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3 days 2 nights

(suitable for children and family)

It would be ideal to start with a merit-making trip from Khon Kaen. Take highway No 229 until 12 km. Turn right to the entrance of Wat Udom Khongkha Khiri Khet. Follow the road for 12 km to the temple. The revered Luangpu Phang, a Buddhist monk famous for his meditative practices, once lived here. In the temple are located the container of Luangpu Phang’s remains and images. The temple is cool and pleasant, and perfect for meditation.

Take the same route back from the temple to highway No 229, turn left and go straight until the end of the road. You will see a sign to Mancha-Khiri district. Turn right and go straight to a three-pronged junction, then turn left again. You will be at Tortoise Village. Notice a shrine with tortoise replicas. Here, brownish yellow-shelled tortoises called Tao Phek have been living for ages.  In the Tortoise Garden stands a shrine to the revered guardian spirit of Chao Khun Pu Fah Ra Ngeum or Chao Pho Mahesak. Home-stay service is available. On April 14 every year, villagers organise a tortoise-bathing ceremony and a ceremony to pay homage to the guardian spirit.

For more information, call 08-5768-5323 (about the Tortoise Garden) and 08-6327-0310, 0-4338-1275, 08-9574-3480 (about home-stay).

From Tortoise Village, turn left in the direction of Mancha Khiri district. At the T-junction at Mancha Khiri municipal market, go straight for 500 metres and turn right to visit Wat Pa Mancha Khiri and its wild orchid garden.

Chang Kra Orchid (Rhyn. Gigantean) is a colorful wild orchid with various colors and pleasing scents. The red ones are called Chang Daeng (Red Elephant) while the white ones are called Chang Phueak (White Elephant). They blossom from December to February. There are more than 4,000 Chang Kra orchids growing naturally on more than 280 tamarind and other trees in the monastery.

Back to highway No 229, around 14 km you will see a sign to Sala Mai Thai (Thai Silk Pavilion) in Khon Kaen Industrial and Community Education College, Chonnabot district. Here is a centre for studies, development and distribution of Thai silk and local fabrics, where you can find collections of ancient-pattern and applied-pattern silks as well as products made from Thai silk. Furthermore, you can visit the traditional Northeastern-style Thai pavilion, which exhibits northeastern people’s lifestyle and local instruments and also demonstrates silk-worm rearing and silk weaving. The centre is open daily from 9am to 5pm. (0-4328-6160)

Take highway No 229 past Chonnabot Hospital (0-4328-6084). The two-way road is in good condition. Follow the road until you reach Ban Phai intersection, crossing Mittraphap Road and take highway No 23. Cross the railway line and pass Ban Phai Bus Station. Go straight and turn left to Maha Sarakham around 44 km. From 46 km, drive past Kalasin-Roi Et intersection and get into Maha Sarakham city. Find accommodation for the night.

The next morning, enjoy the taste of Jok (rice porridge). Driving along the Somthawin Canal, about 100 metres past Taksila Hotel, turn left. You will find a rice porridge restaurant where Kuai Jab (boiled Chinese pasta soup) is also available for reasonable price. The restaurant is open daily from 5am to 8am.

From the restaurant, go straight to the Museum of the Northeastern Culture in Wat Mahachai (Mahachai Temple). There are many antiques of the region such as stone-made Sema (boundary of a temple), ancient Buddha images, door panel and carved Kan Tuay (decorating part of the roof of Thai traditional house) about 100 to 200 years old. Also stored here are many ancient literature and Buddhist teachings written on Bai Larn (palm leaf manuscripts).

In front of the museum, you can find souvenirs, including Pla Ra Bong (seasoned pickled fish) with various seasonings.

Return taking the same route, turn left along the canal and cross the bridge. Go straight into highway No 208 (Maha Sarakham-Roi Et) until you find a T-intersection. Go straight for 200 metres and you will see a sign to Ban Mor (Pottery Village) on your left. Turn left for about two km to reach the village whose inhabitants earn their living by making hand-moulded potteries. The processes are traditionally passed on through generations while the raw material comes from the clay in a pond in the village.

From the village, turn right to the same route. Visit and pay homage to the City Pillar Shrine opposite Maha Sarakham Technical College. Then go straight past a three-pronged junction into highway No 213 where it begins.

Around 7-8 km, you will pass Maha Sarakham University. The two-way road is in good condition. Around 14 km, you are at Wat Phuttha Mongkhon (Phuttha Mongkhon Temple) in Kantharawichai district. In the temple is housed the Phra Phuttharup Yuen Mongkhon, a Buddha image of the local people made from red sandstones in Dvaravati period. The characteristics of the image are similar to Phra Phutthamingmueang. Historically, male villagers built the Phra Phutthamingmueang while female villagers built Phra Phuttharup Yuen Mongkhon. They made the Buddha images and prayed for rain. It rains perfectly in the area, according to the season, since then.

About 500 metres from there is the Suwannawat Temple on your left. Phra Phutthamingmueang is housed there.

Go straight past 18 km, and you will pass Kantharawichai Hospital (0-4378-9205). Though it is a one-lane road on each side, the condition is good. You will pass Yang Talad Police Station (0-4389-1350) when you pass 28 km.

Around 39-40 km, take a road diversion to the left. The road will take you to the city where you can visit Kalasin City Pillar Shrine, Wat Si Bun Ruang (Nuea), Wat Klang and Phraya Chaisunthon Monument. The four places are in the same area.

Phraya Chaisunthon Monument is located in front of the provincial postal office. The Kalasin people donated to build the monument to show their gratitude to the city founder.

Wat Si Bun Ruang (Nuea) is an old and important temple. The Sema (stones marking a temple’s boundary) from Fah Daet Song Yang city, made in the 13th-15th Buddhist Century, are kept here.

The most beautiful piece has the picture of an angel flying over a castle while the king, the queen and their son are portrayed in the lower part.

Wat Klang is a royal monastery housing a beautiful bronze Buddha image. There is also a stone inscription with the Thai ancient alphabet. Phra Chaisunthon respected the Buddha image as the city’s Buddha image. The people of Kalasin would bring the image to a procession and pray for rain when it was dry that year. At the temple is also a replica of Lord Buddha’s footprint, made from laterite.

After visiting the places, find accommodation for the night.

The next morning, start from the Phraya Chaisunthon Monument past Kalasin Hospital (0-4381-1021, 0-4381-1169), then turn left and go straight until you find the Dinosaur Roundabout.

Follow the roundabout clockwise, turn left at the intersection and go for another 30 km. Take highway No 227.

You will arrive at the dinosaur museum on your right. Turn right at 29 km and drive for 2 km. Follow the road to the right and you will arrive at Sirindhorn Museum, from the Phu Kum Khao Dinosaur Excavation Site in Sahatsakhan district. There are eight exhibition zones showcasing the origins of dinosaurs in ages as well as the pictures of discovered dinosaur skeletons. Souvenirs are available. The museum (0-4387-1014, 0-4387-1394) is open daily from 9am to 5pm.

From the museum, take the road uphill for 300 metres to Wat Pa Sakkawan, the largest site where dinosaur fossils were found in Thailand. There are exhibitions of origins of dinosaurs in different eras and a building covering the excavation site where fossils were found. Here, 700 pieces of complete fossils of herbivore dinosaurs were found. They are believed to have been part of seven dinosaurs.

From the museum, turn right and follow highway No 227. Turn left at the T-junction to 37-38 km. Turn left for about one km and you will find Wat Phutthanimit Phu Khao on your left. The temple is in Ban Na Si Nuan, housing a reclining Buddha image, which is leaning on the left side and without the aura around the Buddha image’s head. There are also carved scenes depicting the Jataka tales of the Lord Buddha’s 10 previous lives on the doors, windows and ceiling.

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Accommodation

Taksila Hotel, Maha Sarakham; Tel 0-4371-9999, 0-4372-2222

Suan Warun (Warun Garden in Maha Sarakham Rajabhat University); Tel 0-4374-2618

Suphak on Saneha road, Kalasin city: Tel 0-4381-1315, 0-4381-1051; Rate – Bt250-550

Rim Pao on Kudyangsamakkee Road, Muang district, Kalasin; Tel 0-4381-3631-9l; Rate – Bt850-950

Restaurants

Pailin: Tel 0-4387-3700

Udom Phochana on Sompamit Road, Kalasin; Tel 0-4381-1912

Paiboon Garden Sompamit Road, Kalasin; Tel 0-4381-1661

Leelawadee; Tel 0-4381-6699

Natcha Suki; Tel 0-4381-2320

Suki House; Tel 0-4381-2804