Wednesday 23rd November 2022
We walked from our hotel into the centre of town, stopping off for a quick look around Wat Sri Chum temple. It’s a beautiful Burmese temple, which used to be much larger but unfortunately much of it was destroyed in a fire in 1992.
We then had lunch at Ko Run Noodle Wonton, a small local restaurant with exclusively Thai menus and no English spoken. We used google translate to try to figure out what the various menu items were, then pointed at two different items to order. I don’t think we got exactly what we ordered, as we ended up with two identical bowls of noodles, although each seemed to contain everything on the menu (crispy wantons, minced pork, grilled pork, and processed pork balls). I wasn’t a huge fan of the processed pork balls, but the rest of it was very delicious.
We then went to the Ban Pong Nak Museum, which was perhaps the oddest museum visit ever! We ordered a Grab car and it pulled up outside Fort Surasakmontri, a big army base. The museum was the other side of the entrance, however there were soldiers stationed with guns outside, so it didn’t look like we could just wander through.
Pete got out the car, showed one of the guards a picture of the museum, and asked if we could walk through the army base by gesturing and using google translate. One of the soldiers came up to the car, gestured for us to get back in, and had a very long conversation with the Grab driver. We assumed he was telling them how to drive around the outside of the army base. We got back in, he reversed slightly so he was level with the entrance, the guards removed the barrier, we drove forward a few metres, and then one of the guards had another long conversation with the Grab driver. No idea what they were discussing, as at this point we could clearly see the museum building from (it’s very distinctive looking!). After a few minutes, we drove the few metres to the museum entrance and were dropped off.
We had to remove our shoes before entering the museum, which is free to enter. We were the only visitors, and got our own private tour of the house. It was a bit odd, as there were three guides but only one of them spoke any English. However, all three of them escorted us around, with just one of them doing the talking (although all three would keep breaking off into little Thai conversations together).
There’s a little coffee shop and garden behind the house, so we relaxed with a couple of cold drinks – an iced pink milk for Pete, and an iced Thai tea for me. A couple of guys dressed in army uniform joined us, they seemed fascinated by Pete and with the aid of google translate managed a bit of conversation.
We then got a Grab car to Kelang Nakhon Public Park. The entrance gates look quite cool, and they’ve also got some hedges shaped liked horses and carts, but inside it wasn’t the most inspiring of parks (although it probably didn’t help that the weather was very grey and overcast).
We didn’t have all that long until we needed to head back to our hotel to pick up our bags, and then go to the station for our train to Phitsanulok.
Lampang station is lovely. It’s got a big steam train in front of the entrance (which seems to be common for stations in Northern Thailand).
The inside of the station is also very pleasant, with little statues dotted around and plenty of seating.
We thought we’d booked second class seats, but the carriage was decidedly less comfortable than the one we’d had on the train to Lampang. However, the fans were all working and with the windows open it wasn’t too hot. There was a bit of drama when someone noticed some water on the floor. Everyone had to evacuate their seats while one of the train crew seemed to investigate the source of the water. After about 10 minutes, they mopped up the water and everyone could return to their seats.
At every station, the train would stop for 10-20 minutes and various food vendors would get on and try to sell their wares. We decided to give one of the Pad Thai a go, and shared one between us. Definitely not the best we’ve had, but not bad for a few baht on a train.
We didn’t reach Phitsanulok until 11pm, so got a Grab car straight to the Harmony Ville Hotel where we were staying, and went to bed.
Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure 