Dinosaurs & Dragon Fruits Tour

Day 1 – Wiang Kao
Our first destination is Si Wiang Dinosaur Park, full of giant concrete dinosaur statues, plus a few animatronic ones that move and roar. It’s a great stop for kids and offers some fun photo ops. We’ll then savor the awesome 360-degree bird’s eye view of the ring-shaped mountain range from a soaring hilltop observation tower. Next we’ll visit a village where most people weave reed sitting mats and another where several enterprising women make handbags out of old single serving coffee packages. Then we stop at a temple where the local women’s group sometimes works weaving long Buddhist banners, turning simple designs into a beautiful final product. After lunch we take a look at a European-inspired school building from the reign of Rama 7 and then roam through a bizarre and beautiful rock field around a forest temple. There are more great mountain views from up here. Then we will take a scenic drive to a unique little local history museum and we’ll finish the day by strolling through one of the district’s evening markets to see the bounty of local foods.

Overnight in Wiang Kao

Day 2 – Phu Wiang National Park
This morning we turn our attention back to dinosaurs with a morning spent at Phu Wiang National Park. We will take a long lovely walk through the forest to see fossils at several of the dinosaur excavation sites, including one where some bones have been left embedded in the bedrock. Then we hit the well-done Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum, which is actually a complete geology museum, but dinosaurs are the main focus. After lunch we head to a remote sector of the national park to see fossilized footprints and enjoy more scenic views. On the way back to Khon Kaen, we stop to see a blacksmith shop where men pound hot metal into knives and farm tools using traditional methods and visit a temple with very rare historic murals.

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