Thread: Day Trip to Chai Badan, Lopburi Province

Last weekend was a long 4 day holiday weekend for Thais, culminating with Mother's Day on Tuesday, August 12. My wife gets public holidays off in her line of work, so we had some time to kill over the weekend. On Saturday, we took a day trip to Pathum Thani, which I posted briefly about in the farang pad thai news story (Farang Pad Thai Vendor Charms Local Thais). We did stuff around the local town on Sunday and Monday, and by the time Tuesday came around, we figured we needed to take advantage of the day and have a little fun.

We are located in Lopburi province, most of which is farm country with an abundance of sugar cane and corn, along with other crops. There are a few sights to see, many of which we have taken in before. This time we decided to try something new, and packed up a few things for a day drip to the Chai Badan district. I had known from past forays of a scenic route through the heart of the province, so we decided to take that and see what we could find. This is a route that the locals know about, but the general visitor would probably never think to take.

It was a beautiful day for a ride with blue sky intermixed with drifting clouds. At this time of year the air can be very clear and it was, unlike the hazy air we get during the cane harvesting season between December and April. Most of the photos I will post are of the rural scenery as we drove along the way.

Here's a map of the route with starting point A being the town of Khok Samrong. Point B is a highway junction near Sa Bot. Point 3 is the city of Lam Narai. Point D ended up as our final destination, Wat Kan Luang waterfall. Distance traveled one way was about 82 kilometers, allowing for a very easy pace. We opted for the same route for the return trip. As an alternative we could have gone back through the Tha Luang district where the Pasak Chonlasit reservoir is.

Riding through the countryside on a highway uncluttered with traffic. This is highway 3326.

We've just turned onto highway 2321 and start towards the hills.

Highway 2321 heading east towards the Chai Badan district. The road condition is not bad. A few patches here and there, but no big problems.

Gently rolling hills and lush greenery.

Entering the city of Lam Narai. There is a rail line through town that goes north into Nakhon Racthasima province. It's a nice small city that is concentrated around the junction of 2 main highways. We took a walk around and talked to some of the locals about things to see in the area and were told of a nice waterfall about 15 kilometers from there. So we decided to head on over to check it out.

The sign at the entrance to the waterfall area, where there is also an arboretum to walk around and see the plants and statuary. Admission is free!

This is the river just above the falls.

Here are the falls. Not a huge cascade, but a gentle stepped arrangement, just right for the kids to clamber all over and have fun.

There are many food vendors to choose from along with shops selling tourist items for the Thai visitors. We chose a restaurant overlooking the river and had a nice lunch of grilled chicken, som tam and sticky rice.

After lunch we walked across a suspension bridge strung across the river.

A view of the river below the suspension bridge. A little difficult to see as there was so much lush vegetation.

Some of the statues in the gardens.

A view of the countryside as we headed back towards Lam Narai.

Since I am a rail fan, I made sure we stopped by the Lam Narai train station.

As luck would have it, we got to see two trains; a Bangkok bound passenger train, and a freight loaded with concrete sleepers headed towards Korat.

How to entertain yourself in Rural Thailand.

Superb effort.

Thanks for sharing.

Looks like a great place for a day out, Sumo. Though it's more enjoyable when not many people are around, it is nice to see all the families out having a good time together.

This time of year the countryside is so fresh and lush. Nice pics!

i cant see any pics. i will try again later....

^
The photos were posted using the TD gallery and are of moderate size (800x600). Not sure what could be keeping them from showing on your browser.

Good thread Sumo, thanks for taking the trouble.

same again,enjoyed your post Sumo, makes me Home sick! the roads are better there then here in Oz!

Really enjoyable thread Sumo, thanks for making the effort to take the photos then post it all.