Another interesting ride out with Ally heading Lamphun way along the river Ping again. This time we were heading further afield with San Pa Tong as our destination to go and check out just what is ‘The Place of Interest’ that is sign posted there.
Once again I will have to point you to Allys site for directions as I got hopelessly lost in recording where we were going after about half an hour.
The river was just as green along the banks but the recent heavy rains and clearance of river vegetation have seen the river turn into a raging muddy brown soup.
Just as well Ally comes armed with her GPS as I do believe that she was struggling to recall her route, having done this previously.
Still its one of the things I enjoy about our rides, when we don’t always know where we are going, that way you tend to stumble over things we weren’t expecting.
I’ve been struggling with an ear infection for a few days now and this did take a bit of the enjoyment of this ride away for a while.
Normally the ,’thisway–thatway’ of it all gets me going;
but by midday my system was screaming out for nourishment, and I could feel myself getting decidedly grumpy with it.
As we looked out for an eating place we came across Wat Patana Tdua, which ,Ally tells me, translates into something like’ Temple that displays an exemplary example’.
This may have been true in its hey day, but right now it is a Temple that shows extreme neglect.
The gigantic Golden Buddha that overlooks the compound is the only thing that looks recently cared for.
Actually, thats not quite true, there are also signs that the gardens are being looked after.
The rest of the buildings in the compound are in various states of delapidation.
Ally dropped a ‘Geo cache’ at this site. An interesting pass time for those of you who like a day out with a difference and something I may well do myself, in the future.
I guess its abit out of the way but my thought was that if they did restore this Wat to its former glory then it could be a big tourist draw, so maybe they shouldn’t.
Not far from here we took lunch at a small cafe in a rural 1 street town, Don Qui Lek. A warm welcome and good food , and some beautiful little flowers.
Feeling much better for having eaten I followed Ally as we wended our way across to San Pa Tong.
It was around 2.30pm by the time we hit San Pa Tong.
Having ridden the main San Pa Tong road several times I , like Ally, have often wondered about ‘the place of interest’, so it was good to finally go and find out.
Just a couple of kilometres down the sign posted road and we came across Wat Ton Kork.
An impressive set of ruins stands in a wooded area at the roadside.
For me it was a bit of an anti-climax as the only significant building was the huge brick Chedi.
I’ve never been able to get too excited about bases of ancient buildings and nothing else.
That said as we headed off toward the river, and home, we found Wiang TahKan, the main ‘ruins’ site of a complete ‘city’. So for any historians out there, I’m sure you’d find it worth the trip.
My delight was the beauty to be found at Wat Tahkan nearby.
In the end we skipped the river run home, opting for a mad wizz down Highway 11 from Lamphun, stopping for coffee and cake at Amazon coffee at the PTT petrol station before parting company to return to our respective homes. Cheers Ally, looking forward to next week.
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