Phu Chong Na Yoi National Park is located on the small mountain of Chong Bok. The park opens between 6:00 a.m. and 18:00 p.m., as with many natural sites in Thailand, but the last access point must be a little earlier. In our case, we were passing through quickly after exploring the Surin countryside, on our way to the city of Ubon Ratchathani, where we planned to spend the night.
Not much time to hang around, but enough to see its main attraction, the beautiful Huai Luang waterfall (also called Bak Tew). When we visited in December, the water flow was lower (I've since been there again in April, so it was worse since it was the end of the dry season), but it gives an idea of what it can be like at the end of the rainy season.
Huai Luang Waterfall, a beach in the middle of the jungle
The parking lot is in the middle of a forest of immense trees. You have to go through the checkpoint as for any national park and pay the appropriate amount, in this case it is 20 ฿ for Thais (at the time of our visit), and 200 ฿ for foreigners (adults, half as much for children) and a tax for vehicles, a car in this case is 30 ฿ extra.
At the time, I got away with 200 ฿ in total thanks to my Thai license (instead of 200+20+30 for the car), a small discount of 50 ฿ which would no longer be possible these days...
The waterfall is located below the parking lot. From September to February, it's a popular relaxation spot for Thai tourists because it has a real beach at its foot, with a natural pool of turquoise water perfect for swimming. It plunges 40 meters into the void, and the beach is relatively easy to reach thanks to the stairs built along the rock face (be careful, it can be slippery).
You can hire a guide for a trek in the forest and immerse yourself in the local wildlife. It's possible to spend several days there and see, among other things, other waterfalls or viewpoints like Pha Pheung, a kind of local " Golden Triangle " offering views of both Laos and Cambodia from Thailand.
While we were the last to go back up to the almost empty parking lot, we still had 120km to go to reach Ubon Ratchathani. On the way back down, in addition to the superb sunset, we will see some weather preparing for the night, because yes you have the camping option around here, tents are also available for a few hundred bahts.
For our part, we will sleep in a nice hotel in Ubon itself, the T3 House and by going around the neighborhood we will find a popular restaurant not far from there to end this good day.
This journey along the Cambodian and Laotian borders respectively lengthened the journey by a few hundred km compared to the shortest route passing through Buriram, Surin, Si Sa Ket.
Next stop, Khong Jiam, a small fishing town on the banks of the Mekong, which will be our base for visiting the region and the famous " Sam Phan Bok ", nicknamed the "grand canyon" of Thailand.
