A Tour of Amphoe Khemmarat with Thanorm

Thanorm is a young English teacher at Baan Nong Phue School with whom George works in classes for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.  He's also a very nice guy who has made us feel very welcome at the school.

On Saturday, December 1, Thanorm, his lovely wife Laor, and their beautiful 2-year-old daughter Piyapat took us on a tour of Amphoe (District) Khemmarat.  The first stop (after quite a search to find it in a very rural area of Khemmarat) was Wat Sirathong.  It is the first open-air temple we've seen.

 

There are some interesting architectural features of the temple (including brick arches) and interesting decorations (including a very large wasps' nest).

 

 

One reason that Thanorm had selected this temple for our tour was because of some very ancient  artifacts (perhaps a thousand years old or older) that had been found during excavation on the temple grounds.  The artfacts are kept in a small museum; Thanorm had to call to get the museum unlocked for us.  While we waited, Laor fixed Piyapat's hair.

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As we understand it, some of the artifacts are probably containers used to bury the dead; others are jewelry, and others,weapons .

 There was also some more recent, very attractive pottery,

 

 

and some interesting implements, still in use today, displayed on an exterior grate.

 

And gorgeous butterflies always seem to be near the temples in Thailand . . .

 



 

The next stop was the popular Wat Pak Saeng, also known as Wat Phra To, which is located on the Mekong River and holds special meaning for Laor and Thanorm.

 

 



 

 



 

The last stop was the Baitong Restaurant near our apartment in Khemmarat.  We have passed by it most everyday on the way to school and never knew it was a restaurant -- an excellent one at that!  We were treated to a fabulous lunch that left us saying "Im laew"  ("I'm full").

 

Thanks, Thanorm, Laor, and Piyapat, for a wonderful day and tour of Amphoe Khemmarat!