EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Located right at the northernmost tip of the 73-kilometre-long Khao Laem Reservoir, the tiny hilltop town of SANGKHLABURI , 220km north of Kanchanaburi, is a charming if uneventful hangout. You can boat across the reservoir in search of the sunken temple Wat Sam Phrasop in canoes (B250 for four hours) rented from P Guesthouse, or join a sunset longtail boat trip, organized by either of the town's guesthouses (B70). The Mon village of Bsan Waeng Ka , across the reservoir, grew up in the late 1940s after the outbreak of civil war in Burma forced the country's ethnic minorities to flee across the border. To explore the village, rent a motorbike and cross the lake via the spider's web of a wooden bridge, said to be the longest hand-made wooden bridge in the world. Turn left to reach Wat Wiwekaram, which stands at the edge of the village, its massive, golden chedi modelled on the centrepiece of India's Bodh Gaya, the sacred site of the Buddha's enlightenment. There's a good tourist market in the covered cloisters at the chedi compound.