StuartAfter a few days relaxing by the pool we thought we would get out and about further afield than Hua Hin so we booked a trip sightseeing in Phetchaburi to Phetchaburi Palace and the Khao Luang cave.
Phetchaburi Palace was the summer Residence of King Mongkut (Rama IV) who loved the area so much he constructed a palace where he could stay during his numerous trips to the area. It is about a one hour drive from Hua Hin and it is at the top of a hill called Khao Wang (Palace Hill). To get to it we needed to take the funicular railway up to the top. You can walk it but in the 38 degree heat with some very intimidating monkeys up the path we decided to take the railway.
At the top were some amazing views of Phetchaburi and the surrounding area and the palace itself was very simply furnished as King Mongkut was a monk for many years. We took in the fantastic views and the rustic feel of the palace. This is something we would definitely recommend.
When we returned to the bottom of the hill we carried on to Khao Luang cave. This houses more than 200 Buddha statues and beautiful stalactites and stalagmites. It was an amazing chamber and some of the most breath-taking views of natural phenomena we have ever seen.
There was also an opportunity to feed the (very naughty) monkeys before we left.
Before going back to the hotel we stopped off at the Phetchaburi Temple with the many gold leaf statues and found out that we both had the orange Buddha as the symbol of our day of birth. It was a very serene place with some more amazing gold leaf Buddha statues.
It was well worth the trip out and something we would definitely recommend when sightseeing in Phetchaburi.
