Ban San Sai

We seem to have caught the tail of the monsoon season and woke up to a comfortable 25° following the torrential rain in the night.

Our first stop was only about 18 km away from Kamphaeng Phet. We were curious about the Phra Roang hot springs and were certainly not disappointed. There are foot baths and hot and cold wells dotted around lovely gardens with plenty of pretty places to enjoy a picnic or just relax. We took the time to bathe our feet and took photographs with a pleasant Thai couple doing the same.

There was little traffic, but a lot of rain on the road as far as Tak. From there a broad, well maintained road takes you up into the hills to the border town of Mae Sot. It's a sinewy road, rather steep in places, fairly challenging owing to the heavy lorries who do not stick to the left. But the rain stopped and the clouds cleared and Mae Sot greeted us with a sunny sky.

Having checked in at the Monte Hotel into a modern, functional room, we headed towards the Friendship Bridge, expecting to find Burmese and colourful hill tribe folks milling round the market. Instead, the bridge was closed and the border to Myanmar was shut off with rolls of barbed wire. Friendship my foot! The market was noticeably quiet and the storekeepers half asleep.

So we decided to visit the Burmese style Wat Thai Wattharam, a serene temple complex glittering with gold, which immediately raised our spirits. This was one of the most elaborate temples we have ever seen and soooo photogenic in the bright sun.

But being even more fond of natural beauty, we wanted to find the Mae Kasa hot springs while it was still sunny. Alas, we were not sufficiently prepared to find the place. Instead we enjoyed a rural drive along the Burmese border, parallel to the Mywaddy River, where school children were returning home in funny little open taxis and the farmers were busy emptying their dried rice crops into huge plastic bags to await collection for the rice mills. Single villagers were pushing stroppy water buffaloes along the roadside. This was Thailand as we love to experience it!

Back in town we called in at Wat Mani Phra Son, which previous visitors had described as out of the ordinary. It was a complete contrast to the first temple of the day. A bit scrubby really, with many flea-bitten soi dogs and a few plump, uncommunicative monks sitting around. The architecture was simpler. We had read that the temple is equipped with a sauna, which sends off whiffs of lemongrass. We did not find this, but there was a sort of outside gym.

Outside the temple we had a short stroll round the narrow streets, all one way these days, teeming with small shops and businesses, but the traffic was pretty heavy, so we gave up. Our evening meal was s simple affair in a basic restaurant near the hotel.Read more