Ban Khlong

In an open restaurant area in which three heavy long wooden tables were waiting for breakfast guests, twoThai ladies made us a European-style breakfast using Thai products, which is never satisfying. But gave us the energy to start our city wall walk.

Whoever had mentioned on the internet that Phrae's city wall was mainly intact had got it wrong. From the night market we found the ramparts that led us alongside the moat on a cool leafy path with unwanted views into the prison yard. We admired the Buddhist poles at the place where the North city gate once stood and followed a very unkempt path until it suddenly came to an end. The road we had arrived at was in a quiet residential area with some attractive teak houses. This took us to a bridge crossing the lazy Yom river.

Eventually we arrived at the beautiful Vongburi noble house, also known as the pink mansion, a teak building in the gingerbread style, built by the son of a former ruler. We strolled round, imagining what it must have been like to live here at the end of the nineternth century.

On the way back to our hotel, we passed the temple which the same Vongburi family had built. This one of the sweetest temples I have seen anywhere! All in white and gold with a delicate pink design on the back of the main hall, the complex boasted a stupa on the back of a turtle. A reclining Buddha and, my favourite feature, a bronze statue of Buddha, the wandering preacher, that reminded me of Gandhi, were also featured in this lovely place.

It took us about 2 hours 45 minutes to drive to our wonderful resort in Phitsanulok. The resort has hardly changed since our visit 9 years ago and for me it is The Perfect Hotel. Zen-style, complete with ponds with lotus flowers and waterways everywhere it is calm and calming. We snacked on prawn cakes and spring rolls with pork and a beer, then set off for War Phra Rattana Marharat.

This temple is home to the Buddha image deemed the most beautiful in Thailand, the so-called Chinnarat Buddha. Nevertheless there were relatively few worshippers, so we were able to take our time and enjoy it. The temple is on the whole pretty photogenic, especially at this time of day.

The sun was just setting as we reached another temple on the River Nan. It was full of stray dogs and this new temple is not yet complete, so we didn't linger. Instead we ordered a whisky and coke in the absence of gin at our resort and enjoyed dinner by the lotus pond.Read more