After spending some time in Phichit, we headed up the highway towards Phitsanulok to drop off our bike and get a bus home. For better or worse, it’s increasingly rare to find weird places that we didn’t already know about from our research — yet we found two on the same stretch of highway. Completely unexpected — but here we go!
Wat Kok Mai Daeng — go inside a reclining Buddha
You know how you’re driving along the highway and out of the blue a huge reclining Buddha pops up out of nowhere? Yeah, that’s basically what happened. At first, I thought we’d backtrack, slow down for a closer look, and get going again — instead, there’s enough of a temple here to make it worth taking a break.
There’s no English to speak of around, and while it would’ve been nice, it would have been shocking — the further off the beaten path you get, the less there is of the foreign language… In any case, the animals were as oversized as the Buddha image — and it’s not the place for those folks afraid of snakes…
Or HUGE insects. Several of these were in a row.
As we approached the reclining / laying Buddha, we noticed something rather odd. Just below his head was a hole that looked to go through the Buddha image. Your vocabulary word of the day is circumambulation, and you probably know what it means already, or you’ll figure it out pretty quickly. Walking around (or in this case, through) the Buddha in a clockwise fashion is a sign of respect — whether you are Buddhist or not, take at least one lap around the image to show respect. You’ll need to duck and hunch your shoulders to enter the relatively small opening; shorter folks may not have to compact as much, but you’d need to be the size of an 8-year-old to make it walking regularly.
Rounding the last corner — admire the image’s big feet, or simply move on.
The rest of the temple has a garden full of other large and/or oversized animals — take your pictures before moving on.
Chat Room Cafe
The island in-between highway lanes featured some carved-up bushes, and naturally we were curious.
Elephants galore — in fact these were some of the most common topiary forms around. There didn’t seem a whole lot of rhyme or reason to what, where, or even why.
Facing the road (and something I paid little attention to at first) was our very friendly horse on hind legs. Don’t ask me why he was made so anatomically correct, but it does attract a bit more attention that way, I guess…
This soccer field-sized area has… yup, coffee cups? It’s right next door to the actual cafe itself — which looked closed for business. There were still people tending to the plants, which made me think it had more to do with being Sunday than anything else…
If you find yourself in the Phichit, Wang Thong, or Phitsanulok areas, these two places are both along the highway and were easily spotted while driving along. The moral of the story, of course, remains the same — always keep your eyes open while traveling! You never know what you’re going to see…
Name: Wat Kok Mai Daeng
Address: Along route 11, Tambon Din Thong, Amphoe Wang Thong, Chang Wat, Phitsanulok, 65130 (GPS: 16.749663, 100.431800)
Directions: From Phitsanulok, head east towards Wang Thong on route 12, about a 20km drive. Once in Wang Thong, make a right onto route 11 and go about 9km. Look for the temple and reclining Buddha on the right — pass it, take the next U-turn, and double back to it.
If you’re coming from the Phichit or Sak Lek area, head north on route 11 — depending on where you start it’s about a 25–35km ride straight up the highway. Again, both of these sites are easily spotted on the highway.
Hours: not posted (assume early morning to late afternoon)
Admission: free
Phone: none
Website: none
Name: Chat Room Cafe
Address: Along route 11, Tambon Din Thong, Amphoe Wang Thong, Chang Wat Phitsanulok 65130 (GPS: 16.789247, 100.435975)
Directions: From Wat Kok Mai Daeng, head left (north) and double-back the way you came. It’s about 4.5km from the temple — look left or towards the highway island for the pruned bushes.
Hours: open 24/7 — only one entrance has a gate, though there’s little artificial light around.
Admission: free
Phone: none
Website: none
