June 7,

First of all… Happiest Birthday to our youngest nephew!!

We were up and readied, both of us having slept decently. By 0900 we went down for the Breakfast Buffet offered at the hotel. I cost us 80 THB each, or $2.44 each. There was a savory porridge with toppings, a big crock pot of rice, a chicken curry, a stir-fried veggie mix with meat slices, stir-fried rice, and last a pan of sunny-side-up eggs with little hotdog sausages. Instant coffee, tea, juice, and water were available for drinks. It was a bargain for two and a half bucks, but we will probably do something different for tomorrow. We are given a juice box each day and water, plus a prepackaged pastry with durian fruit jellied filling.

Then we went out to our car to load up. The parking lot had emptied out big time. So this hotel is a one night kind of stay place. We must be outliers staying for four nights! Anyway, we got sorted out and headed out. Today was Wat day, we had decided.

The first one was Wat Ban Tom Klang. It is a Buddhist temple and a monastery. It had a two gold-gilded structures, but both were closed. So we enjoyed the over-the-top facades with colored, mirrored tiles and Naga (snake) balustrades from outside and noted the ‘bell tower’(?) or chedi(?) – not sure which it is – being build. We stopped at another one called Wat San Pa Muang. This structure had one ornate temple with mirrored tiles. It was gold-gilded as well, but the mirrored little tiles set it apart, as it reflected the sky. Quite fetching. Behind the temple was an administrative-type building with a large sitting Buddha atop it holding a Lotus Blossom. It’s gated entry was dark gray but contrasted well with some ivory white motifs. The doors to the inside were closed here as well.

Now we loaded up and drove on to our last temple Wat Analayothipyaram, or Luang Pu Phaibun or… it has many names. It is a sprawling temple complex. So many temples and statues. I’m sure we missed a lot, but it is meandering and a bit overwhelming as well as signs of neglect… would be hard to keep it up, I would imagine. There were so many different Buddha statues: some white- one of these adorned with Nagas, some gold- one of these was a very large sitting idol, some left as the cement casts they are. The temple buildings varied as much as the Buddhas did. There were several that look out toward the lake and much of the walking paths were shaded under a huge tree canopy. There were wooden structures – one reminded me of a classic Japanese wood house. One last thing I’ll mention, a statue of some man of note was decked out with a Tiger skin! This place just kept going on and on.

We left here… we are “Watted” out, so to speak. We set out back into the mountains to the west, but we stopped once to take in a waterfall – Tat Mok Waterfall. This waterfall was a bust, there was not any waterfall that we could see, but a minute down the road was another one, Tan Tong Waterfall. This one was a good tall one. It was pretty close to the road, and we were able to see much of it. There was a slippery, muddy trek to get closer, but we were not willing to risk it. We could see enough, thank you very much! Now we did go back to our place and had a much needed cool-down siesta.

Around 1730, we went back out. We went down to the waterfront in search of walking street vendors. We saw and stopped at the water serpent statue in the lake, getting some great pics due to the long rays of the sun close to setting; and took in the square there dedicated to a former Thai King(?). There was not really food here, just desserts. We moved on finding the Night Street stalls and walked around. We bought a lettuce salad from one stall and then a stewed chopped pork leg with rice and greens from another stall. We sat at this second vendor’s place, as she had tables and chairs. She was very friendly and pleasant, with a welcoming, beaming smile. Her meat was melt in your mouth tender!! The salad we had bought was more than lettuce… Oh my, it had a 1/3 cob of shaved corn kernels, kidney beans, papaya, a pear-type fruit, another fruit- I can’t remember it’s name, pumpkin, carrots, sweet potato, and crab, as well as the lettuce with a black sesame dressing! WHEW! I think I got it all!! It was a great Thai meal. Great Thai day in Phayao!