Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the centre of town, between the bus park and the bridge, the friendly and clean
Phiboonkit
Hotel
(
)
is your usual, slightly chaotic, old-time
0 4544 1201; Th Phiboon; r 250-300B;
budget hotel.
Phibun is famous for
sah·lah·Ъow
(Chinese buns; 5B each). Three ramshackle shops
near the bridge sell them, as do many more out on the highway. Deep-fried frog skins
(năng gòp tôrt)
are the speciality of the many simple restaurants at Kaeng Sapheu.
Getting There & Away
Phibun's bus stop behind the market serves ordinary buses (35B, one hour, every 20
minutes) to Ubon's bus station (these stop to pick up passengers at Warin Market across
the river) and
sŏrng·tăa·ou
to Chong Mek (35B, one hour, every 30 minutes).
Minivans between Ubon (50B) and Chong Mek (50B) stop every 30 minutes in Phibun
one block behind the bus stop in front of an auto-parts store.
Sŏrng·tăa·ou
(40B, 1½ hours, every 30 minutes) to Talat Ban Du (Ban Du Market), in
Ubon's city centre, and Khong Jiam (40B, one hour, two each morning) park near the
bridge.
Kaeng Tana National Park
Five kilometres before Khong Jiam you can cross the Pak Mun Dam to
Kaeng Tana National
Park
( 0 4540 6888; admission 100B)
. After circling thickly forested Don Tana (Tana Island),
linked to the mainland by two long suspension bridges, the Mun River roils through the
park's beautiful namesake rapids and passes below some photogenic cliffs. In the rainy
season the rapids lie under water, and towards the end of the dry season, naturally cut
holes in the rock, similar to those at Sam Phan Bok, emerge. There are several good short
walks from the
visitor centre
( 8am-4pm)
: the 1.5km clifftop trail to
Lan Pha Phueng
viewpoint
is especially serene.
Nam Tok Tad Ton
is a wide and lovely waterfall in the far south of the
park, just 300m off the main road.
There's a
campsite
(per person with own tent 30B, 4-/8-person tent hire 150/225B)
and four
bungalows
(
0 2562 0760;
www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve
; 6/10 people 1000/2000B).
The simple restaurant opens during
the day only.
By road, the park is 14km from Khong Jiam. There's no public transport, but boats in
town will take you upriver and drop you at the park for a quick look around for 600B.
