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.

Chickening Out

I left Tak in the morning planning on spending the night in Mae Sot and then onto Umphang (อุ้มผาง). I instead finished the day wondering if I no longer have what it takes to be a traveler.

I was riding a route I had done before and really enjoyed but in the opposite direction this time. I blogged about my ride from Mae Sot to Kamphaeng Phet along route 1175. I didn't take many pictures on this ride in the past so did try to capture a bit of the ride in the following short video I uploaded to YouTube.



I did take one picture in addition to the video.

At the end of Route 1175 I reached the village of Mae Ramat (แม่ระมาด). I rode through one small gas station that appeared to be out of fuel and then onto Wat Don Kaew (วัดดอนแก้ว).

Wat Don Kaew is famous for the marble Buddha image, which was brought from Myanmar. There are 3 of these marble Buddha statues. This one at Wat Don Kaew and one in India and the thrid in Pakistan. If I'd not read this before arriving at the temple I would have not known there was anything special about this Buddha statue from the ones in all the other temples I visit.

After visiting the temple I headed into the town to fill my motorbike since I was down to 1/3 of a tank.

The first station I stopped at was out of fuel and the second I went to had a line of pick-ups out into the highway. I went upto the pump to see if I needed to wait in the que or not and there seemed to be a second que of people filling gas cans. I think I joined this 2nd que until about 15 minutes later this pump seemed to run out of fuel.

All the guys with gas cans in this que moved over to a different pump that seemed to still have fuel. I decided joining the que on the other pump was useless so decided to take my chances of finding another station with fuel before my tank was empty and headed in the direction of Mae Sot.

I found a gas station about 20 kilometers away that was out of the 95% octane fuel that is recommended for my bike but had 91% so I was able to fill the tank. It seemed to be a little bit more expensive than what I usually pay for the 95% fuel but I was happy to not be pushing the bike.

I rode on into Mae Sot trying to look at every gas station I passed to see if they had fuel and it appeared to be about 50-50.

I stopped at a mall in Mae Sot and soaked up a bit of free air conditioning while deciding how to proceed. I quickly decided to give up on the idea of going to Umphang. Umphang is an isolated part of Thailand south of Mae Sot and north of Kanchanaburi along the border of Myanmar. There are no roads that go south into Kanchanaburi and I can't go into Myanmar. I have no way of knowing if fuel hoarding will be an issue in this isolated part of Thailand but I am too much of a chicken to find out.

I have been to Mae Sot before so have seen the sites that I find interesting. I decided not to even look for a hotel in Mae Sot and just to return to Tak.

I am a bit ashamed that I am aborting another trip and wonder if I just don't have the guts that are required to travel any more but I enjoyed the ride back to Tak down route 12 the main highway in this part of the country.

The first gas station in Tak was out of 95 but the second one had it so I was set for another 150K.

I found a hotel in Tak and will decide which direction to travel tomorrow.

Tak (ตาก)

Trying this trip again and hope to make it a bit further this time but not sure it will go smoothly.

This time my concern is fuel. It seems Thai people think that the war in Iran will cause a fuel shortage so Thai people are out stocking up on fuel like Americans stock up on toilet paper.

The first place I stopped was out of the fuel I run in my bike but the next gas station about 5k down the road filled my small tank.

I am going to try and fill my tank at the half full stage on this trip. That means I will be stopping a lot for gas.

I stopped where I aborted my last trip and had to wait for at least 20 minutes with each pump filling one of these big barrels.

Even though I was a bit concerned I made it over 400K on my first day of travel never going below a 1/3 of a tank.

I spent the first night in the city of Tak (ตาก). I have ridden by the city on the other side of the river but this is the first time I have stayed here.

I went out get something to eat and stopped by the river as the sun was setting and snapped a couple pictures.

I find Tak City to be a pretty little place.

Temples on the Long way Home

My first temple stop of the day was at Wat Nong Fai (วัดหนองฝ้าย) but have no idea why I saved this temple on my phone. I didn't find this temple special in any way and did not even a picture. I sometime save sites that are going to have a festival with a band I like but that is just a guess.

My 2nd stop was at Phra Ruesi Park (อุทยานพระฤาษี) and google maps included this in the name of the place "The world's first large hermit park".

I found the following to describe this site. "Phra Ruesi Park in Suphanburi, Thailand, is a unique and culturally significant attraction that offers visitors an immersive experience into the ancient tradition of Ruesi, or hermits The Ruesi or hermits, ascetic sages believed to have achieved enlightenment through rigorous meditation and self-discipline. These figures, often depicted with supernatural powers and deep wisdom." I may look a bit like these hermits but I lack the enlightenment, the rigorous meditation, the supernatural powers and have very little self-discipline but I like to think I have the deep wisdom. On 2nd thought maybe my wisdom is only shallow.

It was really too hot to be wondering around the hermit park taking pictures but I still did it and following are some of the photos I took.

After visiting my fellow hermits at their park, I went on to Wat Sa Long Ruea (วัดสระลงเรือ). The main attraction of this temple is the large boat like structure that is supposed to be a replica of the King's dragon boat.

There is also the very large monk statue but I have not been able to find the name of this monk with google searches.

Following are a few of the pictures I took at this boat like temple.

My last stop of the day before heading home was at Wat Thipsukhontharam (วัดทิพย์สุคนธาราม). The huge standing Buddha image is the main attraction which is surrounded by what I would call a garden or park area. This site was built in 2012 to honor His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on his 84th birthday.

After visiting these temples on a very hot day I was really happy to get home and cool down. I will try and do a bit more planning so the next time I attempt a trip and hopefully I will not abort it after only one night of being away.

If nothing else this short trip did cure my itchy feet feeling for at least a week.