Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [437]
A mini night market (Th Kaew Asa; 4.30-9.30pm) sets up across from the municipal market.
Getting There & Away
Buses between Loei (2nd class 60B, 1½ hours) and Phitsanulok (ordinary/2nd class 67/94B, three hours) stop in Dan Sai about hourly and there are a few other buses that begin their journeys to these towns in Dan Sai. All stop near the junction of Th Kaew Asa and Rte 2013.
SIRINDHORN ART CENTRE
Wang Saphung, 23km south of Loei, is the unlikely location of the Sirindhorn Art Centre (0 4284 1410; Rte 210; admission free; 8am-6pm). It was built to honour Sangkom Thongmee, a famous local teacher (since retired) at the adjoining school whose students, mostly farmers’ children, have won thousands of awards for their work. Student works (and sometimes professional pieces) are always on display and sometimes for sale in the glassy gallery. There’s also a nice sculpture garden in front.
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PHU KRADUNG NATIONAL PARK
Capped off by its eponymous peak, Phu Kradung National Park (0 4287 1333; admission 400B; trail to summit 7am-2pm Oct-May) covers a high-altitude plateau, cut through with trails and peppered with cliffs and waterfalls. Rising to 1316m, Thailand’s second national park is always cool at its highest reaches (average year-round temperature 20°C), where its flora is more typical of a temperate zone. There are mixed deciduous and evergreen monsoon forests as well as patches of cloud forest.
A small visitor centre at the base of the mountain distributes detailed maps and collects your admission fee, but almost everything else is up top. The main trail scaling Phu Kradung is 5.5km long and takes about three to four hours to climb. It’s strenuous, but not all that challenging since the most difficult parts have steps. The hike is quite scenic and there are rest stops with food vendors about every kilometre along the way. Once on top, it’s another 3km to the main park visitor centre (24hr). You can hire porters to carry your gear balanced on bamboo poles for 15B per kilogram.
The 348-sq-km park is a habitat for various forest animals, including elephants, Asian jackals, Asiatic black bears, sambar deer, serows, white-handed gibbons and the occasional tiger. The best place to see wildlife is the wilderness area, which can only be ent-ered during January to March. Many waterfalls (including Tham Yai, which has a cave behind it) and scenic viewpoints (some ideal for sunrises and sunsets) are scattered around the mountain.
Spending the night atop Phu Kradung is a rite of passage for many local students, so the park gets unbelievably crowded during school holidays (especially March to May). The park is closed to visitors during the rainy season (June to September) because the path to the top is considered too hazardous to climb.
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SLEEPING & EATING
Atop the mountain there’s camping (per person with own tent 30B, 3-/6-person tent hire 225-450B) space for 5000 people plus lots of bungalows (0 2562 0760; www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve; 6-12-person bungalow 900-3600B). There are also several small open-air eateries serving the usual stir-fry dishes. If you’re arriving late in the afternoon, there’s camping and one bungalow at the bottom and some resorts outside the entrance.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Buses from Loei go to the district town of Phu Kradung (50B, 1½ hours, every half-hour). From Phu Kradung, hop on a srng·ta·ou (20B) to the park visitor centre at the base of the mountain, 10km away. The last srng·ta·ou leaves the mountain around 8pm.
THAM ERAWAN
High up the side of a beautiful limestone mountain, Tham Erawan (6am-7pm) is a large cave shrine, featuring a vast seated Buddha. Gazing out over the mountain-studded plains below, the Buddha is visible from several kilometres away and can be reached by a winding staircase of 600 steps. The views are superb, especially at sunset. More stairs and a line of lights lead you