Jul. 29, 2007
Sao Din
After saying good-bye to my customer in Bangkok early in the morning, I jumped on a skytrain then changed buses three times to get to the airport at least one hour before departure time – 12:15 p.m. The only flight to Nan is by PB Air (flying 4 times a week). As you can imagine, the price is also sky-high at 3,290 baht one way. It was a small aircraft about 50 seats. When we landed at Nan airport, all I could see were small houses and fields (As a matter of fact, I didn’t see a single high-rise building in Nan province during my visit). There is no public transportation at the airport. I hired a private truck to get to town for 100 baht and checked in Nan Guest House, perhaps the closest hotel to the bus station (about 10 minute walk). The hosts (a farang/Thai couple) were friendly but they didn’t seem to know too much about the travel issues I was concerned about. Never mind. I would explore myself. The program for the day is Sao Din, not easily reached by public transportation. I first checked out Fhu Travel, perhaps the only visibly seen travel agency in the center of town. This company is famous for arranging trekking tours but to hire a vehicle from them is extremely expensive – they charge 1,500 baht for a jeep just for a couple of hours. I then went to the bus station and managed to hire a songthaew to go to Sao Din and back for 700 baht. It turned out that the driver hadn’t been there before so it took him some efforts to find the place. Once we were there, I had to admit that it’s really “amazing”.
Also called “Earth Pillars”, Sao Din is a large area of soil erosions south of Nan near the town of Na Noi. I had seen the Stone Forest in Yunnan province of China. Should I call Sao Din an “Earth Forest”? I also saw Yadan Landscape in Xinjiang of China but in Sao Din, trees grow on top of the earth. The shapes of the “pillars” are also quite interesting. To make it even better, there is no entrance fee and I only saw a few visitors.
Back to Nan, I checked out Wat Phumin (the murals inside are worth seeing), the outside of Nan National Museum (closed at 4 p.m.), Wat Chang Kham, Nan River and had a noodle soup on the street for 20 baht.
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| Sao Din |
Jul. 30, 2007
Doi Phukha National Park
Since Nan is less visited by foreigners and Thais usually have their own vehicles, finding transportation in Nan is not that straightforward, especially if you need a vehicle with a driver. Again I talked to hosts at Nan Guest House first. The lady has a relative arranging tours to foreigners. That guy speaks very good English but only has a motorcycle, I needed to visit a couple of places in northern Nan and parts of the roads at the national park are quite steep. He would charge 2,000 baht for the whole trip. I then asked for the possibility of a car. He checked with his driver friend and told me for the same price I could use a songthaew but the driver doesn’t speak English. Since I speak a little bit Thai, the choice is clear. I jumped onto the songthaew – it was 9:30 a.m.
We first stopped at Phatup Cave Forest Park 10 km north of Nan. Entry is free. There are more than 20 caves in the park and most of them are small. To explore all the caves you may need a whole day. I just checked out a few caves near the entrance. The best thing about the park is actually the forest itself – an excellent source for oxygen.
Continuing north, we arrived at the Thai Lue town of Ban Nong Bua and paid respect to the famed Wat Nong Bua. The murals inside the wat are actually less well preserved and less diversified than those in Wat Phumin in the town of Nan. There is a Thai Lue house next to the wat and it looks very similar to those in Xishuangbanna of Yunnan in China.
We had a quick lunch at a small restaurant in the town of Pua (perhaps the best place to have a cooked meal) then headed for a Yao Village 3 km from the town. There are only 4-5 houses built in bamboos but they're quite neat. After saying good-bye to an old Yao couple, we got back to the songthaew and entered Highway 1256 (leading to the national park), one of the most beautiful roads in Thailand.
There are a couple of waterfalls and caves in the park. Many of them are quite far and takes one day trekking to reach. Along Highway 1256 and not too far from the park headquarters, there are only Pha Kong Cave and Ton Tong Waterfall. Since this park is rarely visited by tourists (the motorcycle guide at Nan Guest House told me that he only came here with tourists 2-3 times last year!), there is no map of the park. Coming from Pua, Pha Kong Cave is on the right side of Highway 1256. It’s a very steep road downhill from Highway 1256 (no English sign) and there is a school surrounded by the mountains. A local guide is a must to explore the cave. I was asked to pay 200 baht for the guide. It turned out to be 3 kids (perhaps from the school). The cave is 1.9 km from the school and it takes less than one hour to reach (one way). Just before reaching the cave, you need to cross a driver (yes there is water there). And it was then when I got an animal attached to my bare foot. When I tried to remove it, it didn’t want to go and bit me back. I didn’t feel any pain but did get some blood. The cave itself is not surprisingly interesting. However, the trekking to the cave is not bad. We even picked some natural fruits (including a big melon) one the way back.
Not too far from Pha Kong Cave on the left side of the highway is Ton Tong Waterfall. There is no sign of any kind at all. You can merely see the entrance in the bush. A good indicator is there are a couple of sticks near the entrance. I picked one stick and walked into the tiny path in the bush (the stick turned out to be very helpful for the walk). The trail is all the way downhill (the path is quite narrow but clear – no guide needed). It took me only 10 minutes to hear the stream and finally see the waterfall. The fall is “beautiful” if not too big. Good experience walking in the bush.
Not too far from the waterfall, I passed the national park headquarters. Foreigners are supposed to pay 400 baht entrance fee. I explained in Thai that I work in Thailand. Amazingly they only charged me the local fee of 20 baht. Continuing east we stopped at the famous Chomphu Tree (the driver said flowers can be seen in February) and a view point before reaching the Thin village of Bo Klua.
Bo Klua is famous for the traditional wells used by the Thin people to produce salt. I only saw one near the river surrounded by a few bamboo houses. A small quiet place.
It was a busy day but I didn’t feel tired. When we came back to Nan, I looked at my watch. It was just a little bit after 6 p.m. Tomorrow would be the whole day on the bus to Bangkok (2nd class air-conditioned, 388 baht, 12 hours).
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| Phatup Cave Forest Park |
Overview
Nan is definitely worth visiting although public transportation to the major sites is difficult to impossible (therefore higher cost for transportation). Besides, you probably have to hire a local guide to visit certain sites. Sao Din is really a wonder to be explored and Doi Phukha is one of the best national parks in Thailand. The road to Doi Phukha (Highway 1256) is also one of the most beautiful and pleasant highways in the country.
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