Kanchanaburi Chapter 2 (Prasat Muang Sing: The Westernmost Khmer Ruins)

Leaving the Death Railway, the TukTuk (Songthaew as the locals call it ) speed up to our next destination, Prasat Muang Sing Historical Park, in Sai Yok district of Kanchanaburi.

Muang Sing

It was around 3PM that afternoon of 9th April 2017 and the scorching heat from the sun seems endless. The tuktuk passed by villages and empty dried land for half an hour. At 3.30PM we reached the historical park.

admission fee

The admission fee for non-Thai is 100THB and for Thai it is free. TIPS: This fee doesn't include the car/tuktuk/van etc, for the tuktuk to drive you inside, the entrance fee is 50THB / car. The historical park is big, thus i would strongly suggest to drive to the main destination and you can walk around from there. Especially in this hot weather, to walk half an hour to the main temple will lead to dehydration. If you are planning to come using public transport, you can take the train and stop at Thakilen. You can check out the train schedule in my previous entry. The park is 1KM from the station.

Muang Sing Park

Nam drove us from the entrance to the main parking area inside the park, near the main temple ruins. At some points i can feel the wind blows and it was such a relief, but then the heatwave came again and i was drowned in my own sweats, meh.

Monument 1 and me struck by heat holding a 100plus

So what's so interesting about this park? Prasat Muang Sing was a Khmer style temple laid out in the form of a mandala, a mystical diagram of the universe. It was originally built dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. It was constructed around the 13th century during the reign of King Jaya Voraman VII (1181-1215) of the great Khmer empire. The location of this temple and the current park itself is between the mountains to the north and river Kwae Noi to the south. It was abandoned in 14th century after the fall of the empire. There are 4 mains groups of ruins and only the main buildings (temple) and some smaller buildings are fully visible. Muang Sing is also known as 'lion city', in Khmer empire it is known as Srichaiya Singhapura,

main temple from the laterite wall

strike a pose! (see how narrow & steep the gopura is

We walked to the main temple ruins made of laterite blocks. The square wall along this historical park was also built by the same laterite blocks. It is pretty much a smaller version of Angkor Wat.  The main temple was built in Bayon style, named after the Bayon temple in Angkor that was built around the same time. TIPS: Prasat Muang Sing is the first historical park in Thailand and it was a hidden gem not known to most people who visit Kanchanaburi. Find some time to visit this westernmost Khmer ruins, its worth the time. Especially for history buff!

Brief explanation of the park

The Khmer temple was divided to 2, Monument 1 and Monument 2. Monument 1 are complete, while number 2 are not and mostly ruined. The green grass surrounding it made the temple alive with perfect view. Although it was hot, i managed to walk around the temple.

western gopura to the temple

from inside the temple

The entrance (gopura) leading to inside of the Monument 1 is narrow and u kinda have to climb a bit, steep steps into the temple. but its open to public. There are four main gopura leading to the centre tower (prang). The Radiating Bodhisatva Avualokitesavara Buddha statue in the center is placed by the Thai government and can be seen from eastern gopura. The real one is now placed in the national museum together with Prajna Paramita statue. The Buddhist scripts are also kept inside this temple in its 'library'. To be honest, it is almost the same as Borobudur temple in Jogjakarta. (click to read my travel diary on Borobudur). TIPS: If you are interested in Neolithic artifacts, Ban Kao museum holds items such as earthenware pots, skeletons, axes, stone tools and other thousands of years old items discovered at the site. It is located 8KM from Prasat Muang Sing.

Radiating Bodhisatva Avualokitesavara by Bella

Monument 2 across it looks abandoned and incomplete with just the base still standing. The difference from the Monument no.1 is the very wide terrace because the Prang is located in the back of the construction. It was previously covered with wooden structure. Below is the brief explanation of the ruins.

Monument No. 2

heat!

I wanted to take a look inside (well top-side), but the heat wins. I couldn't bear it, darn, Bella did went inside for like 2 minutes and came back down after being 'barbequed' by the sun  TIPS: There are 2 major sections which is the ancient ruin as written above and artifact museum, a place they keep old objects found in the historical park which we didn't go sadly.

on top of monument 2 taken by Bella: mamamuezza.blogspot

Further up from the temple is the Khmer burial site. The remains of the people of Khmer empire during 13th century is buried here. We didn't go there but if you have time and can stand the heat, please do. TIPS: Dress modestly as some people still come and pray here, you can see flowers being put around the statues.

arrow pointing to all 3 major section of this park

And so with that we leave the historical park, back into the 'oven', hiks. Nam speed the TukTuk back to our hotel, VN Guesthouse. We made a deal with him to take us to dinner and night market that night. He is willing to take us for 500THB. Also the main reason we agreed was because it is not easy to take a taxi or tuktuk from our guesthouse.

sunset at VN : Kwai Yai River

Ahhh such a relief to rest inside my room, aircond, shower, felt fresh!. Able to sleep for half an hour, hihi. The sunset view from my balcony was amazing, interrupted a lil from the jetski drifting back and forth. Normally i'd prefer coffee while enjoying this kind of view, but this time i had a cold 100plus i bought from a small 'grocery store' next to the guesthouse.

After the good rest, we head out again around 8PM. I told Nam to wait for us in front of the hotel around that time. There he was, patiently waiting for us, hiks. Btw i paid him after he dropped us back at the hotel, not before. To avoid being cheated, hihi. But Nam is an honest gentlemen.

He took us to a street food stalls in the center of Kanchanaburi town, about 5 minutes drive from there. It was Sherry's birthday the next day and we were planning to buy her a cake, but dont see any bakery or pastry shop here, hihi. This is a short video inside the TukTuk that night.

The food stalls here sells various type of Thai food, from chicken to vegetarian, halal to non halal, tomyam to sticky rice, you name it. 2 of the first stalls here sells halal Thai food. The owner can speak Kelantanese Malay dialect, which is awesome. TIPS: The street food market is located near the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office, 4 minutes walk from the Kanchanaburi bus station . Ask any TukTuk driver they will know it.

the food market

one of the stall

We were starving, so rice it is. Almost all of us had fried rice, only different kind, salted fish, kampung etc. I had basil chicken rice and fried chicken from the 1st stall (both belong to the same owner, husband and wife).

eat eat eat!

Having had our tummy filled, we move on to the Kanchanaburi night market. The night market is located exactly opposite Kanchanaburi railway station. It was lit up with lights from the stall selling clothes, shoes, bags and finger foods.

Kanchanaburi Railway Station

shoeesssss at Kanchanaburi Night Market

We started walking around feasting our eyes with the goods sold there. the varieties of clothes here is not so much, same goes to souvenirs, hardly find any. But i did find one stall selling shoes, pretty, so pretty, hiks. I bought one and Sha bought one too. 150THB each, awesome.

custom made perfume at the night market

Sherry and Ija stopped at a custom made perfume stall. You can choose some of the available perfume and custom made it. If you buy 2,u get 1 free, mmhmm. The size is small, suitable for travel pack, interesting yes.

We leave the market and decided to go for a massage. Actually Nam stopped us at a 7Eleven to buy drinking water. Coincidentally, it is located next to a massage parlor in a bit 'hype' street of Kanchanaburi town. TIPS: Bored at night?, the nightlife is here, located in Don Rak (ถ.แม่น้ำแคว) road (intersection of China Road). I saw some good restaurants and bar, clubs and hostels here.

Massage parlour across Pal Bar

I asked Nam whether we can have a half an hour massage and he agreed to wait for us. The parlour actually was about to close in 10minutes (they close at 11PM) but because there were 7 of us, the owner extended the closing time a bit. We were her last customers.

All of the masseuse were local girls bout 25 - 40 yrs of age. They provide a good foot massage yes (I really need it after a full day of walkin'). Ija took pic of each one of us and i look horrible. With the heat and the large chair, i looked like someone suffering from starvation in a hospital, rescued, hihiihi. No, im not gonna share the pic! . TIPS: It is located opposite Pal Bar. The price is the same as Bangkok, around 200-250 THB.

massage parlour

After the late night massage session, we went back to our hotel, bout 5 minutes from there. As the clock struck 12AM, we surprised Sherry with birthday wishes in her room. Happy Birthday Kakak!!!! Much love <3 .

There were nothing we can give at that moment beside a sash written 'Birthday Girl', i brought some pistachios for her and that was all i had. Bella even asked the staff at the guesthouse whether they provide coffee / drinks at night and sadly no. So it was just warm wishes from us that night for 'sweet 17' Sherry, hiks!.

Happy Birthday kakak, (ignore the dark me holding pistachios)

The next day was a looong journey, we went further up near the border of Myanmar. Whats there to see? well till the next entry lovelies! XOX <Chapter 3>