Click on "Menu" below to search Country or City (wait 30 seconds after clicking) or to see Country Guide
Thailand 2020-2022
Khampaeng Phet is just north of Nakhon Sawan. There are some nice things to see there but it is just a nice, relaxing environment and, as I have said before, it is always easy to find fun things anywhere…well, almost anywhere.
As you might know, Vespa is a popular Italian scooter, made famous in post WWII Italian and US movies. I was surprised how popular Vespa is in Europe but here in Thailand where they are double the price of comparable Japanese brand scooters, Vespas are much more prevalent than I ever expected. Here you will see a photo diatribe on local Vespas in Pai, Thailand, a small tourist/farming community in the mountains near Chaing Mai.
In about 1985 I took the slow, local train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai on a hard wooden seat in second class. I guess the average speed was about 50 km/hour, very slow. After many, many hours I got tired or riding, mostly in the parts of the body that come into direct contact with the wooden seat, so I alighted in Nakon Sawan. After almost 40 years later I returned, a few days ago, and found it much more developed, easier to get around and the popular sites still there, of course. Here are some of the best photos I took of temples and scenes.
Wat Khiriwong
Chao Pho Thepharak Chinese temple at the meeting point of 2 rivers, the Ping and Nan which create the Chao Phraya River, the one going through Bankgkok and out to the Gulf of Thailand.
Leaving Pattaya immediately after the vaccination was a MUST! I thoroughly dislike that town. It might be nice for beginning tourists/amateur tourists, but for people who want a nice beach experience and quiet life it is better to find another place. While driving out to find a place to stay in the quiet countryside the rain came down in big sheets. I had some plastic poncho to wear but that means going a slow 50 km/hour to avoid the wind tearing apart my plastic poncho.
The next day I moved on to Nakhon Nayok.
Now and on to Saraburi.
Below you can see the same view during the evening on a long holiday with the festival goers.
Since I had to travel 6 hours by motorcycle to get from Koh Chang to Pattaya to get my second Pfizer vaccination I decided, as usual, to take time, stop one day in Rayong, have some Japanese food at HARU 春 and then relax that evening before moving onto Pattaya the next day. But as the famous philosopher one said, “every long journey starts out with a single ferry ride.”
I always take the back road to Pattaya because it’s more interesting and it avoids the toll roads which don’t allow small motorcycles. On the way I saw a lot of activity at Nong Chap Tao temple so I drove in and found some really interesting things going on. Here are some photos and some videos of the activities.
Once I got to Pattaya it was extremely difficult to find a hotel. Most were closed until December but after driving around and checking the different hotels from Google Maps I found one with a vacancy.
It doesn’t matter where you are or what you’re doing it’s always just so much more refreshing to put a smile on your face and enjoy. But what can make you smile? Maybe some food?
Calm seas are great for swimming but it is also great excitement watching the stormy waves come in from far away and bring all sorts of life to the beach.
Gee found a Hula Hoop. Wow, haven’t seen one for sooooooo many years. Then she went into her moves and shook up the whole community (kidding). She did an admirable job. So, not only does she make a great coffee every morning, along with soy milk and pumpkin juice, she can also hippy-hippy-shake.
When the unusual approaches your hangout it is curiosity that leads to investigation. In this case it was a big jelly lying on the beach. This was a big one, relative to the jellies generally floating in the area. At least jellies don’t jump out of the water and stick holes in your ears as the fish did to Paul several months ago.