Exploring Chanthaburi

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January 15th 2024

Published: January 18th 2024

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Chontaburi

Afternoon tea on Koff cafe , Chontaburi

It was now New Years Day 2024. Susan, Lisa and I picked up a song theow from Chanthaburi bus station and the driver took us across town to a little hotel - the Ploy Buri. Only one young woman on reception when we arrived, but we later realised that the hotel was run by about 5 or 6 women of different ages( maybe generations of the same family) Anyway they were all charming and the first young woman we met was very very helpful. And one of the older ladies gave us a bunch of longans from her garden. We seemed to be the only people staying there and only once saw a family in the reception area who looked as if they were fellow guests.

So armed with Google maps and a recommendation from the receptionist we set off to find lunch. Except we found a cafe called KOFF which had no savoury food so Lisa and Susan had cake and I indulged in the waffle, ice cream and fruit plate( in the photo). Beautiful presentation on a black ceramic plate. We explored along the riverside in the hot afternoon sun. Came across a beautiful Chinese Temple with a

Chontaburi

Chinese temple by the river

golden dragon , mosaic body covered in glinting gold ceramic scales, wrapped around the ceremonial gates.The head was tiled in red, golden and turquoise tiles and all was freshly painted.We crossed backwards and forwards across the river by lovely little bridges. There were a myriad of little streets between the houses, and one of the streets had street art on the walls of people's homes all the way along.

There's a very incongruous grey Catholic Cathedral set in a wide piazza and all around the outside little shops selling figures, many of the Virgin Mary - its official title being The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. We came across a beautiful wooden former grand home, now a guest house. Nobody else in sight and the reception area full of photographs and information (mostly in Thai) We saw very few 'farrangs' ( foreigners ) Apparently Chantaburi is more popular with Thai tourists. Loved the framed mosaic of a cheongsam in pieces of broken traditional Thai blue & white china. Another old shop house now housed a selection of vintage items : old bicycles, rocking horses, hats ,pots and paraphernalia . There were some interesting paintings on the wall and the

Chontaburi

Gorgeous dragon on the temple

young woman in the shop told us that her aunt was the artist. They also sold tasty snacks like roasted cashew nuts with crispy Thai herb leaves and chilli. Yum.

Everywhere we looked along the streets of the old town there was something to delight and enjoy. In no time the afternoon began to cool and it was time to find a riverside place for a cold beer or a G&T. The river hardly moved under a clear blue sky - trees made perfect reflections in the water. As it got darker and the lights of the riverside buildings came on, we spotted an Italian restaurant recommended to us by Dave and Ali, our friends in Cambodia, so finished the day off there with pasta dishes and garlic bread.

January 2nd and our 2nd day in Chontaburi. We were all out of Thai baht and needing a bank or ATM. But needing breakfast more. Our little hotel didn't serve any food at all, not even a simple breakfast. So we set off to explore the cafe breakfast possibilities. The bank wan't going to open until 11am. Quite amusing as many cafes offering 'breakfast ' actually only offered tea

Chontaburi

Chinese temple

and coffee. Whenever we found one with tasty looking croissants on display, they didn't take cards. So in fact we ended up back in the old riverside restaurant where they accepted cards, and had noodles, prawns and watermelon juice for breakfast/ brunch. Not Bad!

We spent an hour or two in Robinsons Department store where we eventually got money changed or money from the ATM. Back at our hotel the lovely receptionist organised a car and driver to take us to the Namtok Phlio National Park on the following day.We set out to explore the other side of the river on foot. We walked to a large park around a lake. Lots of stalls and businesses selling basic furniture. A statue of King Taksin the Great, and many people making use of the exercise apparatus in the cool of the evening. We got back to near our hotel just as the sun was making a spectacular sunset into the river and had our dinner in the garden of Koff. Lisa and I had cold beers and Susan enjoyed 'buy one get one free" on the gin and tonic. On the way back to the hotel we stocked up on

Chontaburi

Chinese temple. Gorgeous colours

muesli, fruit and yogurt so that we wouldn't be searching the streets for breakfast.

Our driver Boy ( his Thai nick name) arrived to take us to Namtok Phlio National Park where we anticipated seeing a lovely waterfall. Boy introduced us to the cleverness of Google translate , speaking into his phone, it being translated into English and me reading it out to Susan and Lisa in the back. He was very interesting and entertaining! He couldn't believe that we intended to walk the trail!

It was a bit bouldery and up and down but it hadn't rained for ages so it wasn't slippery. I must say we were the only hikers we saw on the trail ( which took about 40 minutes) Plenty of young Thai tourists posing for selfies at the entrance but not venturing up the track! Then tracks wound up and down and were easy to follow.

At the end was a grove of trees, a strange rusty looking pyramid shaped structure and a memorial stupa. It is to Queen Sunandha Kumariratana ( !860 - 1880) and it seems that she was one of King Rama V's wives. She drowned in a boating

Chontaburi

Riverside

accident when her boat capsized and the Queen, pregnant with her second child fell into the water. The Queen's guards refused to let any of the many onlookers rescue her as commoners were forbidden to touch a member of the royal family and tragically she died in front of the crowd.. Although she didn't drown in the park, her husband built the memorial stupa there and laid some of her ashes to rest in the pyramid structure. It was a silent and shaded grove..... and I wouldn't like to be there after dark!

Just down the path from the grove we saw the waterfall. As I mentioned before, they haven't had much rain in this area of Thailand for some time, so the cascade of water wasn't as impressive as it apparently can be. It's a favourite destination for Thai tourists, and bathing in the clear pool beneath the waterfall is encouraged. We felt a little unsure at first, but with discreet swimming cosies under our outer clothes and feeling hot and sticky, we decided one by one to take the plunge. The water was quite cold at first and teeming with little fish and medium sized ones. The

Chantaburi

Street art

little ones crowded around our feet in the shallows, taking shy nibbles- very ticklish and making me squeal a little bit! A Thai family were enjoying the waters.... Mum dressed in a T shirt and shorts ( we hoped they'd got a dry change of clothes somewhere!) and the teenage son with a large and corpulent belly, was delighting in throwing himself into the deeper water to create a veritable tsunami which had the other bathers laughing and diving for cover. Luckily the nibbly little fish didn't inhabit the deeper part of the waterfall pool! So we got out, dried ourselves a best we could and dressed discreetly behind a huge rock.

Refreshed , we met up with Boy and his car, and on the way back to the hotel he made some suggestions for where we could go tomorrow, and we agreed on a price for him to drive us to other local attractions the next day. Back at the hotel in Chantaburi town, we set off to explore some other parts of the town. I must say that Wat Bot Muang was a beautiful building , especially as the sun, getting lower in the sky , shed

Chantaburi

Street Art

a warm glow on its painted walls and roofs. And a little highlight for me was when we came across two little dogs taking their exercise in the Wat grounds..... obviously distant relations of my dog Sascha ..... but with thinner coats !This night we ate at a simple restaurant down by the river.

The 4th January and our last day in Chantaburi. Boy arrived on time and we set off for a National Park mangrove swamp in Kung Krabaen bay in his car. Entry was free and there were raised wooden pathways through the mangrove swamp and down to the waterside. So we weren't wading through the swamp and tripping over the tangled roots, and avoiding snakes. It was all very easy. Boy chatted on and wanted to take us to a beauty spot on the coast beloved by Thai tourists. As the road wound towards he National Park there were fierce looking little monkeys all over the road , like miniature highwaymen. Someone had stopped their car to feed them - bad mistake.When we arrived Boy was mortified to see that entrance to this National Park was 30 Thai baht (67p) for Thai nationals and 400 baht

Chantaburi

Cathedral

(£9) for foreigners. Fair enough, we thought, but asked him if it was interesting and beautiful. He couldn't believe that the views were worth so much , and I don't think he'd ever been there himself, so we took his advice and asked him to take us wherever he wanted instead. So we went to a big Wat complex, which according to my photos is called Wat Park Nam Nu. It was 1pm .... so mad dogs and all that. The sun beat down on a really beautiful Wat , completely coved in blue and white mosaics. Just amazing. Again, only Thai tourists there, and I offered to take a photo for two young women who told us they worked in Bangkok and were on holiday, and that we really should see inside. So we shed our shoes and mounted the staircase(which was burning hot on the soles of our feet from the midday sun)

The inside was beautiful too , and the wall frescoes were in the process of being painted. Again we met a lovely Thai woman who quickly called her husband and two children and made the children practise their English on us. The poor teenage

Chantaburi

Waterside walk

daughter was acutely embarrassed by her mum and the little boy ( PhuPhu -not like the toilet she said!) was made to sit on the floor and have his photo taken with Lisa and me.

Our next stop was at Wat Pak Nam where a golden temple gleamed under a blue sky. And outside there were cockerel sculptures in many different sizes- bonkers.

Boy stopped at a pomelo stall where he bought some and we bought some for our breakfast. It was hot and dry and we were happy to just take Boy's scenic route back to Chantaburi. It was good just to see the Thai countryside and everyone just going about their daily business.

So on our last evening we went to the Italian restaurant down by the river, Taste, and then walked through the dark streets back to our little hotel to pack and sleep.

In the morning Susan would be taking the bus back to Bangkok to catch her flight back to Kazakhstan ( works starts on Monday ) and Lisa and I were to catch a mini bus to one of the land border crossings into Cambodia. The next mini adventure and

Chantaburi

Old family house , now a hotel

to meet up with friends Dave and Ali who have been residents of Siem Reap for year now.

And just to say that this blog isn't in REAL time .It's really 18th January and the above all happened about two weeks ago. I'm really staying at a friend's home in Singapore now and giving her a bit of company while she recovers after major surgery

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