Phrae (แพร่)

I headed to Phrae (แพร่) from  Lampang (ลำปาง). It was a bit of back tracking taking the road that I came to Lampang on from Uttaradit but it was a pretty ride so I still enjoyed it. I was starting to understand why so many motorcyclist love this part of Thailand.

I was headed to a temple of the other side of the city of Phrae and while riding through a town I notices what looked like a pretty temple. I rode through the entrance gate and up the hill. After parking the bike I looked on the phone to figure out the name of the temple and it was one that I have marked on my map to visit but ended up visiting it a little sooner then I had planned. This is one of the things I wish Google maps would change. If you select directions to a place you can no longer seen any of the pins you have on your map. If I want to have a multi stop route I usually have to copy and paste the names of the places I want to stop at to a text file and then copy and paste them again when adding stops in Google Maps.

The temple I planned to see but ended up stumbling into was Phra That Cho Hae Temple (วัดพระธาตุช่อแฮ).

After visiting this temple I rode on up into the mountains and the road I was on was have some work done but I stopped to take the following picture.

I made another unplanned stop but this was not on my list of places to visit but I found Phra That Inkhang (พระธาตุอินทร์แขวน) really beautiful.

I uploaded the following short to YouTube while at this site.



I rode on and finally arrived at the temple I had been heading towards all day, Wat Na Khu Ha (วัดนาคูหา).

This site also had a bamboo walkway that I believe lead to a lying Buddha but I am never sure that bamboo can really support my fat ass so I gave looking for the lying Buddha a miss.

After seeing this temple I looked for the next place to visit and google was sending back the way I came and through the city of Phrae. It looked like I could keep going on the road I was on and then go back west towards the city and my next destination. I added a stop on google maps in the route I wanted to try and rode on up Route 1024. I don't think I saw another motorbike or car on this route until I got to Route 1343 where I turned west. I tried something different for me on the easy sections of 1024, I tried to take a couple of videos and have published parts of those videos and a few pictures in the following video.



After a stop for coffee that is in the video I rode on down the mountain and saw a big Buddha so when I got close I stopped at Phraputtha Rup Phraputthachao Chana Marn (พระพุทธรูปพระพุทธเจ้าชนะมาร) for a couple of pictures.

I really enjoyed taking the long way to get to Phae Mueang Phi Forest Park (แพะเมืองผี). I think this means the city of Phrae Ghost forest park. Not sure what these formations have to do with Ghosts.

I rode on into the city of Phrae after waking around the park on a nature trail. I had picked out a hotel on a booking app but most of the time I do not book it on the app and just show up and ask if they have a room. At the hotel I asked if they had a room and the price but it was much higher than the app. They told me if I book online it was something like 20% cheaper. I said ok I will go book online but just went to a different hotel where I didn't need to do a booking. I think this is often the case in Western countries where prices online are cheaper than in person but think this may be the first time I have encountered this in Thailand. I ended up booking my next 2 hotels online before going to the hotel but that had more to do with the 4 day holiday weekend in Thailand and I knew it might be harder to get a room.

I visited Wat Chom Sawan (วัดจอมสวรรค์) in Phrae the following morning before heading in the direction of Nan (น่าน).