it from the highway so went looking for it after visiting the main temple.
The following day i visited a couple more Khmer Ruins. First was Prasat Chang Pi (ปราสาทช่างปี่).
My second ruin for today was Prasat Mueang Tee (ปราสาทเมืองที).
I could have stopped at both of these sites the day before when coming back from Wat Sa Kamphaeng Yai but decided to use 2 days since I have time to kill before the Elephant Roundup started. I was setting in my hotel and staring at Google maps and found 2 more Khmer sites close that I had not been to as well as a temple that looked interesting.
Before the Khmer sites I visited the Surin National Museum (พิพิธภัณฑ์สถานแห่งชาติสุรินทร์). I don't always enjoy Museums but found this one very interesting.
The Khmer site of Prasat Tanong (ปราสาททนง) was next to a school so I was bombarded with Hellos while walking around here.
Prasat Ban Phlai (ปราสาทบ้านไพล) was the 2nd site I found by just looking at the map app.
Phra Thuat Chedi Sri Mongkhonrat (พระธาตุเจดีย์ศรีมงคลรัตน์) looked pretty from the pictures on Google maps and I think it was worth the ride out to have a look.
I missed a turn so went into this site to make a U-turn and snapped a picture but didn't look for a name.
I had been riding past the Surin City Pillar Shrine (ศาลหลักเมือง) about daily but today I stopped and took some pictures.
This is a bit out of order since it's from my last day in Surin but since Surin Part 2 will be all about the Elephant Roundup I am putting it here.
I went to the Robinson Shopping Mall and there were all these teenager dressed up in costumes. I didn't know what was going on but once I saw groups dancing on stage I assumed it was a contest. I uploaded the following short to YouTube.
Wow that's one long post.
No comments:
Post a Comment