Phra Pathom Chedi (N13.82080 E100.05997), built in 1860, is really a formidable structure. The only disappointment for me (and I suspect I was not alone) was that after circling the monument three times in different levels I could not find any entry point to the main dome. After that I asked about it and learned that there is no-entry into it. I was not entirely sure if it means that nobody can go there or if it is not possible to go inside at all because there is no actual dome inside. I was leaning towards the later however, as I really did not see any entrance. It was still hard to believe though as one wanders what was the central structure filled with.. Later I found out that there are apparently sacred relics inside of the main pagoda. I further found that this unique temple encompasses the ruins of the original 6th-century pagoda. There are large landscaped grounds around the pagoda and before you get to it you have to pass through several gates. There are gates to get behind the walls at each of its four sides.

Worth noting is also some kind of a big local lizard that was crossing the road when I was riding among all the rice fields between the floating markets and Nakhon Pathom. It was so long that it was across almost half the road, which means it was about 2.5 m long. He turned back when I stopped to take a picture of him and went back to his pond of water where he hid from my sight under water and its green coverage.

I talked to some Dutch girls there (it seems that I’m only meeting Dutch and English people lately… Is anybody else traveling?) and they told me about a “Tiger Temple” which is apparently a 40-minute drive from the Bridge over the river Kwai. They didn’t know to which direction though. As having tigers eating from your hand, having these big cats next to you and being able to be photographed with them sounded interesting (although apparently costing 100 Baht + 150 Baht a donation to the temple, as there is no government founding for saving these tigers – they are apparently all orphans from parents killed by hunters) I decided that I wanted to go there too. So we said bye to each other and I jumped on my bike, off to “the” bridge and the tigers.