Salt Harvesting, Beaches and Temples

After a full day of watching very fast boats I seemed to have taken the very long way to reach Samut Songkhram (สมุทรสงคราม) where I found a hotel. After a long hot day it's wonderful to get a shower and much needed air conditioning.

I have blogged about Samut Songkhram (สมุทรสงคราม) in the past in the Visit Train Market and Floating Markets posts. My hotel was within walking distance of the train market and I didn't even visit it this time and just used it as a pit stop for a night's rest and to cool off.

The following morning, I headed south going through the area of Phetchaburi (เพชรบุรี) where they do Salt Harvesting. It was interesting to see the fields that are setup to collect the salt and then the cones of salt and then seeing men harvesting it. They had sheds or barns with huge piles of salt.

While riding in the salt harvesting area I noticed Wat Nok Pak Ta Le (วัดนอกปากทะเล) which is a temple that looks like a boat. I stopped for a few minutes and took a few pictures.

These statues made me think of the cherubs which I think is defined as "an angel that is represented in art as a beautiful, fat, naked child". Not sure what they are called in a buddhist temple.

My next stop was at the attractive Chaosamran Beach.

My next stop was at Had Puek Tian beach to see the statue of the Phisuea Samut sea ogress (รูปปั้นนางผีเสื้อสมุทร). Don't think any of my pictures turned out well but this was the best one of the few I took. I sat in a coffee shop at this beach and enjoyed a coffee and the view.

I then stopped at Bo Rai Beach (หาดบ่อไร่). It was just a dirt road down to the beach with nothing around. I only saw a few people wading in the water and doing some type of fishing. It was a really pretty looking beach but no places to stay or shops to even buy a bottle of water. If you are looking for a deserted beach you can have all to yourself, this might be the place for you.

My last stop of the day was in the town of Cha-am (ชะอำ) which also is a popular beach mostly with Thai people. I did not do a lot here and didn't take any pictures. I have visited Cha-am in the past and did a blog on Maruekhathayawan Palace.



The following day I took a ride out to Wat Tham Chaeng (วัดถ้ำแจง) and took some pictures of the big Naga statue.

After visiting the Naga statue I sort of rode the back roads going back to my home in Kanchanaburi. It is not really that far but with the temperature around 40c or 100f and humidity around 60% I can't say I really enjoyed the ride. I was happy when I arrived home and took a shower and then had a nap under the AC.

Long Tail Boat Racing Samut Sakhon (แข่งขันเรือเร็ว จังหวัดสมุทรสาคร)

I hopped on the motorcycle and headed to Samut Sakhon (จังหวัดสมุทรสาคร) for another Long Tail Boat Racing event.

Sort of strange to be riding past a number of floating markets without even thinking about stopping but I was heading to see very fast boats rather than slow meandering boats.

The event was rather crowded but got my chair under a tent and the Thai people seemed to put up with this big ugly foreigner that took up a bit more space than everyone else.

It was another roasting hot day but I seemed to endure the heat better than the day at the tractor races.

I have uploaded 2 videos to YouTube of the day's event and hope you enjoy.

Tractor Racing Pathum Thani (การแข่งรถแทรกเตอร์ ปทุมธานี)

I hopped on the bike and rode to Pathum Thani on Sunday morning to go to this tractor racing event. I rode to the temple that I had seen in the posting of this event on facebook but could not seem to find it. I rode a big circle around the temple going about 1 kilometer in each direction but did not find or hear the event. I finally stopped at a shop and tried to ask in Thai where is this and showed them the facebook post. I did not understand a word that the lady said but just went in the direction she pointed and found the event about 2 kilometers away.

Thailand is so damn hot right now I found it hard to do a lot other than sit back in the shade and switch back and forth between drinking beer and drinking water.

I didn't capture much of anything in videos with this 2 second video being the only normal video I took.



I didn't take a single picture at the event so I stole this one from someone on Facebook.

This is the short video I did post while at the event. I messed up on the music but hope you can still enjoy this short.



There were 2 different types of races but the ones I saw the most of were these engines mounted between two wheels with really long handles and a sort of cart the driver rides on. I think they replace the wheels with some sort of paddle boat wheels when the rice fields are full of water and they also do racing with this setup in the wet fields. I hope to see the wet field racing in the future. Following is a picture I found on google of the type of tractors I saw racing.

The drivers seem to switch between standing and squatting as they run the length of the course. Most of the drivers had shin and chest protection as well as helmets and goggles.

This is the other type of tractor I saw them racing which just sort of looks like a long go kart. The picture is another one I stole off google.

I did not last to the end of the days racing and headed out to look for a hotel with AC after about 6 hours of racing. It was a fun day but found the heat of the day brutal. I am second thinking if I want to go to a boat racing event this coming weekend with this current heat.

Bhumibol Dam (เขื่อนภูมิพล)

I had seen signs for Bhumibol Dam (เขื่อนภูมิพล) on my ride to Mae Sot and decided I could go there and back on one tank of fuel so extended my stay in my Tak hotel and went for a ride.

When I got close to the Dam I saw a temple up on a hill and through I should ride up to it but rode around in circles in the a little village at the base and could never figure out how to get to this temple but later found the name to be Wat Phra Bommorrathat.

I crossed over the river and made a stop at Wat Tha Pui (วัดท่าปุย) which had great view of Lower Mae Ping Dam (เขื่อนแม่น้ำปิงตอนล่าง) and the temple I had tried to reach on the other side of the river.

This is the only picture I took at Wat Tha Pui (วัดท่าปุย).

This is a picture of the Lower Mae Ping Dam (เขื่อนแม่น้ำปิงตอนล่าง).

These are a few picture of the Bhumibol Dam (เขื่อนภูมิพล). The Dam was completed in 1964 and was named after King Bhumibol Adulyadej. It is the highest dam in Thailand at 154 m (505 ft) tall.

This is a picture of Bhumibol Reservoir I took while standing on the Bhumibol Dam.

This is a picture taken while standing on the Bhumibol Dam of the area below the Dam.

After a bit of time on the dam I hopped back on the bike and headed back towards the city of Tak. I had rode up on the west side of the river but did not often get views of the river itself.

Going back to Tak Google maps was taking me down the east side of the river but the app was taking me via Route 1 which is a major highway in Thailand. I stopped along Route 1 and got something to eat and tried to plan a route closer to the river and not on the major highway.

The route I ended up taking was a real pleasure, going through little villages with often views of the river. I got to a point where the road along the river joined up again with Route 1 but before getting on the highway I stopped at a restaurant for a Beer and a great view over the Ping River.

I put the above pictures as well as a video of me crossing a bridge in a video on YouTube and it is below.



I spent another day in Tak and did nothing other than being lazy. I then took 2 days to get home stopping every 75 kilometers to make sure I never got low on fuel. I really enjoyed the city of Tak and will have to try this trip again when the war in Iran is finished or at least when the fuel hoarding stops.