Khao Yai & Khorat Express Tour

Day 1 – Phimai & Khao Yai
Built beginning in the late 10th century AD, the impressive and beautifully restored Khmer temple at Phimai, which is centered on a 28-meter (62 feet) tall prang and features many excellent carvings, predates Angkor Wat; and may have even been its inspiration. We’ll also take a quick look at what’s left of the city gate and see Sai Ngam, Thailand’s largest banyan tree, covering an island just outside of town. Later we’ll visit a Khmer quarry where sandstone was cut to build many temples in Thailand. We’ll also see incredible scrap metal sculpture at Robot World, sample some exotic flavors in a giant fruit market, visit a cave with a natural skylight, and climb up to see a giant boulder balanced precariously on the edge of a cliff.

After an early dinner we will go to watch a million or so wrinkle-lipped bats disgorge out of a mountain-top cave (it’s not possible to see them in the hot season) and then take a night safari inside Khao Yai National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the biggest and best national parks in Thailand. There’s a good chance of encountering some of the park’s 200 elephants, plus many other critters including civet, marten, porcupine, and slow loris.

Overnight near Khao Yai National Park

Day 2 – Khao Yai National Park
We start our park tour (using a local guide who knows every corner and creature of the park) in the early morning to increase the chances of meeting wildlife. Besides elephants, Khao Yai is home to barking deer, bears, tigers, leopards, pythons, a bevy of primates, and the fascinating great hornbill. Trails through one of mainland Asia’s largest intact monsoon forests lead to waterfalls and scenic viewpoints and your guide will tailor the adventure level to your desire. Visits in the rainy season aren’t very popular, but this is the time the forest teems with orchids in bloom and the waterfalls are at their most beautiful. Outside the park, we’ll visit some stone carving workshops before arriving in Nakhon Ratchasima (aka Khorat) city. Though it’s a bustling modern town, the moat and city fortifications are reminders of its long history.

Overnight in Khorat city

Day 3 – Khorat & Ban Prasat
We begin the final day admiring Wat Pa-Yap, which has a shrine encrusted with stalactites, stalagmites, and other beautiful rocks rescued from a cave that was destroyed during the excavation of a quarry. We will then join the devotees at the very holy Thao Suranari Memorial, built in honor of a woman who, according to legend, devised and led a prisoner rebellion against the invading Lao army (One version says that the women seduced the soldiers and then the men launched a surprise attack.) in 1826, thus saving the city. Performers do a local folk dance throughout the day to thank “Grandma Mo” for wishes people think she has answered. Many of the lovely buildings at nearby Wat Salaloi, supposedly founded by Thao Suranari and her husband, are decorated with Dan Kwian ceramic tiles.

Outside the city we’ll visit some women who hand make perfectly round clay cooking pots and water containers using the ancient paddle and anvil method rather than a potter’s wheel. In Ban Prasat, on the way back to Khon Kaen, we’ll see the remains of an ancient agrarian culture in three excavated burial sites displaying skeletons and pottery in situ. Then, we’ll visit two villages to see how reed sitting mats are made and see the entire silk weaving process: raising silkworms, spinning silk thread, and hand-weaving mut-mee fabric. If you want, you can sit at a loom and try it yourself. Then we’ll stop to admire a historic little temple building featuring original Isan-style murals, which are now very rare, before arriving back in Khon Kaen.

If our itinerary doesn’t fit your exact needs and desires, please let us know. With advance notice we can usually modify things.