Road trip Phrae to Bangkok

[Big Boy]

Until the last few days, I have been happily using Gimp (it still works very well). I am now using a program called FastStone Photo Resizer.

Both programs are available free of charge to download.

[Nereus]

to continue:
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Then a turn to the south east along highway # 1 towards Khamphaeng Phet. The highway by-passes the city, so I did not stop there. My destination was Nakhon Sawan for an overnight stop. The following photos are from an area about 40 Kms north west of Nakhon Sawan. Very unusal feature jutting up out of an otherwise flat country.

Found a good hotel when my GPS decided to be helpful for a change.
There is a big temple on the top of a high hill in Nakhon Sawan that I have wanted to visit for a long time, so the following morning I went to see it.The road up to it is a bit narrow with many tight turns, but not really a problem. There is a small parking area in front of the Temple, but it is not possible to get far enough back to take a photo of the building to do it justice.
The following photo was taken from a parking area about 1/3 of the way back down the hill. This area has been man made from a ridge that sticks out a bit from the main hill, and the edge of it has been turned into a rubbish dump! I was that disgusted with the sight of it that I did not take a photo of it.

Temple on the hill

[Nereus]

Back again on highway # 32 south across the Chao Phraya river over one of the newer concrete bridges, alongside a very old steel archway bridge, which I think is only open to northbound traffic.These bridges are well above the river, in fact the tops of some power poles along one side, are below the level of the approach road on the south side. I remember crossing a few months after the floods in 2011 / 2012, and there was vegetation hanging down from the wires where the high water level had dumped it!

About 50 Km south, at the junction to Chai Nat, I turned east on to what the map and GPS call highway # 1. Some of this “highway” runs through small villages, and some of it is dual carriageway. Anyway, the purpose was to get to Lop Buri.

Not far along this road is Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, which was an American base during the Vietnam War, and which Pete will know more about.

The airport was also used by the CIA in the late 1950`s for resupply of Tibetan freedom fighters, using Hercules transports flying over Indian airspace. The single north / south concrete runway is 9,850 ft / 3,000 metres long, which is just a bit shorter than what is regarded as the longest runway in SE Asia at Danang in Vietnam.

It is now home to Wing 4 of the Royal Thai Air Force. So busy looking at the old aircraft, I missed taking a photo of the actual gate. Sorry.

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I will have to close this as it keeps getting hung up.

[PeteC]

^ U-Tapao needs to be added to that stat. It's 11,500feet/3,505 meters long. Da Nang is 10,000/3,048.

[Nereus]

^ U-Tapao needs to be added to that stat. It's 11,500feet/3,505 meters long. Da Nang is 10,000/3,048.

Cannot remember, Pete! It must be 20 years since I flew in to Danang, so I had to look it up:

Danang has 2 parallel runways, which I had also forgotten:
17L / 35R is 11,483 feet, 3,500 metres
17R / 35L is 10,000 feet, 3048 metres, both of them asphalt

U-Tapao 18 /36 is 11,500 feet, 3505 metres, also asphalt, so wins by 5 metres, or 17 feet!

Takhli is remarkable in that it is concrete, not asphalt.

[PeteC]

I think all that data is military stuff though. S'Bumi and Singapore just to mention two are over 13,000 feet I think. Takhli and Da Nang were fighter wing bases (TAC) whereas U-Tapao was bomber wing (SAC), so......the stats could be based upon fighter wings therefore not listing U-Tapao.

I can say though that U-Tapao was a backup landing runway for the space shuttle for the first several years of the program. It's 1 meter + thick with another meter + of stone base beneath. If it could handle fully loaded B-52's and KC 135's, it could handle the shuttle.

[Nereus]

final section:
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On again through Tak Fa, where highway # 1 intersects with highway #11 and swings around to the south towards Lop Buri. There is some impressive agricultural land in this area. Rich looking black soil, that is probably originally from a volcanic event.

I had not been to Lop Buri before. It is a large provincial city, and it appears to have a thriving economy. All the big name chain stores are there; along with the big building supply stores, such as Home Pro, Global House, etc. Shera Manufacturing alone has a 190,000 sq metre factory that employs over 1,200 people. One factory (Minebea), has a helicopter parked out the front of it—not a display, but a working machine.

There is also supposed to be a big Solar Power Plant, although I did not see it.
The old Palace of King Narai is also there, and the Khmer temple Prang Sam Yot, with the hordes of monkeys strolling around it.

Of course, the place is also known for the monkeys that inhabit the city, but I did not see them. The city deserves a complete thread of it’s own, and something that I may try and do sometime.

For now my interest was in trying to find some old helicopters that I am interested in. I found the following, but not what I was looking for. Where the photos are taken there is a museum, but it was closed. The outside displays seem to have no restrictions on them and I wandered around without being challenged.

[Nereus]

the end:
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From Lop Buri it is an easy run to Saraburi, then on to that mongrel Mitraphap Road / Highway 2, back to the north end of the eastern ring road (9), and on into Bangkok.

[Big Boy]

Thank you Nereus, I've enjoyed the trip

[Nereus]

Thank you Nereus, I've enjoyed the trip

Thanks, Big Boy. It is bloody hard work! I badly need a new computer, in fact, it a wonder that this poor old thing even manages to boot up in the mornings. It has arthritis of the hard drive, and moans and groans until I give it a clout around the head!

I made a big trip to Australia last year and have a bunch of photos, a lot of them in the outback off the track a bit. But I doubt that I can do much until I get a new computer.

[PeteC]

Yes indeed, an enjoyable trip upcountry. Pete

[caller]

Thanks Neerus, very enjoyable read. You're impersonation on occasion, of an old curmudgeon, did make me laugh!

[Nereus]

Thanks Neerus, very enjoyable read. You're impersonation on occasion, of an old curmudgeon, did make me laugh!

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