Phra That Yakhu, Kalasin

Posted on 17/07/2011 | Leave a comment

Only a kilometer or two from Wat Po Chai Semaram is a large open space dominated by this chedi known as Phra That Yakhu. When the ancient city of Muang Dafaet Songyang was destroyed, this chedi was left standing, suggesting that it was particularly revered. The assumption is that it contains the ashes of an important monk or perhaps of more than one person.

As the Tourist Authority suggests in the notice pictured above, the chedi displays evidence of being built in three quite distinct periods.

There are the remains of other chedi in the area around, all of them within the boundary walls of the ancient city.

This shrine is of a much more recent date. It is quite typical of the sort of ‘clutter’ that accumulates at popular shrines.

But this old tree is also revered.  Ancient trees such as this, or the remains of such a tree, are often decorated like this and people come to pay respect to the spirit that is thought to reside here.

There are visitors here on any day, mostly families who have driven here. The large open space in front of the chedi is also used for certain ceremonies, and the annual rocket festival in May is held here by the villagers, attracting visitors from nearby towns and provinces.

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Wat Po Chai Semaram, Fadaet Songyang, Kalasin

Posted on 10/07/2011 | Leave a comment

Wat Po Chai Semaram, Kalasin

Wat Po Chai Semaram is situated in Ban Sema about 20 km south of the capital of Kalasin Province. It is sited within the heart of an ancient city known as Muang Fadaet Songyang. Archeological evidence suggests that thgere was an urbanised community here in prehistoric times; there is plenty of visible evidence that the city was prospering in the Dvaravati period about a thousand years ago.

The wat compound is right in the heart of the village, as this map shows:

Ban Sema, Nong-Paeng, Kalasin

Wat Po Chai Semaram, KalasinThe wat serves as a depository for some impressive sandstone boundary makers, or sema. Some of them have bas reliefs illustrating the jataka stories of the Buddha’s life and previous lives. These are kept under cover in a special building. The blue rectangles had explanatory texts attached to them at one time. You can see one such text on the ground in front of the stone on the left.  This display is undoubtedly valuable and of considerable interest but is more than somewhat neglected.

Wat Po Chai Semaram, Kalasin

The wat also serves as a museum for artefacts of a secular nature. One exhibit I was pleased to see was this krok, or rice pounder, which used to be a ubiquitous feature of village homes in Isan.

Wat Po Chai Semaram, Kalasin

This unusual sala serves as a place where some exhibits are kept as well as serving its more usual function as a space where monks and lay people come together.

Wat Po Chai Semaram, Kalasin

You can see more images of this wat in the slideshow below.

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You can find Wat Po Chai Semaram by leaving Kalasin on Route 214 towards Roi Et.  After 13 km you reach the district town of Kamalasai. Turn right and travel along Route 2367 for 6 km until you reach the village of Ban Sema.

You can read more about Wat Po Chai Semaram on my other site, Life in Phana:

http://phanathailife.typepad.com/thai-life-phana/2011/07/more-than-one-way-to-make-merit.html

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Exhibits at Kasemsima Temple Museum

Posted on 28/06/2011 | Leave a comment

We were introduced to the temple museum at Wat Kasemsimram by a friend from Phana. Here he is with the abbot in the exhibition room.

Here are some of the exhibits to give you some idea of the range on display here. The labelling and explanation of exhibits is very well done, but unfortunately is in Thai only.

Elephant bones

Python skin

Antlers

Library cabinet

Ceremonial Jars

Musical Instruments

Wooden horse

I think what I found most interesting was the reminder of how abundant wildlife used to be in this area.

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Temple Museum at Kasemsima

Posted on 22/03/2011 | 2 Comments

The temple museum at Kasemsima was a real find, though we didn’t find  it ourselves. A Phana friend who lives and works in Trakan Phutphon (Ubon Ratchathani Province) took us there.

The temple-museum is located in the village of Kasemsima Muang Gow, in Tambon Kasem, Amphur Trakan Phutphon, Changwat Ubon Ratchanthani. From Trakan, drive 3 kms north-east on route 2050 towards Khemmarat, then fork left towards Kut Khao Pun. Drive through Ban Kasemsima, cross the small river and turn right into Ban Kasmsima Muang Gow.

Wat Kasemsamran, Development Wat of the Year 2540 (1997)

 The wat itself is very modest. The kutis are old and wooden like this group of three:

Kuti, Wat Kasemsamran

The ubosot is very old,  faded, almost neglected in appearance. Yet it is also very unusual. Despite the name of the village, this ubosot has no sima  or boundary marker-stones. When I mentioned this to the abbot he said they had ‘disappeared’ many years ago. I said that presumably the luk nimit were still in place, but he surprised me by saying that this was a Lao temple and the custom of burying luk nimit was Thai. The temple was founded in BE 2291 (1748) so it is old but not as old as Wat Phra Lao Thepnimit in Phana.

Ubosot, Wat Kasemsamran

But it is the museum that people come to see and that is housed in a magnificent new purpose-built building.

Museum entrance, Wat Kasemsamran

 Some of the exhibits in this excellent museum will appear in a slideshow in the next post.

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Eating in Kalasin

Posted on 13/03/2011 | Leave a comment

Kalasin is an easy place to find food. Food of all kinds. Good food.

As with most provincial cities in Isan, the bus station is a good bet for fast, cheap food. Kalasin bus station is no exception. There are all sorts of noodle stalls, shops where you can get ‘on rice’ dishes, and plenty of places where you can get wet boiled rice ( khaw tum: ข้าวต้ม).

Also worth visiting is the night market between the hospital and Kalasin Plaza. The market is mostly under cover, and each stall generally serves one or two dishes. You can walk around and choose something that looks good even if you don’t know what it is called.

For a good choice of Thai, Chinese and Western food, you can’t do better than Rimpao Hotel. The Kushinarai Restaurant there is open to non-residents and you can spend some time cooling off first in the hotel lobby if you want to. The dishes are reasonably priced and certainly cheaper for things like steak than  the trendy-looking but over-priced Cafe Frozen  in the park next to the Kud Nam Kin. Cafe Frozen will suit you if you need a smoothie after walking or jogging around the lake, however.

A little on the north-eastern edge of town is an attractive garden restaurant, Leelawadee Restaurant. You will find it next to Tirawat Hospital on Theenanon Road (Route 213 towards Somdet).

A friendly little restaurant on Sompamith Road  (look out for Honda and Krung Thai Bank on the corner of this road) in town is Amadeus, run by Wolfgang and Nok. They make great oven pizza but check out the specials board too.

Amadeus Restaurant, Kalasin

Amadeus Restaurant, Kalasin

You won’t go hungry in Kalasin. Bon appétit!

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Hotels in Kalasin

Posted on 09/03/2011 | 2 Comments

Rimpao Hotel, Kalasin

The recently refurbished Rimpao Hotel is of a very good standard for a provincial city as small as Kalsin.

It is situated in the south-west corner of the city, close to the bypass, the bus station and the very well laid out park around the lake known as Kud Nam Kin.

Deluxe rooms here are 1,000 Baht a night for a double-bed room (Single) and 1,100 Baht for a twin-bed room (Double), both including breakfast. Telephone 043 813631 – 9.

For full details of the excellent facilities available at this hotel, click HERE.

AP Garden Hotel, Kalasin

Almost next door is the AP Garden Hotel, a much cheaper option but also good value. The 38 rooms are 350 Baht a night and the 4 rooms in the VIP Resort are 500 Baht. Telephone 043 816773-4.

Between AP Garden Hotel and Rimpao Hotel is a two-storey hotel with no English-language sign. It is under the same ownership as Rimpao but a room here costs 400 Baht a night, if you can get one. It is a popular place with salesmen and others stopping the night. There is a small noodle stall and tables in the yard and coffee and biscuits are served free (help yourself) just next to the reception desk. The rooms are spacious, basic, but perfectly adequate for a short stay.

There are three hotels on busy roads in the  city centre:

Saithong Hotel, on the corner of Phirom Road and Somphamit Road and Sangthong Hotel a little further north on Sompahamit Road. These are older, less stylish places which have fan rooms from 250 Baht and air-con rooms from 450 Baht.

Pailin Hotel  may be a useful pace to stop if you have your own transport. It is about 4 kms out of the city on the road to Sahatsakhan. It is much used by large tour groups. The deluxe rooms are 1,100 Baht including breakfast and 650 Baht without breakfast. That seems like a very expensive breakfast, even for two.

There are also very many ‘resorts’ in and around the city and the province, and again, if you have your own transport these can provide cheap, basic but clean accommodation in some quite out-of-the-way places.

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Kalasin Province

Posted on 06/03/2011 | Leave a comment

Kalasin is a province that many people travel through, but few regard it as a destination. It is situated close to several bigger provincial cities: Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Nakhon Phanom. Arguably, these cities all have more to offer. At least, that is the view of people who have never spent time in Kalasin.

It is probably true that if you are seeking lively night-life or excitement in one form or another, then Kalasin is not for you. But if you need a relaxing few days in a city that has few tourists and that takes no particular notice of the few they get, then Kalasin could be just the place. In addition, there are a few day-trips you can make from the city which you may find interesting.

 

Kalasin rice fields (second crop in the dry season)

One of the stereotypical ideas that people have of Kalsin is that it is at the heart of an Isan dust-bowl, but the south and western parts of the province are well-watered by the Lam Pao and the Lam Chi rivers and the Lam Pao Reservoir waters a large area surrounding it.

 

Rimpao Hotel, Kalasin

The recently refurbished Rimpao Hotel is of a very good standard for a provincial city as small as Kalsin. It is no doubt an indicator of the increasing prosperity of this city. (For more information, see ‘Kalasin Hotels’.)

Rimpao Hotel is situated in the south-west corner of the city, close to the bypass, the bus station and the very well laid out park around the lake known as Kud Nam Kin.

Kud Nam Kin Park, Kalasin

It isn’t difficult to find somewhere to stay in Kalasin,  both in the city and out in the countryside. And food is easy to come by too.

As for getting here, that is a bit indirect, but if you enjoy travelling that need not be a problem. Three city airports are linked by frequent buses: the nearest is Khon Kaen, less than 80 kms away, but Udon Thani and Nakhon Phanom are other possibilities.

By bus, the VIP and other services from Bangkok to Nakhon Phanom stop here and of course there are services from all the surrounding provinces. By train, you again have to alight at Khon Kaen and continue to Kalasin by bus. Khon Kaen is on the North-East line from Bangkok to Nong Khai.

Travelling here by your own transport can take you through some surprisingly varied countryside, but if you get stuck behind a huge truck overladen with sugar beet on its way to one of the factories in the province, it can be a frustrating experience. Apart from that, a visit to Kalsin can be very enjoyable.

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