Sangkhlaburi day 1: on the road from Bangkok and first steps on the lake shore

Here is finally the next article, I am the first to regret not being more regular but between work and our recent move requiring a lot of energy I have few opportunities to really get down to it.

I also struggled with inserting images which no longer worked, my photos now coming from my Picasa web albums.

But encountering recurring problems regarding the management of the blog (hence my tests too) I am seriously thinking of "flying on my own", namely becoming independent of a blog platform and for that:

Long live WordPress!

That's it for today's technical minute. [EDIT: if you're reading this, it's because the part of my blog that was on Over Blog has been migrated, here on WordPress, as planned, and for 3 years, no regrets!]

On the way from Bangkok

The new year is already well underway and here I am only now focusing on our little New Year's getaway, the fact is that it is also the only "vacation" we have had since our stay in Vietnam almost a year ago!

So we went to Sangkhlaburi, west of Bangkok, beyond Kanchanaburi, next to the Burmese border, couldn't be clearer... It's a mountainous region, with its beautifully curved road, its villages scattered along this landscape, which is very pleasant, basically in my eyes the journey alone is worth it. We will stop more than once to take pictures as shown by the ones below.

The route is mainly bordered by more or less steep hills.

Here the road narrows and becomes deserted. Among other things, the fact is that I crashedé direction, we will notice it when struggling at a crossroads, because according to the map we are supposed to go relatively straight all the time, and we were stuck at a junction where the choice was to go left or right but not straight… more than 30 km from the previous crossroads… where we had to turn right… not always easy to find our way without GPS

The correct road actually goes to the other side of this part of the lake (which is part of the Khao Laem reservoir, an artificial water reserve after the construction of a dam in the area)

The road is definitely not as winding as I was led to believe.
had said, and that's just as well since our car is only a city car first and foremost...

From a certain point the road runs alongside the reserve which is
part of a national park.

Many floating houses make up the “villages” in the area.

It is from this bridge that I took 2 of the panoramas. 

As we approach the border it is normal to encounter checks of this type, looking for weapons and possible drugs, weaponsés of shotguns these guys are not here to joke around... For the record I would get checked quickly just on principle that I stopped in the wrong place to admire the view (there is a parking area 10 m further...)

Here the children smile for the photo pose and it's free!

A few kilometers further we arrive at a temple, built in the Burmese style, we can clearly feel that we have reached our destination (more than clearly because in fact it was at the next crossroads on the left less than a kilometer later...)

Unfortunately, we feel that the local population is rather poor.
because the temple lacks maintenance (and therefore donations…)

Opposite there is a whole line of Buddhas.

And to côté another temple building in poor condition.

And finally, placed on the side of the mountain, this reclining Buddhaé.

So, after that we arrived in the "city" itself, city in quotation marks because it's really small (but there's still a 7/11 lol) it's around 16:30 p.m., so it took us a little over 7 hours (including breaks and photo stops).

First steps and immersion at the edge of the lake

At the end of the afternoon, we arrived at our hotel, located just opposite the famous bridge, which I would almost call the main attraction since people don't bother to really visit the surrounding area, but it's ultimately advantageous for us, because as usual, the one who goes to the village where there is no one is us!

And since it's just us, the effect is even better for the local population, in the sense that we're not visiting a "zoo" as is sometimes the case when visiting "villages" in the North of Thailand and we're not disturbing their daily lives.

But this excursion to the Burmese village (actually of a Mon ethnic group originally from Burma to be more precise) will only take place the next day. For the moment, we are content to admire the landscape and to tread our feet on the bridge.

This one is about 400m long and is considered the longest wooden bridge in Thailand, everything was made in a completely artisanal way originally (all by hand!) but it was finally renovated (and not yet finished) which makes it lose a little of its charm in my eyes, because it is indeed a machine this time which is used for the renovation, only a part at the beginning is still original.

[EDIT 2013: The bridge unfortunately collapsed last July (2013) after heavy rains which moved a lot of debris... See the images of the bridge destroyed here which proves that renovation was not enough resistance in the face of nature's fury...]

Don't trust the photo this part of the hotel is under construction and the pool is not
so not yet practicable, on the other hand the place is perfect for admiring the view!

Overview.

The bridge is relatively straight today, before it looked like this:

Knowing that during our stay the water level was relatively low, normally it is at its lowest at the end of the dry season around April and at its highest towards the end of the rainy season in September/October, logical, but here in December the level seemed to me to be already quite dry (although not at its minimum).

Here is a photo (which also dates from before the renovation) to give an idea of ​​the high level, knowing that the houses at the water's edge are all floating and therefore adapt to the seasons.

We were staying at Samprasob resort, our room really looks out right onto the bridge!

A new room for 1800 baht, breakfast included (me
apparently, despite the price displayed at 1500 on their site…)

Photos from their site indicate that the maximum level simply skims the bridge, the difference therefore oscillates between a minimum and maximum of around 40m to 50m!

In contrast, the level here is at its lowest.

Among the floating houses are hotels, for those whose
swimming would tempt them.

In the middle of the beginning of the bridge stands the machinery used for the renovation.

For those on a budget there are always tents,
on the other hand forget it in the rainy season…

With all that, it might be time for us to go to that famous bridge!

For photo enthusiasts many get up early, hoping for beautiful shots.és by attending the offerings made by the faithful in the morning, this is what we will try to do…

The original bridge end.

It's better not to be afraid of heights.

On the other side is a more recent bridge leading to the village Mon (called Wongka) but the journey is much longer than the simple ones 400m from this bridge… But this road is obligatory to go to the village by car.

Lots of people on the bridge, mostly Thai tourists but also locals (mostly Mon), very few "white" tourists like me on the other hand.

Among these "many people", children in particular of which canvassers looking for tourists interested in taking a trip on the river, in fact mainly to go and see the temple on the river, the last vestige of the ancient city, flooded during the construction of the dam. Events is taken for the next day.

Children play in the water while a woman washes her
laundry and another one just “washes” herself, fortunately here the water is much cleaner than in Bangkok…

The sun is already setting.

The agricultural and non-commercial part of the village of Mon is also the poorest.

The entire treeless area is regularly under water.

A little calm!

A house in a part of the village adjoining the bridge.

At the end is the shopping area (mainly shops of
souvenirs and more or less local crafts)

There are many children in the village.

Thanks for the pose!

A quick tour of the surrounding area because night falls quickly.

Opposite is our hotel.

And yet another beautiful day ends, the penultimate one of this year 2010.