Mission Impossible: Getting to the Mosaic Temple in Phetchabun(Wat Phra Sorn Kaew)

Wat Pha Sorn Kaew in Phetchabun(the is in my opinion the most beautiful temple in all of Thailand, rivaled only maybe by the White Temple in Chiang Rai.  There are a MILLION and a half temples in Thailand, so whenever you find one that stands out it’s pretty exciting.  Wat Pha Sorn Kaew is one of the few temples in Thailand that were created as an art form and not just a religious structure, similar to the White Temple.

As soon as I came to Thailand and saw my friend’s pictures of it, this temple made it towards the top of my Thailand bucket list.  It’s pretty off-the-beaten path for anyone backpacking Thailand.  It’s really difficult to get to, and I don’t think I could’ve done it my first few months in Thailand.  Most foreign tourists who get to this temple do so by organized tour, at least from what I read online.  The only other foreigners I saw at the temple was a small Russian family, so I’m not sure how popular these tours are.

Phetchabun is a semi-northern province kind of towards the middle of Thailand.  After spending 8-ish days in Pai, I decided to stop in and see this temple on my way back to Bangkok to meet my friends for a music festival.

The Mosaic Temple is located in the mountains of Phetchabun in a town called Khao Kho.  Khao Kho is Thai vacation paradise; there are tons of pretty views and a bunch of resorts.  I made a reservation at a cheap hotel in Khao Kho on Booking.com, but didn’t make it there because I got to neighboring Lom Sak too late.

Travel hack – always try to book on Booking.com if you’re not sure if you’re going to make it somewhere.  Often you can make reservations with 0 deposit and no credit card information, so you avoid getting charged if you don’t make it somewhere.

Back to Lom Sak.  At the bus station in Chiang Mai I bought a bus ticket to Lom Sak, the biggest city outside Khao Kho, for about 380 baht.  You can also stay in Phetchabun city, which is what some of my friends have done in the past, but that’s an hour away from the temple, as opposed to 30 mintues from Lom Sak.  Also if you’re coming from the North you have to go through Lom Sak to get to Phetchabun city anyways.

Bus Breakdown

I’ve taken a million overnight busses in Thailand and never had an issue.  I’ve never had my stuff stolen, I’ve always felt safe, they’re comfortable and often come with food and an attendance, and they help you save on a night’s accommodation.

However, of course, this time when I’m already headed somewhere I’m completely unfamiliar with AND I’m alone, my bus decides to break down.

NO ONE on the bus spoke English.  So I had to figure out what was going on based on context clues.  After waiting outside the bus for an hour, everyone from our bus AND our stuff crowded onto a passing tour bus from the same company.  With people on it, which means we did it Thai-style – there’s always room for everyone!  I was squeezed into the front of the bus with a bunch of Thai girls about my age, 6 of us to 4 seats.  There were also people in the aisles.

Then we stopped in the middle of nowhere AGAIN and everyone who didn’t have a real seat(me) had to get off.  No one actually told me to get off – I had to guess by everyone staring at me and by copying the Thai girls’ every move.  I probably could’ve snagged a seat but I waited to get on because I was making sure my bag made it on to the bus with me.

Then we waited in the middle of nowheere(at night, mind you) before getting onto yet ANOTHER bus that brought us to a bus station.  Where we had to wait another hour for a bus to come get us at 12:30AM.

I finally got to Lom Sak at around 2:30.  Lom Sak is a small Thai town; very similar to Dan Chang from what I saw.  Therefore no one spoke Enlgish.  There was 1 tuk-tuk driver by the bus station who helped me out.  I mimed “HOTEL! Mai Paeng(not expensive!” and he whisked me off to some random hotel for 400 baht/night.

It was actually a pretty nice hotel, and it was nice having my own room after sleeping on a bamboo cot in a staff dorm at a hostel in Pai for a week.

Mission Impossible

Then in the morning came actually getting to the temple.  No one at the hotel spoke English, so I went up to the desk to ask for a taxi and showed them a picture of the name of the temple in Thai.  They called a taxi for me, which cost a whopping 800 baht($24).  But I mean it was a private ride to a temple half an hour away and back, so it’s really not bad, I’m just salty because I’m on a budget.

If you go to this temple, definitely bring a friend for a) peace of mind and b) to share costs.

I was even saltier when my “taxi” showed up and it was a freaking songtaew complete with a rooster in the back.

Songtaew – Thai method of transportation consisting of a pick-up truck with benches in the back that’s covered on top.  AKA no air-conditioning.

The temple was absolutely beautiful, located in the misty mountains of Phetchabun.  My driver even took me to this fancy coffee place with really nice views called Pino’s coffee.  He was really nice, which made me feel bad for yelling at him about showing up with a songtaew.

Then he brought me to the bus station, and hopped on the bus to Bangkok.  No matter where you are in Thailand, you can ALWAYS find a bus back to Bangkok.

In the end, the whole fiasco was totally worth it, and if you have time to blow in Thailand it’s worth the trek.