Family visit: from Phitsanulok to Nan

Thailand The North: Mountains and Traditions Nan

Update

18/03/2026

By Romain

0

This 4th day takes us from Phitsanulok to Nan, our main destination for the next few days. The journey takes us along secondary roads in order to better enjoy the scenery, including the surroundings of Lake Sirikit, crossed by car via a ferry, towed by a simple small boat! The day will be punctuated by photo stops, often in the middle of the Thai countryside where surely few tourists have passed by.

Our first stop, right on the roadside, a whole line of fruit stalls catches my eye as an amateur photographer, here a mother comes with her child and even here in the middle of nowhere the TV is an essential element.

Just behind there is nothing but fields as far as the eye can see.

After 2 or 3 words with people, it makes for even more fun photos.

The presentation of the fruits is indeed eye-catching.

We set off again on this beautiful straight line.

We leave the main road but it is still straight.

Further on, a group of peasants hard at work.

Fields and his buffalo (in reality, the others were scared when they saw us arrive…).

Wanting to reach a national park that was supposed to be near our route, we followed a small road that became a path once we reached the sign indicating the entrance to the said park. Before it got too difficult, it was time to stop the car and continue on foot.

Not knowing where this is leading us, we will walk for no more than 20 minutes on this path lined with bamboo.

Then there was a sign indicating the largest teak tree in the world which would draw us onto another small road a little further after returning to the main road (towards our objective) which we were following.

This leads into a forest filled with teak trees (obviously…)

And here is the famous tree which we are told lost its splendor after a storm shortened its top.

The venerable tree and next to it on the left a small one recently planted by a member of the royal family.

Another majestic tree near the Sirikit Dam (named after the queen)

This area is part of Khun Sathan National Park.

The water reserve in this dry season is at a rather low level.

Instead of seeing a usual concrete wall, it is a dam covered with stones with a gentler slope.

The landscape is horribly denuded, cleared, burned over large areas for the benefit of agriculture...

As soon as you leave the main roads, the roads are often very quiet (not to say deserted sometimes...)

Another part of the same water reserve of the Sirikit Dam.

In the background we can see a fishing village without knowing yet that it was the stopover village I was looking for, given that we are at the other end of the lake and there is no bridge on the horizon.

Further along this road that we had been following for about thirty kilometers, I had the unpleasant surprise of discovering that it was a dead end, the road suddenly stopping to make way for a small path going down to the edge of the lake.

After going down to find people and ask for directions I found my answer in the form of this boat, if in fact a route is visible on Google Maps (which I used to define my route) and made me say that there was a road and therefore a bridge, in fact this is not the case, it is a passage on a makeshift boat which I had certainly heard about on the net during my research but I had not necessarily thought that it was the obligatory passage!

The family I had just been talking to (well, the father especially) headed towards their car.

And it's a small boat with a tiny motor that pulls it all!

Only 2 cars can be parked at the same time.

The village we saw earlier is getting closer.

There are facilities for fishermen on the lake. Given the grass, they don't really maintain it or it hasn't been used for a long time...

The children bathe in joy and good humor.

It took a good half hour to make the crossing (for 200 baht)

Welcome to Paknai. This village is part of the Si Nan national park.

And it's still just as deforested, like a sad winter landscape...

In any case, we can clearly see that it is the dry season.

Short stop at a local market (towards Na Noi) at sunset.

Then we finally arrive at our hotel after 10 hours of driving (stops included of course, in real terms it takes between 5 and 6 hours)

The hotel is nice from the outside, the common areas (including a fridge) give a rather "family" feel to the whole thing, unfortunately the room is too rustic and dark, like a cabin in the woods, well rustic is okay, I'm not that picky but the worst part is the mattress as hard as a board...

Evening meal, Nan is not Bangkok there are much fewer choices of restaurants at this time of the evening (only around 20pm...)

Roman

When I discovered Thailand in 2006, I certainly didn't expect to settle down there 2 years later! Since then, I've been based in Bangkok and regularly travel throughout the country (especially in the north!). I share my stories, photos, and tips to help plan your trip to Thailand and other Asian countries. This blog is for anyone who wants to discover the land of smiles, who's looking for a bit of adventure, and those who dream of Asia.

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