10 February 2002
Aerial view of Uthai Thani town taken from Wat Sangkat.
| Yesterday morning I took a local bus to Singburi. Just to make sure that I was waiting at the right bus-stand, I asked a man in Thai if I was right. He kept repeating "Ko Singburi". I kept wondering what he was trying to say. Later it dawned on me that he was trying to speak English. Actually he was saying "Go Singburi?". Reached Singburi about an hour later. Asked a parking attendant the way to catch a mini-bus to Wat Phikun Thong. Very nice chap who gave me a lift on his motor-bike to the bus-stand. The temple is situated about 16km from the town. It's a huge complex with a gilded Statue of the Buddha sitting in the middle of a lake. There are other attractions but most of them entail a mini-bus ride to them. After staying a night in Singburi, the next day I took a bus to Uthai Thani. | 
Gilded statue of Buddha in near a lake in Singburi |
Steps leading to Wat Sangkat, Uthai Thani |
Yesterday, I think my cholesterol had a tough time dealing with my vigorous activities. In the morning at about 6am,I went for a 3km jog-a-walk. After that I had a hearty breakfast consisting of a clay pot of beef soup, freshly knead fishcake stir-fried with onion and ginger and a plate of plain rice. Guess how much I had to pay? A mere 40bts for the spread. After the meal, I checked out of the hotel and took a bus to Chainat, reaching about an hour later. There are only 4 or 5 hotels and I went to look for the cheapest one but it was fully booked. Chainat is well-known for their weaving skills and pomeloes, so I thought I'll give it a miss and hurried back to the bus station to catch the next bus to Uthai Thani. Had to walk about 1.5km to the only hotel I know from a brochure and it wasn't cheap according to my standard 200Bts per night .Anyway after putting my luggage and a quick bath, I was already out again, walking another 1.5km to Wat Sangkat. |
| The temple is situated at the top of a hill and you have to climb 559 steps to reach the peak but I had a nice aerial view of the whole town. After resting for some time, it was time to make the journey back to the hotel for a refreshing bath.I think most of my cholesterol in the blood must have succumbed to the ordeal and perished. Had fishball mee for dinner (15Bt) and then it was back to the hotel where I really plonked into bed and slept until this morning at about 4am. | 
Evening market in Uthai Thani |
[ HADYAI
][ AYUTHAYA ][ LOPBURI
][ UTHAI THANI ][ NAKORN
SAWAN ][ PHICIT ][ PHISANULOK
]
[ KAMPAENG
PHET ][ BANGKOK ][ PHRACHUAP
KIRI KHAN ][ PATTANI ]
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