Ubon Ratchathani: A day at Pha Taem National Park
This is the kind of place that could be called “Unseen” in Thailand. At least for foreign tourists, because the national park (and the region in general) is still mostly visited by Thais, especially at this end-of-year period.
The national park is composed, among other things, of a rocky plateau overlooking the valley, with Laos opposite and the Mekong clearly visible below. Its position in the far west of the country therefore makes it the place where the sun rises first in Thailand (“1st sunrise in Siam” as they promote it)
And on this New Year's Eve, many families come here to spend a few nights. There is some entertainment with a party organized by the authorities, but it is above all the chance to witness the very first sunrise in Thailand of the new year, which motivates visitors.
One day is too short to fully enjoy the attractions of the national park, but that's all we had... To tell the truth, it was more precisely half a day that we had since we were arriving from Saphan Bok, rock formations visible on the bed of the Mekong only in this dry season, which we had just visited in the morning (see the article here).
Wat Tham Patithan, the lost temple…
Pha Taem Park, whose full name is Pa Dong Natham Forest Phataem National Park, is relatively large, covering an area of 350 km² (although compared to the country's 102 national parks, it's rather small). Curious as I am, I didn't go directly to Pha Taem, but I started following signs, the famous blue signs indicating places of "interest".
In this way, I landed in the middle of the pampas to visit Wat Tham Patiham or Patithan (see Pa-Ti-Han according to the transcription, not easy to find your way around sometimes…), a lost temple and its small cave.
In the genre of exclusives on Thailand and Asia, here it is. Most of the only information on this place comes from sites grouping places via maps and geographic coordinates. I had once found information on an English-language site (now defunct), mentioning this cave, formed in sandstone, as being one of the longest in Thailand.
The only other information can be seen on the official website of the Ministry of Tourism (in English only), which lists all the places of interest in the country (see here for the temple).
Basically, the exact place I was looking for required venturing out for a long walk (apparently possible in a 4x4, which I didn't have on hand...), like between 10 and 17km. But since we were going to come to the area, we thought we might as well go and take a look at this temple whose path we could see indicated on our left. It was a path with just concrete "laid" on the rock over a width that barely allowed a car to pass...
Where are we going?
The concrete path leading to the temple.
This is the kind of visit I like, a bit unique, not super easy to access, it gives a side of adventure. After and if I took the rather roots path with my city car, I don't know if I would have dared with a simple rental car. But in any case, it is nonetheless essential to have your own vehicle to visit such a place.
Concerning the cave, the part that I visited is composed of 2 rooms, respectively 30 m and 100 m long approximately. The network continues via a gap for some 470 m long, for a ceiling height varying between 2 and 8 m by 15 m wide.
This cave is decorated with Buddha statues, including a large one, lying down. I didn't stay very long, because the cave is also a bat refuge and the smell and high humidity are not the most pleasant.
So I quickly went back up the stairs, lined by 2 nagas in order to join Jitima, who was waiting for me outside in the parking lot. Because yes, as for many temples and sacred places in Thailand, appropriate clothing is necessary… That day in particular, we had not necessarily planned to go to a temple and Jitima only had shorts (admittedly below the knees) and, frustrated, she had therefore not been able to go any further…
For my part, before getting back on the road, I took the time to also take a look at the main building of the temple, located slightly away. The atmosphere and its location give a particular feeling to the temple because everything rests on this rock, even if it remains nonetheless classic in its design.
There we find his pagoda and I can see 3 Buddha statues sticking out of the sparse vegetation in the area. Once the photos were in the box, I took the car again to return to the fork, at the height of the small road by which we had arrived earlier.
Waterfalls and geological formations
The goal this time is to achieve one of our objectives of the day, the fall of Nam Tok Song Chan, a waterfall whose particularity is that the water flows through a hole naturally drilled in the rock (Nam Tok literally means "falling water", which is what waterfalls are called in Thai, and "Song Chan", two floors).
Technically (well, geographically, I should say), even if the latter is isolated to the north of Pha Taem, it is part of the national park so access is chargeable.
A buffalo encountered on the road leading to the waterfall.
But the ticket is valid for the entire park, for the entire day. So when we later join the main area of Pha Taem to visit Sao Chaliang (the "mushroom" rocks) not far away as well as the rock paintings at the foot of the cliff, we just had to show our tickets again without obviously having to pay again (for the record, I would be entitled to the best discount of the whole stay, paying only 100 Baht instead of 250 Baht, thank you Thai permit!).
[EDIT: the entrance fee to the national park is now 400 Baht for foreigners, 200 Baht for children. And forget about the discount with the permit, it has not been possible for a few years... Only a Thai identity card or passport will give you the Thai rate...]
Nam Tok Song Chan, waterfall at the hole
To give an idea of the scale and time, it took us a good half hour to reach the waterfall from the temple. In concrete terms, the waterfall is easy to access, a path takes us there quickly. There are quite a few people in the parking lot, but it's still okay. We still have the opportunity to take a few photos without necessarily having large groups in front of the waterfall.
I admit that it is unusual to see a waterfall with this configuration. It is December so there is still a little water flowing, I imagine what it can be like in the rainy season! Conversely, by February, there is probably no more water so there is no point in going there.
There are of course other waterfalls in the park, which we won't see due to lack of time... Near Song Chan you have for example another small waterfall, Thung Na Mueang Waterfall, or, closer to the temple, a waterfall on the cliff side, Kuang Ton Waterfall.
Sao Chaliang, the mushroom-shaped rocks
For now, the next stop of the day was to go see the famous rocky perches of Sao Chaliang (Jitima will tell me, amused, that some people asked "who put them there?"). To give an idea of distance and time, it took us almost 40 minutes to reach the Sao Chaliang site from the Song Chan fall.
Sao Chaliang is one of the geological curiosities of the park par excellence, or how nature is beautifully sculpted over time. From the car park, there is a possible route to take to see the rocks up close, with a loop that passes through a rocky plateau where there are impressive crevasses.
The “mushrooms of Sao Chaliang”, the typical rock formations of Pha Taem National Park.
Pha Mon, the cliff that dominates Laos
From Sao Chaliang, the next stage is very close, we continued our climb towards the top of the plateau after only 1,5 km. Plateau which offers a superb view of the Mekong below (it is this spot which is indicated by Pha Taem National Park on Google Maps)
On this New Year's Eve, there were a lot of people. After parking on the natural parking lot (just the rock at the top of the plateau, no tar, no concrete, nothing, it's quite weird, we had to go easy on the shock absorbers), we don't have much time to soak up the festive atmosphere that we feel around us.
Natural parking.
Souvenir photo for this group of young Thais.
Would you like a massage?
First sunrise in the country.
Lots of people at the end of the year.
The rock paintings of Pha Taem
From the car park, all we had to do was go down the stairs leading to the foot of the cliff some 180 m lower. Quite quickly because it was already 16:30 p.m., so there was barely more than an hour of daylight left to go and admire the paintings.
These paintings are dated 3000-4000 years ago; which corresponds to the Neolithic period. There are more than 300 of them in total, according to official information. They are supposed to represent scenes of life, with men, animals, but also some abstract forms.
The descent, there are people.
What strikes me are these "human" figures according to the official version, but which in my imagination make me think above all of extraterrestrials (well yes, what, humans with triangular heads??) and what are supposed to be "fish" above their heads, well... I won't draw you a picture!
But it is indeed a theory often heard in the area, in any case, it is a curiosity that is clearly worth a look, because rock paintings remain quite rare in Thailand.
Pha Taem's "strange" paintings.
The paintings are spread over several areas that can be reached by walking along the cliff. We tried to see as many as possible. Normally, you can do a loop, going down one side then going along the cliff and going back up further on the other side, a short walk of 3km in total.
Due to lack of time, however, we will have to turn back after the 3rd series of paintings. We will just have time to go back up to watch the sunset.
18pm arrives, the national anthem sounds, everyone stops. It is time for us to set sail, because we still have to return to Khong Chiam (about 20km from there).
A beautiful view of the Mekong.
That evening, we were looking for a nice restaurant on the banks of the Mekong. We found a rather good one, which was also part of a much more modest hotel than the one the day before, the Pha Taem Riverside. That concluded this short stay in Issan, well almost, there was obviously the way back, the next day, December 31, which would reserve some surprises (see the article here).
That concluded this wonderful and busy day!
Did you know about Pha Taem’s paintings?
