We are slowly getting into rainy season. I have decided to start my journey again. There are so many interesting places coming to my mind but I am the most attracted to the Mon Bridge in Sangkhlaburi District in Kanchanaburi. Well, let's begin our new adventure.

Before that, you can have a look at our previous journey by visiting our Page Tiewpaitour

https://www.facebook.com/tiewpaitour/

We start this trip at the Victory Monument in Bangkok about 5 am. to reach Kanchanaburi before 9 am. and arrive at our destination before evening.



We spend 2 hours sleeping in the van to Kanchanaburi before we get to the town. As soon as we get off the van, we directly get to a van station to Sangkhaburi in order to buy van tickets. The ticket booth is just next to the bus station where we get off. We find something to eat before leaving town at 10 am. Don't forget to have some travel sickness tablets if you are afraid of feeling dizzy on the van.

We continue to sleep once the van going out of the station since we got up so early this morning. It takes around 4 hours to get to Sangkhalburi. It was so far that my butt is getting a little bit hurt. Once we get out of the van, we head to our accommodation first. Anyway, we are lost and surprisingly get to a tourist spot, the Wooden Mon Bridge. We are impressed by its beauty and take a photo of it.

The clear blue sky goes perfectly with the mountain range and the wide river. The bridge is scenic among these environments even in rainy season. After a while, we phone our place, "Coffee Berry", to ask the direction. It seems like we have to keep walking about half a kilo to get there. The rooms are cozy with a coffee shop at the front, a good place to relax.


We are sweating when we finally reach there, so we directly get in our room with air-conditioning on.

Tonight we are staying in a small green room with lovely decorations. We are quite excited with its outdoor bathroom. The roof of the bathroom can be closed.

Let's have a look in front of the room.

The room comes with private balcony. You can order a coffee and enjoy it here.


After we refresh ourselves, we are going to take a walk. Unfortunately,...............it's raining.

It is raining cats and dogs. We can only sit relaxing ourselves with a cup of coffee listening to the rain in such a nice coffee shop with good smell of coffee. It is such great surroundings.



Waiting the rain to stop in a relaxing corner of the coffee shop.


There are a variety of books for you to enjoy. But don't forget to put them back where you take from.



It seems like it's not going to stop raining, so we wait until we can go out to visit the Wooden Mon Bridge. As I mention before, our place is about 0.5 km. away from the bridge. We enjoy walking in the rain when the weather is nicely chill and the scenery is wonderful.

Suddenly, I see a beautiful rainbow at the bridge. I definitely feel welcomed to the village. I have never seen a rainbow this close before. It is completely worth coming here even it is just the first day.

Since the rain doesn't seem to stop, I have decided to stroll on the bridge in the rain. No matter how wet I am going to be. Let's see what I have gained from making such a decision.


I have never known that the Wooden Mon Bride in the rain is this incredible. After we know where we are going to give food offerings to Buddhist monks next morning, we get back to our room. It is still raining. Another luck is today we have a chance to see a sky with beams of sunlight. So, I set a camera on the tripod and leave it until the twilight. Everything I experience today make here the right choice to visit.


After the wonderful sunset, we take a taxi bike to Sangkhlaburi walking street. It is usually crowded in winter. Still, a good number of shops are selling food and local goods even it's raining. We are now heading to a shop selling pork on sticks with the price of 2 or 5 baht a stick. I am totally full after trying it. This is just the first shop.


After our dinner, we take a taxi bike again to get back to our room. Take a rest and be ready for tomorrow travel plan. Next morning, we get up around 5 am. to give food offerings to monks at the bridge. The ones who didn't prepare some food don't need to be worried because it is sold right there by the villagers. Then, we line up waiting the monks to come. I haven't thought the people is this many.


The monks have come.


After making merit, we find something to eat for breakfast. Congee is surely recommended.


Now we are totally full, so it is the time to start our activities we have planned for today. Our first tourist spot is the underwater temple. It is better to get there in the morning because it is not too hot with some fogs. We go for a private boat trip, costing 300 baht. It takes approximately 1 hour for this trip. You can also join the boat with others to save your money, yet it can take a long time to wait for all the seats to be taken. We pretty enjoy the local and natural environments along the river.


Here we go. The first thing we do is praying homage to the Buddha image.



Then, we take a stroll around the ruins (the water level is low enough to walk in dryer periods of the year). In the former time, it was Wangwiwegaram Temple, the heart of the town. After a dam was built, the temple had to be moved to upper land since this area is under the water.


It takes about 40 minutes there. We then take a boat back to get ready to visit the border gate to Myanmar. We rent a bike from our place for a day to go to the border. Our next sight is the Three Pagodas Pass. Let's take photos.


Now we are going to buy a sightseeing tour, costing 200 baht with showing an ID card. You don't have to use your passport to go across the border. We go to visit some main tourist spots by van, taking about 2 hours. These sights are Golden Pagodas Temple, Tai Ta Ya Monastery and a market selling Burmese goods.


Here is the first sight, Golden Pagodas Temple. The driver changes the road lane which is quite confusing for ones who are not used to. We arrive at the temple a moment after. Half an hour here will be enough.


Burmese temples are splendid in different style compared to ones in Thailand.

Then we head to our next spot, Tai Ta Ya Monastery. Luckily again, there is an event at the temple. It looks just like making and off-season offering of robes and other needs to monks which we do in Thailand. There are also a traditional local show. People have prepared food and eat it together with the others. I haven't thought we would get this experience from this trip. It is also strange that the nuns here wear pink costumes. It is totally different from what we have in Thailand.

The local people sit and have food together. They also let us join them. I would eat lunch with them if I had more time. Pity us.


The nun's costumes are absolutely beautiful.


After that, we are taken to the market. On the way there, I am amazed by their traffic light along the way.


We are not going to buy anything special. The goods come with reasonable price. If you really want to buy something, please make sure how many of them can be carried with you. It can cause a problem and a delay when we are crossing the border back to Thailand.


Let's take a photo with the sign.


Before we go back to our place, we see a young child selling beans. He is so cute so I buy some of it to support him.


We are so starving when we ride back to Sangkhlaburi. We stop to have something to eat before going to Wat Wangwiwegaram. We will not skip to pray homage to the Luangpho Uttama image to earn prosperity as we believe so.


Next, we visit the Bodhagaya Pagoda, pray respect and enjoy the great view up there for a while before leaving to our room with great pleasure.


The last morning, I get up early to enjoy the scenic view on the Songklalia Bridge. The weather is not quite nice today but atmosphere is incredible as always. It lets me get the freshness as much as I want before getting back to face so many things in Bangkok.


I will definitely come back here again "Sangkhlaburi". You can follow my Page "TiewPaitour" for more travel reviews.



เที่ยวไปทั่ว

 Tuesday, September 20, 2016 11:30 AM

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