November 19, 2025
One....Two....Three
One....Two....Three
We had been under the impression the rain was gone but we woke to a fine drizzle. The radar told us that it wasn't much but it was going to be persistent for a while. We waited and worked on the journal but eventually we had to just go for it. We had scheduled a day of visiting a couple of temples heavily influenced by the Burmese style and a museum. They were some distance away from each other so we were going to ride our bikes. The rain was very light but it made for dreary rides to our destinations. We seriously thought the rain would end as it does everyday.
Wat Phra Kaew Don Tao Suchadaram was first on our list. The Viharn, or main temple, was Thai style. It had been renovated recently and was the most boring temple I've visited yet on this trip.
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BUT, next to it was the most precious and wonderful Burmese temple building. When we are riding in cities we sometimes go through a neighborhood that has many elements that are distinctly Burma. It could be smells or the dilapidated look of things or something I can't even put my finger on but I basically get immediately homesick for Burma and the Burmese people. There is no place like Burma, so unique, so exotic. But it is out of touch for us, still, due to their civil war. I feel awful for the Burmese people who are completely controlled by military thugs.
So, you can imagine my joy to enter a little temple that is pure Burmese style. The walls and ceilings were covered with little colored mirrors, carved wood figures and designs all with peeling gold paint. It was old, maybe 100 years or more. A hundred years doesn't sound like much but add in the heat and humidity and heavy rainfall and things deteriorate quickly. The fragility of all the carvings made it even more precious to me. I photographed for some time there.
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There was a smaller building in Thai style with a reclining Buddha that I enjoyed seeing as well.
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Then we went to the Ban Pong Nak Museum which is a 100 year old house constructed for King Rama the 7th. He visited once in January 1926 just after it was completed and King Rama the 9th visited once in March 1958. THAT WAS IT!! For a hundred years the Thais have kept it in very good shape, I guess in hopes that some other king might visit. What a waste! However we loved it, as I'm sure thousands of other visitors have. The name, Ban Pong Nak, means House of Many Windows, since there are 469. Most do not have glass but shutters that open at the bottom and are propped outward. The architecture was beautiful, the old color of paint was beautiful, the rosewood floors were beautiful as well as the furnishings. The house was masterfully designed for air flow. All the shutters had slats for air flow even when closed. Above the windows were transom-like sections also with slats or holes for air flow.
The problem with going there was that we were pounced on by three Thais even before we entered the house. There was no admission fee which was nice but I would have gladly paid something to have had a different experience there than we did have.
I keep saying to Andrea it was the weirdest experience of my life and she keeps telling me that I have had weirder experiences. I think she might be wrong.
Of the three so-called "guides" who lighted upon us, one spoke English. He was incredibly obnoxious right from the start and insisted on taking a photo of us at the front entrance. He wanted us to make a heart with our arms but we rejected that crap. We were somewhat fortunate that a bunch of Thais arrived and the obnoxious one immediately dumped us and took off to do something with them. I don't know where they all went because we were the only two tourists, Thai or otherwise, inside the house of many windows.
The two "guides" we, for some reason, had spoke no English at all and were essentially mute. Imagine a mute guide. They stuck to us like flies and made our experience there just plain weird. But even weirder than that was that one of them, the guy, continually photographed us. Every single thing we took an interest in he snapped a photo of us looking interested. He videoed us too. I mean he was constantly taking photos of us and he was acting as if he was doing it surreptitiously. I wanted to say to him, "You know I can see you taking photos of us, right?" It was too weird. We felt completely, obviously and unapologetically surveilled upon. In your face! We didn't know what was going on. Occasionally he would indicate that he wanted us to pose for his photos and we basically had to oblige. At those times he did say in English, "One.....Two.....Three," the only English he knew. His counterpart, a woman, laughed a lot. I was convinced that at the end of our "tour" of the house he would try to sell us the images. Since our privacy was being invaded like never before in our lives I thought I'd maybe try to get him to pay us! Or, better, to make him erase all the images. It was so weird. I can't explain how weird it was. We would have had a much better time and would have spent more time in the house if we had been left alone or, like in most museums, someone standing in the shadows to make sure you don't do anything wrong would have been normal. Oh, also, when we entered the dining room the woman struggled but eventually told us, "Dining room." Thanks. So helpful! There was a table.
The other weird thing, (yes, there's more) was that the house is on an army base and they ultimately control whatever goes on with that house/museum. That entered into my being weirded out by all the photos being taken of us. Why was the army doing that? The other thing, I know how meticulous the military of any country is about keeping things polished and ship shape. Well, the old oil base paint was in great shape but it was filthy especially in the upper reaches of the super high ceilings. Why isn't the army keeping it spotless? Why aren't they employing the three "guides" to be cleaning instead of bugging anyone who visits? I have so many objections. But the house was unique and I loved it. No complaints about the architecture!
There was a phonograph and stacks of old records in one room. We put one on and it was our favorite, old Thai music. But the "guide" only let it play for a minute. I would have loved to have had it playing the entire time we were walking around the house. The sound of 100 year old Thai music would have been perfect and would have helped in lowering my desire to grab his camera and lock both "guides" in a closet.
Oh, one more weird thing.....One room had a lot of guns, like big guns, like large machine guns and even bigger guns than that. The "guide" with the camera wanted me to grab them and act like I was shooting. I immediately walked to another room. Why are the guns even there!? Just because it's a military base does not mean you should have guns on display in that house. I'm now done. Sorry. Just be forewarned if you should go there. Or, if you want, you too can have the weirdest experience of your life at Ban Pong Nak Museum in Lampang, Thailand.
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1 month ago
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The dreariness of the day and constant light drizzle didn't help. The rain was weird too. When we were riding I felt like I was getting pretty wet (we hadn't brought any rain gear) but when we arrived at our next attraction my shirt didn't feel wet at all. It must have been simultaneously getting wet and drying. So weird.
I wanted to see one more temple that had Burmese influences, Wat Srichum. The reason there are Burmese temples is because a hundred or more years ago the Thais hired some British who were logging in Burma, which they controlled. They knew everything about logging teak trees so they came to this area where teak grew very well and there were enormous trees in the forests. The British overseers were used to having Burmese do all the heavy work so they brought them along to this region. The Burmese loggers were here a long time and the Thais, who remember always bend with the wind, allowed them to build their Burmese style temples alongside the existing Thai temples. After all, both are Buddhist temples. And actually lots of Burmese stayed in this region of Thailand. They are all basically Thai now having been here for generations but the temples are pure Burmese.
I loved Wat Srichum too. It was smaller than the previous Burmese temple but still quite beautiful. After getting my temple fix, I was ready to leave sleepy Lampang. I was looking forward to riding our bikes again, this time to a small town called Mae Mo where we will probably catch a train the next day.
lovebruce
Today's ride: 7 miles (11 km)
Total: 149 miles (240 km)
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