Happy New Year 2016! Warm greetings to all of you on this new year! How are you doing?
I bet some of you are still on vacation and I wish you a wonderful time and travel safe. And for those who haven't gone anywhere,
I have a trip not far from Bangkok to recommend. Are you ready? Let's go!

Again I will use the same concept on this whole trip using one and only phone camera.

Today I am going to take you to "Khao Kho". Khao Kho is famous for its natural beauty with fresh pure air and it is not far from Bangkok.
It is very convenient to go to Khao Kho. Moreover, Khao Kho is not only rich in the beauty of the nature but also the history especially during the fight with Communist party.
Let's go and see where I will take you to, in Khao Kho!

My journey get started from my house in Saraburi Province in non-holiday season.
As you can see that the traffic is very light. This is very relaxing.

There is not even a single car behind me. hahaha

I have arrived in Wichien Buri and of course the most famous local food is...

It is Roast Chicken. I am at Kai Yang Bua Tong Restaurant located right by the main road of Wichien Buri District.

We are very hungry. Therefore, we have ordered very quick and we have ordered a lot.

I am telling you that this famous Wichien Buri Roast Chicken is very delicious just like what it is known for. Another highlight dish would be Fried Papaya Salad.
This place is one of the original homes of this dish as well.

Lunch is done and we are ready to continue our journey. We take the bypass road to Khao Kho in order to avoid the traffic in Downtown Phetchabun.

The atmosphere around me is very nice and it is good to drive with the windows down to get some fresh air.

The traffic is still not busy at all and I love it. hahaha

We are in Khao Kho area now and we can spot the big mountain from far away.

I have finally arrived at the resort here in Khao Kho. I will settled down with my belonging first.

We are staying in a small resort called Baan Suan Kaew Khao Kho.

We have settled well and yes, according to the tradition we are here at Phra Borommathat Chedi Kanchanaphisek to pay homage to the sacred town's pagoda.

Everybody who comes here will light up the candle and make a wish.

Then we drive further to Khao Kho Sacrificial Monument.

Khao Kho used to be a place known for Communist community. It hosted a lot of wars and chaos between the Communist Party and the opposite party during 1968 - 1982. Therefore, it was a red zone where no one should be near. It was totally dangerous.

There are names of those who gave up their lives defending the area inside the monument

This is the camp where civilians, soldiers, and policemen are based to fight with the communists. It was the first base camp that Thai soldiers got it back from the Communist party. In addition, Khao Kho Sacrificial Monument is one of the most beautiful viewpoints in Khao Kho since it is located at the highest peak.

This is the view from the top. Being up here and being hit by the light wind are very nice.
Well, it is late in the afternoon already so I am ready to move on to the next destination, Wat Pha Sorn Kaew.

Wat Pha Sorn Kaew used to be only a meditation center but it has transformed into the temple.
Chedi Wat Pha Sorn Kaew, the main part of the temple can be spotted from the parking space.

This is the ordination hall of 5 Buddhas. It is located by the cliff and have the mountain range on the background. It is very beautiful. I don't think you can find something like this somewhere else.

The ordination hall part is very beautiful and the weather here is very nice with light refreshing wind.
Even though this place is full with people, you are still able to feel the calm and peaceful ambiance.

I have moved to Chedi Wat Pha Sorn Kaew part. This pagoda was built for the celebration of King Rama IX's 60th Anniversary on the Throne. This is also to keep the rich Buddhism heritage for Thai people. The top of the pagoda was placed with the Lord Buddha Relics given by Somdet Phra Nyanasamvara.

From up here, you can see Pho (Bo) Square where people practice the dharma. This square is surrounded by bo trees.

The ordination hall from this angle is stunning.

Well, I guess it is enough for today. Tomorrow I will be back here at Wat Pha Sorn Kaew. Let's see how beautiful it would be in the morning!

The new day has come and this is the sunrise view from Wat Pha Sorn Kaew. It is amazing.

The atmosphere and the beauty of the temple in the morning is as same as yesterday's afternoon. I won't talk much because I want you to enjoy the beauty of this place.

See! How pretty it is! And I still feel everything about Wat Pha Sorn Kaew, the beauty, the nice weather, the refreshing wind although I have left the place. I even want to go back there already.

Some locals are very kind to tell me that there is a New Year festival of the Hill tribe (Hmong) here in Khao Kho.
Therefore, I don't hesitate to go to Hmong's village at Khek Noi Village right away.

There are not only Hmong people who live here in Khao Kho who come to celebrate but Hmong from throughout the country.
They all dress in their traditional costumes.

There is also a lot of clothing and food stalls.

There is even a beer garden. This is so cool. hahaha

The shading nets are in different colors and they are beautiful.

There are some game booths just like in the temple fair. They are very popular among the children. So the parents need to wait for their children here for a while.

Photo booth is also available. How about I come here next year to open the photo booth too? It must be fun.

There are two main stages. One of them hosts Hmong Karaoke.

And this is what teenage Hmong has been waiting for the whole year.

Teenagers are not allowed to have any relationship with a person in the same family tree because it counts as relative. Therefore, the best opportunity for them to get a partner is during the New Year. Both Hmong men and women will be dressed in colorful costumes for this activity. These costumes have been prepared for this particularly. They will be standing 4-5 meter far from each other and throwing a ball to each other. The ball made of black cloth in a little bit bigger size than a baseball. The tradition starts with a woman who will begin to throw the ball to the man who she likes or know before. A single woman will start to chit chat with that man before giving him the ball and start to play throwing the ball with each other. If that guy doesn't like the girl, he will try to get away from her politely. But if they like each other, they will then start to talk to each other while throwing up the ball. Some of them even play a game like if one of them can't catch the ball, that person need to give a gift to the other person.

Then they will have a chance to talk to each other once again in the evening. It is very interesting.

We have left the village and feel very hungry. We have planned to go to Route 12.

We are here at Route 12 and we are going to have lunch at Food Way Restaurant, a very cute restaurant.

After lunch we are kind of craving for some coffee and it is a good time to try the famous Route 12 coffee.

There is quite a lot of people here so I guess we need to wait for a while.

While waiting for the coffee, I walk around the cafe taking photos. I take a lot of photos since there are many beautiful corners.

And finally I have got my coffee and it tastes good. Unfortunately, it is the end of my trip. See! We can spend two days preciously with our dream trip. We enjoy the new atmosphere, learning new things, making merit, and eating. I would say Khao Kho is not a bad choice after all and there are numbers of places waiting for you to explore which can make you feel wow here.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ About the author ]

My name is "Kaew". I like to travel and I love taking photos since I was a child.

I have a full time job and I spend my free time writing.
I really like taking photos, sometimes I am hired to be a photographer. hahaha
I would like to share what I love to all of you. That's why I am writing these reviews.

Please don't forget to follow my works and support me kindly.

IG : https://instagram.com/kaew.mobilefoto/
Fanpage : https://www.facebook.com/mobile.fotographer