Northeastern Thailand - Thailand - page 985

Phu Phan Mountains

Highway 213 south from Sakon Nakhon towards Kalasin crawls over the Phu Phan moun-
tain range, which has some interesting sites on its slopes. Some buses to Kalasin and Ma-
hasarakham will drop off and pick up passengers along the way, but most won't. It's best
to use sǒrng•tǎa•ou from Sakon Nakhon's old bus terminal ( Click here ).

Phu Phan Rajaniwet Palace

The grounds of the royal family's Isan home ( 0 4271 1550; admission free; 8.30am-4pm) , 14km
south of Sakon Nakhon, are open to the public when not in use. It's quite a modest resid-
ence compared to some of their other palaces, but the gardens are beautiful and peaceful.
Only walking is allowed around the main grounds, but cars can go to the elephant corral.
Visitors are not permitted to wear shorts above the knees, short dresses or revealing tops.
Sǒrng·tǎa·ou cost 20B and take 30 minutes from town.

Phu Phan National Park

This national park ( 08 1263 5029; admission free) remains relatively undeveloped and isolated.
It's no surprise that the area once provided cover for the Seri Thai resistance fighters in
WWII and People's Liberation Army of Thailand (PLAT) guerrillas in the 1970s. The
former used Tham Seri Thai cave as an arsenal and mess hall. The 664-sq-km park is now a
stomping ground for barking deer, monitor lizards, slow loris, many monkeys and a few
elephants.
There are two main areas to visit. Near the visitor centre there are nice views at Nang
Mern Cliff and you can climb down a further 1.5km to Lan Sao Aee plateau, which is even bet-
ter for sunsets. Nam Tok Kam Hom , a stretch of four petite waterfalls, is 8.5km north of the
visitor centre, at a wild bend in the road called Khong Ping Ngu Curve (named after the
stacked shape that snakes make when put on a skewer for grilling) that has Thailand's
largest kilometre pillar. Water only runs from July to October.
Accommodation options include campsites (per person with own tent 30B, 3-person tent 150B) and
bungalows ( ) . 0 2562 0760; www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve ; 4-person bungalows 500-600B;

Sǒrng·tǎa·ou to the visitor centre cost 25B and take 45 minutes.