A question asked multiple times..and an ultimately pleasing answer

So we left the Embassy 4th of July party at the Ambassador's at about 6:15 pm on Friday night to head to Khon Kaen. It was a bit sad, as two officers, including the DCM, who is in charge of JO professional development and has been wonderful to work for, left on Saturday morning, so it was goodbyes all around.

Up early Saturday with a long drive ahead of us. We were sure to buy some floral thingy that people sell at intersections as it would bring us luck, keep us safe, or just generally make the car smell something like a 19th century French whore who is a little liberal with the application of the eau d' toilette.

5 hours of driving through lesser highways (2 lanes, but good quality and full of traffic) brought us to Khantharalak, the gateway town to the Khao Prah Wihan Sanctuary. It was nigh on 1:30 pm, and we decided that, regardless of what else happened the rest of the day, we should see if there was anywhere to stay in town that night. Why, the Khantharalak Palace Hotel, of course. 300 baht ($7.50) for a room with A/C, or 450 baht ($11.25) for a VIP room. We decided that VIP meant that the bed didn't sag to the floor, and that if we were to stay at the hotel, we would treat ourselves as VIPs.

We asked the proprietress about Prah Wihan, and she replied that it closed at 3:00 pm and, anyway, we wouldn't be able to make it before closing. A bit saddened (but, hey, our original plan was to stop in Ubon Ratchatani for the night, and we were already about 90 minutes south of there, so, hey, we'd just take it easy and have a look around town, then turn in early.


So, we asked, what is there to see in Khantharalak? Nothing, she replied.

Well, to lunch then.


We found a small noodleshop where we got a great lunch and some important information. 1) Prah Wihan closes at 4:00 pm (not 3:00 pm as that know-nothing woman told us), and 2) It's only 30 minutes away. A quick calculation and we realize that we can have at least 90 minutes there if we inhale our food. And so we do.

Basically, the entire northeastern part of Thailand is on the Khorat Plateau. It's good for growing rice, is quite pleasing to the eye, but it is flat, and rather redundant. Sort of like Iowa, but with Thai people and rice rather than Iowans and corn. So as we approached the Phanom Don Rak mountain range that separates Thailand from Cambodia and is home to Phra Wihan, the ever steeper incline was a welcome change. The rain, however, was not. At the entrance to the National Park that surrounds Phra Wihan, we paid our $10, and inquiring once more about the hours of operation, figuring if anyone knew, it would be the park ranger chick. Closes at 4:30 pm, she said cheerily, but you can leave after that, you just can't enter after 4:30.

So we had plenty of time. And we could be sitting in our VIP room in Khatharalak like suckers if we'd just listened to the hotel proprietress. What a loser.

By the time we reached the top, and, literally, the end of the road, the rain had stopped. No rain was good news, but the top of the mountain, and Phra Wihan, remained shrouded in low-flying clouds.