Only 24 hours to Petburi!

• Dolly_would...'s Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Sangkhla Buri

Trip Start Jan 20, 2009 Previous
Entry Trip End Jun 2009 Next
Entry

  Sangkhla Buri, Thailand
Thursday, February 5, 2009

It's all a bit cultural up here!  Sangkhlaburi is at the northern most point of a dam which supplies water for most of the west of Thailand and into Bangkok.  It's right on the Burmese border and as such is home to many different peoples claiming refuge from Burma.  As well as Thai and Burmese, their are communities from Mon and Karen people, who have a completely different language, customs and dress (oh and food!).  It really is off the tourist trail and is really friendly. 

I checked in to the recommended guesthouse for the first night but it was all a bit too comfortable - hot water, no holes in the wall and 15baht per item laundry charge!  Moved over to the Burmese Inn for the second two nights and although I share my cabin with an army of ants, several lizards and some spiders, we've established our territories and are quite happy to cohabit!

The lake really is beautiful, even though I'm quite scared of reservoirs!  I became even more scared of this one once I'd learnt about it.  It was created in 1988 and is in the perfect location being at the confluence of 3 major rivers which flowed into the valley and as one out of the bottom.  There are a couple of problems, the first is seismic, the dam is built on a major faultline (I didn't realise there were any in Thailand) and the same line had an earthquake in Myanmar recently which measured 6 on the richter scale!  Also, there was a major town in the way - old Sangkhlaburi.  Not any more, all that remains is the top couple of metres of the temple which you can get a boat out to.  The water's really clear so you can see down into the buildings, really eery!  Felt exactly like Lara Croft but managed to restrain myself from swimming down looking for the lever to empty the lake! 

When the reservoir was built all of the Thai inhabitants were given property in new Sanghklaburi, but many of the refugees lost their homes.  The Mon people have built a new settlement on the other side of the lake which you reach by the longest wooden bridge in Thailand (alledgedly).  It's a completely different pace of life but the children are just as friendly & there's just as many dogs! 

I've learnt a lot more about what is going on in Burma and met people working for a local orphanage (they had a restaurant with really really good vegetarian food) and am thinking about volunteering there for a few weeks when I get back into Thailand.  The only problem is that I probably contracted malaria while I was there and therefore might spend the next few weeks in hospital. 

For the Lewis's I've seen some brilliant birds - something that looked exactly like a buzzard, was the same size as a buzzard and flew like a buzzard, I'm not sure but I think it was an eagle/ a hummingbird about 2 inches long which I thought was a bee / and an amazing kingfisher with the brightest blue wings but about twice the size of English ones.

I left at 6.45am this morning and have travelled by bus to Petchanaburi (Petburi) only 8 solid hours of bus journey broken up by a couple of bus stations about 4 hours south of Bangkok.  The scenery has changed beyond all recognition as we're now back to farmland and flat plains.  The nicest touch was on the motorway on the way here, there are topiary animals every few metres.  I don't know who's job that is but they've got a great imagination!  From here, I plan to travel south, via a national park and then onto the islands. 

Needless to say I am now properly knackered and have probably written a load of rubbish!  So am taking myself off to bed before a busy day of 'watting' tomorrow.  Although maybe I'll have one beer before bed .....

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures

The bridge	The longest bridge in Thailand	View across the lake	Identification required?
The new temple	Fishing nets during an early morning boattrip	The submerged temple	You can swim through the windows!
Tomb raider!

Slideshow Print this entry Share

Previous Entry Next Entry