Ratchaburi - Trip/Photo Report

[joelle]

I didn't visit this time, but have been to Damnoen Saduak several times in the past. IMHO the best floating market I've visited.

Have you tried Ampawa floating market ??

[buksida]

It was the weekend,

I did mention avoiding the stone park at the weekend ...

Have they cleaned all the trash up yet?

[Big Boy]

I didn't visit this time, but have been to Damnoen Saduak several times in the past. IMHO the best floating market I've visited.

Have you tried Ampawa floating market ??

Once, and it was awful - never again. More dockside than floating - too many people, so obviously promoted well.

[buksida]

The Ampawa floating market is weekend only (at least it was when we went) so it'll be rammed with Bangkokians.

[Big Boy]

It was the weekend,

I did mention avoiding the stone park at the weekend ...

Have they cleaned all the trash up yet?

There was the occasional plastic cup, but nothing more than you would see anywhere else. I was put off by a few traffic bollards floating in the lake.

I think the arrival of 12 tour buses into the car park behind us was very bad luck. I was just pleased Khao Bin Cave wasn't their next stop I've taken visitors around Hua Hin and had the same group of people cropping up at every stop.

[Bamboo Grove]

It was a temple over 1,000 years old, yet it was fairly well preserved.

The prangs, originally hindu and Khmer style, shows that it was once and maybe still is considered a very important temple. You can see the same kind of prangs for example at Wat Arun.

[Big Boy]

I had to look "prangs" up . I think the fact there was a wall sculpture (behind the Christmas Tree) at the hotel says it is quite important to the people of Ratchaburi also.

[Big Boy]

Part 3

Day 2 – 22 July 2023

Khao Bin Cave

I had no intention of visiting this cave today, but Khao Ngu Stone Park was such a disappointment, and finished so quickly we had to do something else. This was favourite on my ‘just in case’ list of things to see and do.

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I had already worked out it would not be wheelchair friendly, but when researching, I had seen the grounds around the cave were quite pleasant, and I thought I could leave my wife under a shady tree, or in a restaurant whilst I had a look.

We got to the entrance, and they tried to send us back.

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I thought because of the wheelchair. No that was one reason, but they didn’t let old Farangs in either. Too hot, too many steps and a lack of oxygen. I was having none of it, and they basically said it was at my own risk. To be sure, I thought I’d better check how many steps – 28. I thought they were having a laugh.

I bought my ticket for 20฿ – no famous Thai dual pricing out in the Boonies. That would have been at least 200฿ in tourist Thailand. I went up a couple of steps to the cave entrance, and then started on the 28 steps descent into the cave.

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I suddenly remembered Thai steps at tourist attractions. No 2 steps the same height. I got down about 10, and then had to limbo down the next 10 steps. Yes, the entrance had been carved out of stalagmites/tites, but it had been carved to Thai heights. I am 17” taller than my wife – she would have breezed down those steps when she could walk. Quite amazingly, I actually photographed a bat flying out of the cave as I went in – I was totally oblivious to this.

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So here I am, a foreigner, all alone in this cave that was too hot, with very thin air. To complicate things further, all of the signs were in Thai. No problem I think – there is a path. So long as I follow the path, I can’t get lost. Don’t get me wrong, this was one of the most impressive caves I’ve been in. The path did fork a few times, but I tried to keep going straight. There were fans at various places through the cave, but only one was switched on. Well, I walked and I walked and I walked. In places, the roof height must have been 2’ shorter than me. I wasn’t on all fours but I was using the cave walls to help my bulk through. There were some very narrow gaps as well, which I struggled to squeeze through. This was a BIG cave.

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At one stage I thought I’d found the way out, but somebody had switched the lights off. I used my phone light to try to find the steps up. I fumbled around for about 5 minutes before deciding, no, this was not the way out. Back to the path. I must have been wandering alone for about 45 minutes now, and I’m thinking, I’m lost. I was wondering if they’d send in a rescue party. I just kept walking the path, and thinking I’ve seen that stalactite before.

Eventually, I heard other voices in the cave. Was it a rescue party? I’m thinking should I shout out to let them know where I was. I decided not to – I’d look pretty stupid if they were tourists like me. However, it was reassuring that I was no longer alone.

I squeezed through one very small crack, and found myself looking at a well, but it was just another dead end.

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I squeezed back out again, and realised that I was actually exhausted. I decided to find a suitable rock, and sit down and rest for a while. I sat for about 10 minutes. I could still hear voices, but they clearly weren’t shouting for me. I’m just thinking carry on. It can’t be much further now. 2 minutes later, I found the steps out. I was too tired to limbo under the exit rocks, so crawled out of the cave on all fours. I was out, and the air tasted good. Rather than find my wife, I just sat, wringing wet with sweat, and got my senses back together. My clothes were so wet, it was more as if I’d just come out of a swimming pool, rather than a cave.

I eventually got back to where I’d left my wife, and she wasn’t there. One of the workers pointed to where she was. She was at a fish pond, feeding Koi Carp with a baby bottle, yes, a baby bottle. Obviously showing a lot of concern that I’d been in an underground maze for over an hour. Actually, talking to her afterwards, I was in there so long, she was becoming concerned for my safety. She was feeding the fish in thanks to Buddha for my safe return.

I just sat for a few minutes, and then pushed her to a small café, where I enjoyed an apple soda, before returning to the hotel.

In a bit of a shock revelation when talking to friends about the incident yesterday (25th July), my wife said the cave management had actually started discussions with her about going in to rescue me. If I hadn’t come out after 2 hours, they were going in to find me. The discussions hadn’t arrived at a cost for rescuing me, but there was definitely going to be a cost.

The aircon was fine in the car as we returned to the hotel to prepare for the night’s main event – the footie.

Ratchaburi FC vs Nakhonsi Utd

Ratchaburi FC 1 – 1 Nakhonsi Utd. Enough said. OK, it was a pre-season match, and results mean nothing. Coaches are still experimenting, and testing their squads.

The interesting bit about this game was Ratchaburi are pioneering this season’s TV deal alternative. To gain admission to this game, you had to sign up for either a monthly (59฿) or annual (500฿) package. I think this membership will be required to access games on TV this season, but more importantly, it will be required to gain admission to live games also. I’ve bought my annual membership, but admit I don’t really understand it yet.

It seems I will get more information by telephone this week. Personally, I think it would have been as easy to increase turnstile prices by 40฿ per game. But This Is Thailand, nothing is done the easy way.

Ch-Oum Cuisine & Café

Well, we’d found a little gem at which to eat the previous evening. Tonight, would be a huge challenge, finding a restaurant that was still open in a sleepy hollow like Ratchaburi after the football, where everybody seems to go to bed with the sun.

This was a job for Mr Google, and what a job it was. I got back to the hotel to collect My wife at about 7:45pm. I scrolled through restaurant after restaurant – most were closed by 8pm. It was starting to look as though room service would win the day, then about 20 restaurants down the page, Ch-Oum Cuisine & Café came up – close 10pm. It was just 1 mile away (as the crow flies).

Off we went. Of course, this was Ratchaburi, and the craziest road system in the world. Driving time was actually 15 minutes! It was the only act in town, so I persevered. When we arrived, it was actually restaurant city – there must have been a dozen restaurants open, all in a row. Ch-Oum Cuisine & Café had got us there, so Ch-Oum Cuisine & Café it was. Very modern, quite posh. A large area outside, but my wife opted to go inside for the aircon – it was freezing.

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Menus arrived, and everything in Thai. It is quirk of Thailand that whenever they hand out menus, they give you one less than the number people sat at the table e.g. if there were 6 people, they would give 5 menus. We were 2, so we were given 1 menu. I’ve never understood this part of Thai logic. My wife had to read what was on offer, and she was struggling to find something that I would eat (I am a very fussy eater). She eventually found something that was about a 75% fit for this fussy eater, and started ordering. While she was ordering, I grabbed the menu, and found some photos at the back of the menu. Pizza! They served Pizza, and they weren’t expensive – no problem if I couldn’t eat it all. The waiter had already gone, but we called him back to change my order to pizza.

The food was actually quite good. We both left empty plates. Crazy thing was, in Hua Hin we’d have probably been looking at 1500฿+. When the bill came, it was a measly 486฿. Another advantage of eating in the Boonies.

………………..to be continued/

[buksida]

That cave looks interesting, must have a look next time we're up there.

Yes, you definitely notice the price differences and general lack of 'farang fleecing' once you get out of tourist trap Thailand, its partly why we enjoy traveling off the beaten track.

[Big Boy]

The cave was brilliant, and I'm sure the fact they said they don't allow old Farangs in was playing on my mind, and my exhaustion was more psychological.

There is another supposedly as good cave, just a couple of miles away also. I was caved out after Khao Bin Cave, but there is the Chom Phon Cave which might also be of interest to a young whippersnapper like you.

It was costs that made me decide Ratchaburi this time. Comparison to Hua Hin prices was phenomenal. Only drawback is their lack of English (or was it my lack of Thai). It was more like the Thailand of the 80/90s that I fell in love with.

[buksida]

Exactly, its the same here in Bangsaphan and in Prachuap, the original Thailand without the profiteering, the language barrier is no problem for me! I don't think I'll be going to places like Phuket, Samui, or Krabi ever again and although I like Hua Hin as a weekend escape, I wouldn't be keen on living there again.

[Pagey]

Quote Big Boy ''The food was actually quite good. We both left empty plates. Crazy thing was, in Hua Hin we’d have probably been looking at 1500฿+. When the bill came, it was a measly 486฿ ''

Other than 5* restaurants where have you eaten in HH that charges 1500+ for a pizza and Thai food for one?

[Big Boy]

This was a very decent (not 5*) restaurant. The pizza would most likely have cost 400฿+ and my wife had a couple of Thai dishes plus rice. I was at what I'd consider a maybe 3* restaurant in Hua Hin yesterday (not a patch on this place), where Thai dishes were around 280฿ a piece. Then there were a couple of drinks each. I don't think my 1500฿+ estimate was OTT.

Of course, I could have got a similar meal cheaper somewhere like Ga Hanoi, or Baan Khun Por.

[Edit] I should clarify, I am usually a Ga Hanoi type of person every day of the week, but I was away on a mini-break, so pushed the boat out. Yesterday's restaurant was a quarterly get together with friends. Not somewhere I eat regularly, but a few times a year is nice.

[KhunLA]

Quote Big Boy ''The food was actually quite good. We both left empty plates. Crazy thing was, in Hua Hin we’d have probably been looking at 1500฿+. When the bill came, it was a measly 486฿ ''

Other than 5* restaurants where have you eaten in HH that charges 1500+ for a pizza and Thai food for one?

A 1500 baht tab would be easy to hit in HH, w/AC, especially with 'couple drinks each'.

Unless eating from ma/pa shops on the west side of Phetchasem.

[Pagey]

My quote function has stopped working !

I mean comparing apples with apples. A hand rolled dough pizza cooked in a wood fire oven like pizza garden is 350=450 baht, a pre prepared base pizza is 100-200 in HH whixh is clearly what BB had for that price.