Uttaradit (อุตรดิตถ์)

After the Ghost Festival I set off to see some parts of Thailand's North that I had not visited before or it has been a long time since I've been there. The first stop was the city and province of Uttaradit (อุตรดิตถ์).

It was a nice ride between Lom Sak and Uttaradit. I took route 12 and then turned on small roads that added a bit of time to the ride but I found it a pretty ride.

I checked into a hotel and then went to the monument in the pictures above Phraya Pichai Broken Sword (อนุสาวรีย์พระยาพิชัยดาบหัก). I don't know why there are these plaster rosters at so many sites in Thailand but I often take a picture of them.

There is a half-ton steel sword, the world's largest of this type of steel somewhere around this memorial but I couldn't figure out where it was. After doing a lot of searching on the phone someone said hello to me and seemed to speak English so I asked where the big sword is. She didn't understand big sword but understood the picture on the phone. It is usually in the building I was standing in front of but it was being remolded so couldn't currently be seen.

I went and got something to eat and then back to the hotel.

The next day I rode to Si Satchanalai Historical Park (อุทยานประวัติศาสตร์ศรีสัชนาลัย) in a neighbor province. I spent most of the day walking around the ruins. The heat and humidity just wore me out. I took a lot of pictures so plan to put a slide show together when I return home and will do a post on Si Satchanalai then.

I started the following morning at the Phra Si Phanommat Kondee Muang Laplae Monument (อนุสาวรีย์พระศรีพนมมาศ) and the small market next to it and then rode back to the Laplae City Gate (ซุ้มประตู เมืองลับแล อุตรดิตถ์) and took a picture of it.

I next stopped at Nong Phra Lae Park and enjoyed sitting on a park beach until the nats flying around my eyes drove me a bit crazy.

My next stop was San Lak Mueang Uttaradit (ศาลหลักเมืองอุตรดิตถ์) and the Uttaradit city pillar. Not sure why this interesting truck was at this temple.

The last temple I visited in Uttaradit was Wat Phra Borommathat (Thung Yang) (วัดพระบรมธาตุ) [ทุ่งยั้ง].

It surprised me at how much English I encountered in Uttaradit. It is not a touristy place and not even covered in the Lonely Planet guide book on Thailand but was nice being able to understand people for a change.