Thailand: A road trip to nowhere fast: Nakhon Sawan- Khao Yai National Park
Monkey Temple Lopburi, hot, dry and filled with entitled monkeys. Not the best temple to visit but it was an experience.
Rising today, I felt alive and full of zing, yesterday’s hurt locker was but a mere distant memory. I was primed and heading south. I’d been googling last night whilst I was waiting for my steak to turn up and came across a place called Khao Yai national park that looked spectacular. So, with no further plans I made that the day’s journey with a detour to see some monkeys in Lopburi at the monkey Temple.
What can i say, monkeys they’re cute sometimes and other days they annoy you. a lot like
Heading out of the city the roads were long, straight, multi lanes and filled with trucks. It seemed the more I headed south and got closer to Bangkok the more chaotic the traffic became. Before I knew it I was travelling on a stretch of highway that had 3 lanes and was wall to wall trucks with the odd car sandwiched in between them. These heavily laden vehicles trundled along at speeds that were either insanely slow or bordering on reckless. Pulling over to top up with go go juice it didn’t take me long to realise I was on national highway number One.
I named this bloke after Angry Phil, because he just hissed at me for not bringing him food. whereas in Angry Phils case he hisses at you if you don’t bring him beer. Both look similar though.
Now for anyone not aware highway One splits Thailand, and you can literally travel from Bangkok all the way to Chaing Rai and beyond into Laos if required. It’s a major thoroughfare and is boring as bat shit, anyone on two wheels avoids it like the plague because of the nothingness and the truck traffic. I’d been dodging it for days now but alas today it was the main road to Lopburi and given the surrounding flat farming land offered nothing of a challenge I figured a quick trip to the monkey temple, refuel and I’d make it to my stepping off point to Khao Yai National Park for the night.
In my books, the random cafes are what it’s all about on a road trip. A simple break can give you so much joy beyond that of a cup of coffee.
To say the Monkey Temple in Lopburi was a bit underwhelming might be doing it some credit. I arrived in the heat of the day; the sun was belting down and it was so hot my phone camera shut down and stopped me taking pictures. Not that there was a lot of pictures to be taken. The main temple ruin was more of an eyesore plonked in the middle of a busy road with several intersections Sure, there were Monkeys, annoying little buggers that hissed at you and carried on like spoilt brats, presumably because I wasn’t inclined to be feeding them. The majority of the males just sat there scratching their bits whilst the females carried around their young in search of treats. About 5 minutes of this was enough for me and this meandering monkey went off in search of some cold iced beverages and a route to the mountains that I’d been missing now for a couple days.
Marilyn Monroe 61 years after her unfortunate death in 1962 and she’s still turning heads.
By mid-afternoon I started seeing signs for Khao Yai National Park and at last I turned off the dreaded highway One. Almost instantly the scenery started to change, the road narrowed, and it gave way from urban sprawl to lush green fields and clumps of forests. Hidden little villages began to pop up all along the road. As if on cue quaint little Bed & Breakfast places and guest houses started to pop up. Late afternoon it was hot, and I was in need of a good feed and cool drink. Google saved the day again. I found a great little guesthouse/resort on the river- Bansuanumnham Pakchong resort (it’s listed as a 2 star but that’s rough in my book). The staff were super friendly and pointed me in the direction of a themed coffee shop called Waterside House. I was the only patron there for a good hour, and its theme was pretty much everything old from America and superheros. It was a quirky place on the river and worth a look.
Even the Blues brothers got a look in here, at this restaurant of randomness.
Dinner took me to another recommendation, Banma Chayna restaurant another quirky themed restaurant that seemingly tried to outdo the coffee shop I’d frequented earlier. This place had no real central idea. It was just random, they loved Marilyn Monroe, Lady Diana and just about everything Hollywood. Also situated on the water it was relaxing, the beer was cold and the food spot on. Overlooking a creek at night with floodlights that discreetly light up the meandering stream set the ambient mood and made for a great way to finish a day on the road to nowhere fast.
