Town of Jars
- 16 hours ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 4 hours ago
Last month, I went on a 3-day trip with an old friend, Mike, to Ratchaburi.
The idea was to have a look at a bat cave, explore the town a bit, and wander around in general.
Not that we’re particularly interested in bats, but it seemed like a fun thing to do!
Mike boarded an old, slow train at Samsen Station, and I joined him at Taling Chan Junction, a classic 3rd class, open windows, stopping at every tiny station.
We did notice, though, that several stations looked like they had a serious facelift, all freshly painted and with expanded platforms, which was remarkable.
A few hours later, we had arrived and, after a short walk, checked into our hotel, Space 59, which turned out to be quite a decent place, no complaints whatsoever!
Mike immediately arranged a taxi to Wat Khao Chong Pran, aka the Bat Cave, for later that afternoon.
Strolling around, we quickly discovered that Ratchaburi is famous for its water jars, as several large ones were placed as monuments near the Mae Klong riverside.
As the heat was increasing, we decided to have a break at the hotel until 5 pm.
Refreshed after a shower, we set off in a comfortable taxi for the bat temple, where we arrived before sunset.
On the temple grounds, there were plenty of bat-related objects and an observation platform, but our driver strongly suggested that we should follow the steps up the hill all the way to the top…
After a short while, my feeling that this particular way up was seldom used only got stronger and stronger as the steps were covered in leaves, but our local driver probably knew what he was talking about, right?
After reaching the top, we had a splendid view of the whole area with the sun about to set, but no cave to be seen at all…
Suddenly, I saw a whole stream of bats flying across the temple’s parking lot and observation platform!
We just looked at each other and went down the stairs, obviously our driver had never been here himself…
By the time we were back where we’d started, there were still plenty of bats cruising around; their cave must have been somewhere halfway up the hill.
As always, it was an impressive sight, but the bats were flying too far away for any decent photos, at least for any mobile phone camera.
Afterwards, we went back to town and let our driver drop us off at the riverfront, where we had an excellent dinner near the clock tower.
Later, we strolled a bit around the old market area and decided to have a few drinks at Kacha Craft Bar, which seemed quite cool.
There were only a few other customers, and this gave us a good opportunity to check out the interior design, which was intriguing to say the least.
Skulls, statues, vinyl, and even a record player, BUT the music played was obviously digital…
After our first drink, I finally asked the bartender if he could actually put that Miles Davis album on the record player and play it.
He was happy to do so, but after a few seconds, we realised that that was a mistake; in hindsight the little puppet on top of the stylus should have been a warning…
The sound was very, very ‘gritty’, poor Miles must have been played too much in the past as its grooves resembled some of the dirt tracks I’ve cycled across over the years, a shame really.
Once we finished our beers, we thanked the bartender for his efforts and returned to our hotel.
The next day, I got up early and tried out one of the two hotel bicycles for hire.
As expected, the bicycle was pretty shitty and too small for tall Dutchmen, but at least it gave me a better idea of the town as I cycled around for about 12 km.
Over breakfast with Mike, we discussed our options for the day and decided on a walk to ancient Wat Mahathat and its surroundings.
Along the way, we passed some other old buildings and restaurants, which made it quite a pleasant walk.
Wat Mahathat itself is one of those early Ayutthaya-period-style temples and is rightly considered worth visiting for Ratchaburi visitors.
However, I couldn’t help noticing that a lot of the information boards used words like ‘assume’, ‘probably’, and ‘believed’, which left me wondering a bit…
Mai pen rai, we left the temple and found a place for an early lunch.
Once satisfied, Mike had a smart idea of hiring a tuk tuk, something I wouldn’t have thought of, as I try to avoid using Bangkok tuk tuks like the plague, but here in Ratchaburi…
This turned out to be a very satisfying way of travelling to a place called Hin Khao Ngu Park, which was about 7 km out of town
The park was a pleasant surprise as it is surrounded by hills and has a lakeside walkway.
Perfect place for some after-lunch exercise and photo taking, until the temperature started getting unpleasantly hot.
Our friendly driver dropped us off at our hotel, where we relaxed a bit before heading back into town for dinner at the river and beers.
The next day we checked out, walked to the railway station, and took a 2nd class train back to Nonthaburi and Bangkok, mission accomplished!
So is Ratchaburi worth your time?
We certainly did enjoy our time there, but our expectations were very low, and our travel plans extremely flexible, which helps a lot!
Of course, there are more spectacular bat caves (Khao Yai!) to be found in the region, same for ancient temple complexes (Sukhothai, Phanom Rung), but we found Ratchaburi a pleasant laidback town almost without tourists (except Hin Khao Ngu Park), although this might be different on weekends.
Three days seems perfect for trips like these, first day traveling & a bit of sightseeing after arrival, second day all the time for more serious exploring, and third for traveling back home after breakfast.
Super interesting journey. Thanks Koen!