Surin Part 1

I hopped on the motorbike and hit the road towards the providence of Surin.

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 have put in one short video for now but will update it later when I am home and upload more. I only watched the elephant show at this stop but found it fun.



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.

Phetchabun

When riding out of Dan Sai I stopped at a view point and took the last two pictures in my previous post of the masks as well as a picture of the trees in bloom along the road.

I was heading to a road that is supposed to be fun to ride but was really enjoying the road I was on between Loei and Phetchabun. Trees were in bloom along the sides of the road, little traffic, a cool day and very few potholes what more could anyone ask for. I saw a big Buddha a one point and turned in to get a better look. Google Maps said it is called Wat Khraue Hong (วัดเครือหงษ์).

I had seen on YouTube that Route 2331 is a good ride in Phetchbun. An app I sometime use says it is 18K (11 miles) and 1.7K (1 mile) in elevation change. It was a fun ride up the switch backs or hairpin turns but I was surprised how tourist it seemed. It seemed at each cut back turn there was a guy taking my picture. There were signs in Thai around the guy of a Facebook page where I assume I could go and buy a picture of myself.

The next two pictures are at the point on Route 2331 that I turned around and went back down. The road keeps going but there is an entrance fee for Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park to keep going.

I talked about this being touristy and all the buildings in the picture are hotels with views. I think it's a hotspot for Thai tourist or maybe I should say coldspot. With the elevation change it was a bit cool up here and I think that is also something that brings the tourist.

My next site was Wat Phra That Pha Sorn Kaew (วัดพระธาตุผาซ่อนแก้ว). This is one of those temples that pictures pop all the time in travel webpages and YouTubes about Thailand. I guess I am not a good blogger or YouTuber since it has taken me so long to get here.

For a non holiday weekday there were a lot of Thai tourist here. I parked my bike next to a sign that said it cost 20 baht for motorcycle parking but never figured out how I was supposed to pay.

When I got close to the entrance of the site I said hello to a monk in Thai. He sort of pulled me around for awhile telling me what I should take pictures of and at one point a lady joined us and the monk told the lady that I speak Thai which is not really true. It was just really strange and I was sure they were going to want money for a tour at some point. I finally said in my best Thai "I go alone" and walked in the opposite direction they wanted me to go. Maybe I am too concerned with being taken advantage of but I have learned to trust my instincts when things seem wrong. I did enjoy this site on my own after that.

I stopped when back on the main highway and took a picture of the temple off in the distance.

I traveled into the city of Petchabun and found a hotel. The following morning I did the much needed task of laundry.

I visited a few sites in the city of Petchabun starting at the free Phetchabun Intrachai Archeological Hall ( หอโบราณคดีเพ็ชรบูรณ์อินทราชัย). I am writing this less than 2 weeks later and I can't recall anything about this place other than it being full of a school group. I also didn't take any pictures in the hall.

I visited the City Pillar Shrine or San Lak Muang (ศาลหลักเมืองเพชรบูรณ์).

My last stop was at Phetchabura Buddhist Park (พุทธอุทยานเพชรบุระ).

I tried to do another task while in Petchabun City but was a complete failure. I take some pills daily and realized early on this trip that I messed up on 1 pill. I had only brought enough pills for 30 days and meant to bring enough for 40 days. You don't need a prescription for most pills in Thailand and since I got this medication from a doctor in Kanchanaburi and had bought it in a local pharmacy before I assumed no problem.

I stopped at 4 or 5 pharmacies but none of them had this medication. One lady told me in English to keep looking but if I couldn't find it she could order it for me.

I decided to try the local hospital. I spent about an hour and a half giving them my passport, address, height, weight, blood pressure and other medications I take. Then a lady writes something in Thai on a piece of paper and tells me to take it to the pharmacy. She told me we need to know if they have this medication. The ladies in the pharmacy didn't seem to want to tell me that they didn't have it. I had been hearing "don't have" in Thai a lot today so I asked in Thai "Have or No have". I got "No have" to the direct question. I said what I think is Thai for "no problem, thank you".

I went back to the lady that sent me to the pharmacy to tell her they didn't have it and find out what I needed to pay for all the work they had done. She told me she would close the case and no charge.

I ordered the pills online from a Bangkok pharmacy and they were waiting for me when I arrived at my Surin hotel. Live and learn!