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Wat Luang Porto
The temple is an imposing sight from the highwayKorat - My road tour and overnight stay with a Thai family
Tuesday 1st July
My phone rang at 10.00 am and today I am going out with my friend’s family to visit the the huge new temple Wat Luang Porto and the large Reclining Buddha near Sung Noen. They have also asked me to stay overnight in their village so it is going to be an interesting day. About 11.30 am my friend arrived in a blue Mitsubishi truck with San our driver for today, his son Bell, girlfriend Yong and San’s sister Sit.
Sung Noen is about 45 minutes east of Korat and can be reached by train or bus. The new temple is about 15 minutes by car from Sung Noen and you cannot miss it because of it’s sheer size and location on the side of the highway on the right as you drive towards Bangkok.
Wat Luang Porto is a community project, still under construction and covers a huge area inlcuding parks, ponds and restaurants. The main temple building is cathedral like and if you have been to St Peters Cathedral in Rome it is not as grand but very impressive. There
is a huge 25 metre high Buddha image inside the temple and it will be worth returning to visit again when the building is finished and fully decorated.
After leaving the main temple we rang a long line of bells which you should do with a one baht or ten baht coin, I just followed the family till we reached a smaller temple adjacent to the main building.
Before leaving we had a meal in the restaurant, the temple food was free and out of one big pot and it was delicious, you just need to pay for any soft drinks. There are some amazing Thai orchid displays near the toilet areas adjacent to the restaurant. Before leaving we sat around the ponds full of large catfish and one huge eel before walking in the park area which has some large stone sculptures and immaculate gardens.
Back on to the highway and San was heading in the wrong direction and we nearly ended up half way to Bangkok, so after 25 minutes of driving I explained to him that the Reclining Buddha was just outside Sung Noen town. The map given to me by my hotel is
deceptive as it shows the Buddha a long way from Sung Noen and closer to Khao Yai National Park. We eventually found the Reclining Buddha and San kept stopping and asking the locals for direction. I think San is a bit of a car fanatic as he always stopped to ask the mechanics at the service stations.
The Reclining Buddha is the oldest and largest stone Reclining Buddha in Thailand and well worth a visit. There are other interesting buildings in the same grounds which contain artifacts from the local area and some great wall murals. We had a good look around, I think the family are a bit amused that I am so interested in looking at these sites as they normally would not travel far out of their village to see anything like this.
Going on tour with a Thai family is a great experience but can also be frustrating as San and his girlfriend Yong decided they needed to buy a new car so we ended up spending two hours visiting car dealers on the way back to Korat. It is always hot in the late afternoon and not my idea of fun but the
larger dealers like Mitsubishi rush out with a drink of water for you once you are inside the building.
We stopped at the SaveOne Market in Korat and after fifteen minutes shopping the rain started pouring down, this seems to happen late and nearly every afternoon and into the night. We scrambled back to our truck to keep dry and it was off to the village, stopping on the way for a barbeque meal at an open air but roofed restaurant on the side of the highway. This was my first visit to this type of restaurant and you collect bowls of uncooked meat, seafood and salads and then proceed to cook it yourself on a small barbeque on your table. We used chopsticks, or my hosts did anyway to turn and eat the food. I am still using my spoon in the right hand and fork in the left hand which is still the Thai way for most meals. It was another tasty meal with a huge tube of Chang beer to celebrate what had been a great day out touring. Everyone was still a bit shy about having a foriegner in their midst but by the next
day everyone relaxed including me and I was just like another member of the family.
After driving through the many narrow roads on our way to the village and dropping off San’s girlfriend Yong at her very nice home we picked up some essential supplies including two cases of Chang beer and we eventually got to my home for tonight and a place I would be visiting frequently over the next few days. I met all the extended families living in the three adjacent houses with the grandparents living in one house, uncles, aunties and their children and some friends in the middle house and the family that adopted me for tonight having their own separate home. The families are all rice farmers and the housing is basic but also very clean. As I have said before these are very proud people in Korat and everyone does their part to help the family and extended family.
All the family, relatives and friends sat around greeting and trying to communicate with me, there is little english spoken here, luckily my friend is very fluent in english and we had a nice time with everyone asking me questions, it is
a rarity for a foreigner to be in the village. Grandma ran her hands over my arms as I am relatively hairy and they are not, maybe the first foreigner she has met close up. In any case they all seem to like me and everyone was smiling and inquisitive and kept talking to me about my travels in Thailand. We sat around drinking iced beer and chatting till midnight.
It is not really that hot at night, quite bearable although there are heaps of mosquitos, the local repellent is excellent and keeps the insects away. I was so tired after a busy day with a lot of driving, walking and meeting new friends and it was soon time for bed. I slept on a thin but comfortable matress on the floor with a mosquito net, two fans and small pillow. There are three children and mom and dad sleeping over the two floors of the house which consists of two rooms on the bottom floor and one room at the top divided into sleeping areas with curtains. There are about six huge cows in a shed at the back of the house and a few chickens running around
the yard. The dogs barked ocassionaly during the night but otherwise it is very peacuful here, only the sounds of some insects outside while you drift off to sleep.
I got up about 4.00 am to visit the outside squat toilet and had a huge surprise when a small black frog leaped out of the toilet next to my feet, not really scaring me as I was still half asleep. They reckon there are no frogs near the house but I don’t think I was dreaming. It was not the best night’s sleep I have ever had but I am very happy that the family have taken me into their home for tonight, a wonderful experience that is not on the usual tour itineries.
Wednesday 2nd July
At 6.30 am I woke up and all the kids were getting ready for school and the place was a hive of activity. I just lay there in my temporay bed on the ground floor which is the main walkway of the house as everyone went about having their breakfast. I was so tired I went to bed fully clothed, but nobody was going to peek into my mosquito net,
they were too busy cleaning, washing and preparing for the busy day ahead.
When I went outside the house everyone was up already from the other houses and a glass of iced beer was thrust into my hand for breakfast followed by a bowl of Korat style food which is fairly spicy and a bowl of local rice. They love their beer in this village that is for sure and they are in party mode having me staying the night and touring with them during the daytime. Three of us then went on a ride on the one motorcycle to collect a bag full of duck eggs from a hut in the nearby rice fields. It was still wet from the rain the night before and there was no way I was going out into the lush grasses, although I guess I should have but I am not overy keen on getting wet in the humid conditions here.
Today we are going to Phanom Rung about 125 km from Korat and near the Thai/Cambodian border. Ten of the family climbed into the two trucks and some in the carry tray to start today’s trip. San was in car
selling mode today and we stopped again for an hour while he sold a ute at one of the highway dealers, everyone climbed into the one truck and finally we were on our way to Burriam down the side roads instead of the highway route. It can be very difficult to find some of the landmark sites in Thailand and San kept stopping and asking the locals for directions, a big advantage having a Thai showing you around as I would never find some of these places and not many people can speak english in this region.
It is great fun driving along with everyone chatting, laughing and those in the back of the truck had a carton of beer and a bucket of ice. All of my host family came today except for father who is a community leader and stayed at home to look after the house and animals and attend meetings. Tek the youngest son went to school while Ben who is sixteen had a day off school to come on our road trip. No one from this extended family has ever visited Phnom Rung and they were very excited about today’s trip.
We stopped
first at Prasat Mueang Tam where before entering the temple we walked to the corner restaurant and had another tasty lunch where everyone was fed for about 340 baht - $A14. From the road it does not look much but once inside you will find a magnificent Khmer style temple described in the following info I found on the net.
"This Khmer site has a square layout. Its main structures are 5 brick pagodas built on the same foundation and enclosed by two walls. The 4 doorways are perpendicular to each other and built of sandstone with beautiful designs. The inner wall is made of sandstone and is one long, narrow continuous corridor, called Rabiang Khot. The outer wall is made of laterite. Lintels adorn doorways and the main pagoda, recounting Hindu tales. Another highlight of the site is the 4 large pools between the walls. The edges of the pools have serpent designs with the head at the pool corner. The beauty of this Khmer site is second only to that of Phanom Rung."
This was the first ancient Khmer temple visit for most of the family except for Phimai Historical Park near their home and everyone
except for San was very keen to look around. I don't think San is into touring ancient sites, he just loves to drive everyone around.
Phanom Rung is about 18 km from Prasat Mueang Tam. There is a huge car park and only three of us made the climb up to the temple, everyone else was tired and just shopped at the nearby market stalls. It is hard to beleive they would not make the effort after driving all that way. We were full of expectation as we climbed the stone stairway as you cannot see the temple from it's base. We were not disapointed and when you get further up the stairway you are rewarded with the magnificint site of this grand temple.
"Phanom Rung, its full name is Prasat Hin Phanom Rung (Phanom Rung Stone Castle), is a Khmer temple complex set on the rim of an extinct volcano at 1,320 feet above sea level. It was built in sandstone and laterite in the 10th to 13th centuries. It was a Hindu shrine dedicated to Shiva, and symbolises Mount Kailash, his heavenly dwelling."
The temples that I have seen on this visit to Korat have
been incredible and match everything that I have seen except for maybe a few of the main temples in Cambodia. This region is rarely visited by most tourists to Thailand and in my opinion is a great place to spend at least a few days of your time here.
We spent 1.5 hours looking around the temple before reluctantly walking back to the carpark. It was starting to rain, five of us fitted into the truck and another five had to sit in the tray top meaning they were drenched on the 150 km drive back to our village in Korat. San is a very careful driver and of course we needed to stop again at a car dealership to finalise the sale of his truck.
On the way back to the village we stopped at a market to buy the food for tonight’s meal. We purchased two schapper like fish, a chicken and heaps of vegetables. After picking up another case of Chang beer we finally got back to the village about 7.30 pm, had a few iced beers and a magnificent Korat style meal. The fish was amazing and the rice was home grown. There were
plenty of mosquitos about tonight but more of the local repellant and the insects were nowhere to be seen.
Some of the guys wanted to go to the disco in Korat so after dropping my gear back at the Sripitana Hotel six of us headed for Da Wang Den which I had visited alone the night before. We had a great time and it was much more fun being with my new friends at the disco and we danced to my favourite Caribou and other popular songs. The music, food and atmosphere at this disco is great with about five hundred people singing to the Thai anthems and pop songs through the night.
Thursday 3rd July
We were supposed to be visiting Khao Yai National Park today but as I expected everyone in the village was tired from all the touring with Leon and there were some huge hangovers from the bottle of Johnnie Walker we drank at the disco. I have learnt to drink slowly so I spent the day writing my travel blog, generally relaxing, went to The Mall for some shopping and visited the monument park and Night Bazaar in the old city part
of Korat in the evening. The night market is small but there is plenty of room to walk freely unlike Patpong in Bangkok where you scramble through the narrow walkways.
Later in the night I took a Tuk Tuk to the Living Bar which consists of two large, modern bars, one with a hip/hop style band and the other with the usual pop type music. I stayed for an hour and then went around the corner to the RCA bar which was closed tonight and then went to Bar Nana, another huge disco with a live band which I really enjoyed. The music was very loud and a variety of Thai pop and other upbeat styles. At the discos in Thailand they keep filling your drinks all night, you have your own personal waiters near your table, no wonder most people get fairly drunk, but it is a lot of fun hehe
Click on the pics if you want a larger view and select next to see all the pictures.
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Anthea
non-member comment
You party animal
Hi Leon, I am tired just from reading your blog you must be exhausted but are obviously enjoying yourself. Beer for breakfast what next? Once again the photos and the sharing of your travels are fantastic what a beautiful place, Keep having fun. Anthea.