Five Buddhas, Closed Waterfalls, and 202 Steps I Did Not Approve

By seven in the morning, Day Two had already given us two problems: rain in the mountains and an itinerary I had saved somewhere less useful than the place I needed it. We started at 144,631 kilometers on the odometer with six attractions planned. The first one alone could have taken half the day.

That is the thing a route planner does not tell you. Six pins fit neatly on a screen. Six places have roads, parking, walking, weather, conversations, and a girlfriend who will correctly insist that the deer deserve some camera time. I was going to try anyway, because apparently Day One had taught me nothing.

A temple built for looking closely

The drive to Wat Phra That Pha Sorn Kaew in Khao Kho was wet and cold. We had proper motorcycle rain gear in the car, which I remembered only after getting soaked. Siriwan put on the bright red full suit over her dress and immediately looked like she’d been promoted to supervisor of a roadworks crew.

The five white Buddha images are what you notice from a distance. Up close, the other story is the work in the surfaces: glass, ceramic, tiles, cups, beads, and decorative pieces across walls, columns, and stairs. Even when cloud wiped out the mountain backdrop, there was plenty to see at arm’s length. If your only plan is to stand at the viewpoint for a photograph, you will miss most of what makes the place interesting. There is an individual information page for the temple, as well as the map link above.

We paid 30 baht for parking. Siriwan found a small Buddha she wanted to take home for 1,200 baht. I had budgeted time for temple filming; I had not budgeted cargo space for spiritual reinforcements. We bought it, packed it carefully, and headed toward the parks with one more passenger than we started with.

The deer had better timing than I did

At Thung Salaeng Luang National Park, deer near the camping area interrupted the rush. Siriwan approached them while I stayed behind the camera. Birds, wet ground, the animals watching her: it was a small scene, and one of the day’s best. The entrance fee we recorded was 110 baht. Unlike the skywalk we found closed on Day One, the deer had shown up for work.

That moment also made the problem with our schedule obvious. The park’s own page describes a vast landscape of forest, grassland, waterfalls, and camping areas. We were trying to fit it between breakfast and five other stops. The deer let us slow down for a few minutes; the park deserved much longer.

At Khao Kho National Park, the waterfall areas we wanted were closed. Siriwan learned that one alternative was roughly 30 kilometers away from where we stood. That is a perfectly reasonable detour if a waterfall is your whole day. With three temples still ahead, it was a long-distance relationship we did not have time to maintain. We saw what we could, collected a stamp, and kept moving. The park has its own DNP information page for anyone planning a dedicated visit.

The afternoon got shorter; the stairs did not

We stopped for KFC and spent 336 baht. After Chester’s the day before, our culinary exploration of Thailand had reached its second consecutive fried-chicken franchise. Then came Wat Mahathat Phra Aram Luang in Phetchabun city and Wat Thammayan in Nong Phai. We spent less time at both than at the glass temple. At Wat Thammayan, the giant nagas and still-developing sections made even a brief stop feel oversized. If we had started this route later, these would have been exactly the stops a neat little map quietly deletes from your day. Wat Mahathat’s location in Phetchabun city and Wat Thammayan’s Nong Phai address help distinguish them from similarly named temples elsewhere.

Our last stop, Wat Tham Khao Prang in Chai Badan, Lopburi, was visible from the road: a huge white Buddha above the temple. What was less visible was the 202-step climb. Siriwan went up with the confidence of a woman who had not spent the afternoon eating KFC and carrying camera gear. I followed, issuing periodic respiratory updates to no one in particular.

For once, the climb paid off. Wind moved across the top, and we could actually see the countryside. After two days of cloud erasing the views, it felt earned. Then I remembered that 202 steps up also meant 202 steps down. The local municipality’s page on the temple confirms this is the white Buddha stop in Chai Badan, not another cave temple with a similar name.

We finished 298 kilometers later at Ton Palm Inn in Chai Badan. Our room cost 450 baht and had a bathroom, a small balcony, and a view toward the mountain. Day Two’s recorded spending came to 2,976 baht, including the 1,200-baht Buddha. The temple gave us the view we’d been chasing; the hotel gave my knees their first reasonable assignment of the day: sit down and stay there.

If you’re borrowing anything from this route, give the glass temple real time and choose which park you want to explore properly. The six-stop version got us through the day. It also left us with a growing list of reasons to come back.