Phimai

December 11, 2024 – Khao Yai – Lat Bua Khao – 65 kms – Green Land Farm

December 12, 2024 – Lat Bua Khao – Nakhon Ratchasima – 58 kms – Korat Hotel

December 13, 2024 – Nakhon Ratchasima – Phimai- 68 kms – Phimai Paradise Hotel

December 14, 2024 – Phimai

Gordon: We are spending a couple of nights in the town of Phimai, the site of the largest Khmer temple complex in Thailand.  It was constructed by one of the kings of Angkor Wat in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.  Set in a tranquil park and beautifully restored, it is a delight to visit.  And unlike the better known and larger Angkor Wat, which we will probably also visit in a few weeks, it is possible to have the site almost to yourself, particularly at opening time in the morning.

There is an excellent national museum associated with the temple complex in Phimai.  It houses some of the best statuary and other treasures.  It is very well laid out with lots of information in English.  It certainly deserves more visitors than it receives: during our 90 minute visit we were the only guests.  The fact that one of the staff members was filming us with her phone may be some indication of the number of visitors the museum receives.

The third attraction in Phimai, and by far the most popular, is an island with the largest banyan tree in Thailand.  Supported by hundreds of air roots, it covers an area as large as a soccer pitch.  Banyan trees, a type of ficus, are sacred throughout Asia, and being the largest in the country has made the Phimai tree a major pilgrimage destination.  There was the opportunity to visit shrines under the tree, or earn merit by buying a fish and releasing it into the lake.  It was pretty cool walking through the thickets of air roots, all genetically part of the same tree.