After spending six months in the seaside town of Hua Hin it was time to head back to Bangkok for a few months. As we love exploring new places we decided to spend a couple of days in Phetchaburi, which is a small town located around 80 km from Hua Hin and 170 km from Bangkok.
We had a car for this part of our journey, so this made things much easier. If you don’t have a car you can get a train to Phetchaburi from both Bangkok and Hua Hin.
If you plan to visit Phetchaburi we can highly recommend Sweet Dreams Guest House.
Day 1
Sweet Dreams Guest House, Phetchaburi
Sweet Dreams Guest House gets great reviews and is conveniently located on the edge of the city. It turned out to be an excellent choice, as the area is quiet at night so we slept very well. There are only six rooms and they are kept spotlessly clean. Unusually for a place like this, a basic breakfast was included in the price of the room. It was a buffet breakfast in a beautiful area outside the owner’s house, which is right next door.
A Walk Along The Phetchaburi River
The Phetchaburi River runs through the city and it’s a pleasant walk to follow it from near the guest house all the way into the city center. The river was quite high when we visited and the locals were a little worried that it might overflow if there was more rain, as the town center has been badly flooded a few times over recent years.
Above you can see a small park that we discovered next to the river.
We also saw these amazing birds’ nests along the river. I’ve traveled all over Thailand for many years but this is the first time I’ve come across nests like these. See the following images.
Release Fish For Good Luck
When you reach the city center you might see some shops selling small fish in plastic bags. Local people release these into the river as a way of making merit and bring them good luck.
See The Street Art
Next, we took a walk around the old town area and saw some great street art. We really weren’t expecting to find this. This is an excellent cafe along this area called Pagoda Cafe. Be sure to check it out.
Day 2
Tham Khao Luang Cave
Seeing this amazing cave was the main reason we came to Phetchaburi, and it was as awesome in real life as in the photos we’d seen of it. This cave is one of the most visited in Thailand and has been used as a place of worship for many centuries. There are a number of caverns, with the main cavern being home to an 8-meter tall Buddha image that was ordered by King Rama V. The main cavern also has light streaming into it from the heart-shaped opening at the top. There are hundreds of Buddha images scattered all around the caverns. It’s a steep walk down into the caves but you shouldn’t have a problem if you’re relatively fit.
Monkey Business
We’ve seen monkeys in many towns around Thailand, and there are also plenty to see in Phetchabri. We didn’t see any in the main city center, but there were plenty on the edge of the city around the caves area. Leading up to the caves there are hundreds of them.
Next time we visit Hua Hin we’ll probably stop at Phetchaburi for a couple of days and explore a little more.