Ramble
Quest - Fortuitous Phimai.
My next stop at Phimai brought me very good fortune. The delightfully laid-back Phimai Guest House is a great place to hang out and meet fellow travelers. The small town is easily negotiated, with a decent night market and a top-notch Khmer temple. A few bicycle excursions into the surrounding coutryside proved rewarding.
My second of three visits to Prasat Him Phimai Park to see the temple ruins proved most memorable. Arriving late in the afternoon, I chat with people until the sun sets and I'm left with the charming company of Stephanie and Madeleine. The park is normally closed by now, but a few times a year (and actually after this last time they are changing it back to its original time of once per year in November) they have a cultural extravaganza, complete with costumned performers singing and dancing, with the temple eerily lit by changing colored lights. It's quite a grand affair, with dinner, fireworks and artificial fog, good but a bit too extravagant for my taste. I was happy to see it without paying the 500 baht fee.
Another highlight of Phimai is Sai Ngam, the largest banyan tree in Thailand. I visit this enchanting spot twice, once in the early morning when white squirrels can be seen in the branches. You can eat from stands near the resevoir, get your fortune told by a Thai astrologer, walk on the boardwalk or just sit near the little temples under the huge, sprawling banyon branches.
Thai national museums are usually somewhat disappointing, but the one in Phimai demands the attention of anyone interested in the Khmer ruins. Some of the area's best statues and lintels are here, and interestingly not in their original positions on the temples.
My Phimai stay was one of those where you feel more about it than can be described. I met a lot of interesting people and felt an affinity towards the town. Connections were made here, the consequences of which ripple out like waves from a pebble tossed into a still pond.