Want to go for a short holiday? well maybe Perth is one of the good choices. So, I went to Perth last year with my mom during Hari Raya Puasa in Malaysia, and for me, Perth was really a good place for relaxation. the life rhythm was not as busy as Singapore, and the public transportation was very convenient together with some gorgeous point of attractions. Too bad i stayed there for just around 5 days, so i had not enuf time to explore the real beauty of Perth. Wish to visit it again when i got chance in future hehe. 

Today, I am going to write about the Swan River in Perth, in South West of Western Australia. Perth is a place with a big land but little population, every destination is far away from each other in outskirt. I love this river, as I seldom had the chance to enjoy the spectacular view of "river". Don't tell me Penang River is a big river, and it is dirty, same goes to most of the river in Malaysia, badly polluted. Surprisingly Swan River is very clean and beautiful, which really amazed me at the first sight. 

Here is some introduction about Swan River from Wikipedia:

The Swan River drains the Avon and coastal plain catchments, which have a total area of about 121,000 km². It has three major tributaries, the Avon River, Canning River and Helena River. The latter two have dams (Canning Dam and Mundaring Weir) which provide a sizeable part of the potable water requirements for Perth and the regions surrounding.

There is many attractions along the Swan River, such as 

• Lake Monger
• King's Park
• Fremantle
• Perth Mint
• Perth zoo
• Margeret River
  and lots and lots more!! but becoz of time constraint I visited only the King's Park, Fremantle and the Perth Mint. Still, fun was there haha ( i took the half day tour to King's Park and Fremantle in Perth)

View from the King's Park, the Swan River is so amazing! 

Photo from the jetty at the Barrack Square. Peace and harmony

another photo from the jetty at the Barrack Square. Well I saw quite a lot of "white swans" on the river, but the fake one. LOL those white boats. Seldom i got the chance to see the real swan, only once, the last day before I left Perth. Most of the time I saw sea birds along the river. 

Mummy with the Bell Tower in Barrack Square, an icon of the Perth. The full bell ringing for the bell tower is at 12pm to 1pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. We were lucky to have the chance to listen to the bell ring =)) 

The entry fees for the Bell Tower is $14 per pax for adult, and $9 for children. Really regret leh for not entering although the fees was not really cheap T..T

So after we finished our half day tour to Fremantle, me and mummy stayed around Barrack Square for lunch and we decided to take the ferry to cross the Swan River to another side. We planned to visit the Perth Zoo but it was already closed that time. So we just hang around there for sunset. 

How to take the ferry? took the blue line of the CAT bus in perth, stop at the Barrack Square Station, go to the jetty at Barrack Square, buy the ticket from the machine and take the ride hehe. click here for the schedule of the ferry just to make sure u dont miss the last one hehe. =))

 Perth ferry schedule

This is the public transport map that i got from Internet. They Called it CAT. can get a better and clearer version from the airport in Perth or their website. 

My mom with the ferry and the skyscrapers along the Swan River. 

I think, i had fall in love with this place. In fact, I fall in love with travelling. 

the jogging lane along the Swan River. very good for exercising hehe. Look at the golden tree, the sunset painted it. 

skyscrapers in sunset view =))

My mom's product for the night view of Swan River. She did not use the tripod becoz she forgot to bring it ( in Malaysia LOL). Best time to have the best view of Swan River is around 6-7pm. After that we took the last ferry back to Barrack Square, then go back to our hotel and had our dinner in the Northbridge. 

The last day in Perth, me and my mom went to riverside of the Swan River again in the morning, to enjoy the morning view of the river which was different from the sunset view. 

The jetty with the big mouth birds ( i dunno their real name becoz it was so difficult to remember, i know them from Finding Nemo LOL)

Me and mummy with the Swan River. There was a big contrast at two riverside, the one along the Barrack Square was so busy and full with skyscrapers, while the opposite site was the relaxing one, i had no other words to describe how much I love this place.

The jogging and cycling track along the riverside. Hmm, should rent a bicycle next time to enjoy the life.

view of the Swan River and the small park beside the road. Well maintenance and well-planned city

last one, leave my footprint again in the Swan River. Goodbye Perth =))

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Most ppl are amazed and impressed by the power of sea erosion when they went to the cliff or beach site, but ppl never know, soil erosion can create an impressive scenery too. So here it is, my day 2 in Suen Phueng, Ratchaburi. since my sheep farm photos was not ready yet, I will continue with Pong Yup, a place with soil erosion. 

Here is some information about Pong Yup which i got it from the internet: 

5 kilometres before arriving at Amphoe Suan Phueng, there is a 5-km. branch road on the left leading to Pong Yup at Tambon Tha Khoei. This attracts visitors with plenty of strange looking earthen pillars and cliffs naturally created by soil erosion. Again, very limited information found in the internet. But from what i know it had became a famous POI recently. In fact, we took a hard time to find this location becoz our GPS directed us to a death end. Summore we cant read Thai so we actually passed by the entrance of Pong Yup at least 3 times, LOL. It just a small place without a big tourist sign board. the good thing is everything is preserved well here without any pollution yet. The entrance fee for Pong Yup is around 40 baht. The place was quite muddy so we had to careful with our shoes. Some believe that Pong Yup had soil erosion due to the river. Well quite make sense becoz Pong Yup located quite near to a river. It closed around 5.30pm, so go there earlier. To prevent mosquitoes attack too lol.

The sign board played a VITAL role, becoz the real sign board at the entrance of the Pong Yup do not have English. Luckily I saw the Thai word there haha. 

The land of the Pong Yup, sign of the soil erosion. 

Me with the stone pillars. We can walk freely in Pong Yup as long as it is safe. I cant imagine how many years it took to erode a rock until like tis. 

another picture with the stone pillars in Pong Yup

I got this from the internet. They really had good picture. Sorry for my poor photo quality becoz i went there quite late that day, n it was quite cloudy.... the camera effect was not satisfying without the blue sky and white clouds. 

My sister with the mother nature. 

Holes on the ground. From the top of the rock. ya we walked between those holes just now. 

a big big hole on the ground. I was wondering, where did the soils go??? How they disappear from here? Mysterious huh

me and my brother with Pong Yup. Neh one step wrong i will fall down into the holes and say goodbye to the world. 

Say goodbye to Pong Yup~

The signboard at the entrance of Pong Yup. Seriously if i did not notice the Thai words on the blue sign board I swear we cant find it at all! LOL

We spent around 30 minutes there becoz everyone was attacked by the mosquitoes. There is a lot more beautiful places to be discovered by human. My next destination in Thailand? I wish to visit to Kanchanaburi =)) flight ticket plz gimme a cheap one! 

For more details about Pong Yup and its map, plz refer to http://vancoevorden.net/wp/2010/06/03/pong-yup/

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So, i post this photo in my previous post, and today I am going to write about this unique place in Ratchaburi. This place is called as Khao Chong Phran, is a famous spot to view the bats in sunset. I found some information about Khao Chong Phran from the internet and i would like to share it here:

from Thailand Trip Tour

Bat Cave at Khao Chong Phran  is located in Tambon Tao Pun, approximately 9 kilometres west from Amphoe
Photharam if you depart from the town of Ratchaburi. Take the route Khao Ngu-Boek Phrai and go on for about
17 kilometres. In the area of Khao Chong Phran, a beautiful cave named “Tham Phra Non” is situated with more
than 100 Buddha images and a massive reclining Buddha image which is 9 metres long inside. However,the most
famous thing to see at Khao Chong Phran is a giant flock of more than a million bats flying out together of the cave
and forming a large black and long line across the sky.This activity lasts for hours every evening after sunset,around
5.30 p.m. In summer, they will $y to the east but in winter theyfly to the west.

From www.tourismthailand.org

This hill is located in Tambon Tao Pun, Amphoe Photharam, 17 kilometres north of Ratchaburi along the Khao Ngu-Boek Phrai route (Route No. 3089). The roadside hill has 2 interesting caves; Tham Phra Non housing more than 100 Buddha images and Tham Khangkhao or Bat Cave, which is home to some three million bats.  As the sun sets over the horizon, they all disperse on their search for food and the mountain looks like a volcano disgorging thick black smoke.

Well Im just a medical student but not a Vet so i have not much knowledge about the lifestyle of a bat. But i really amazed and impressed by the power of nature here.

We left Ban Hom Thian around 4pm, and checked in the hotel before we departed to Khao Chong Phran around 5pm. It took us around 40 minutes-1 hour from our resort. Quite a long journey. Becoz Suan Phueng was not yet well known to the tourists that time ( mostly local tourists), the environment was too.... quiet along the journey. When we reached there, we can see a night market there with a giant bat statue as the landmark. Use GPS to drive there =)) since it was still early for the bat show, we just hang around in the night market and look for some local food to try out. 

guess what i found in the night market. Oh gosh i nearly got heart attack and night terror when i saw this pig head. I had no idea when i took this picture lo haha. Sorry pig ><

Some local food. I din try it out becoz of poor communication skill. I can't speak Thai, and they cant speak English, and worst, they did not understand my body language. T..T . 

the old time ice stick ( told by my mom ) it was so interesting to me!! my first time to saw this!! excited too haha. 

Around 6pm there was a drizzle, I was kinda disappointed becoz i thought that the bats wont come out becoz of the rain adi. But I was wrong, the bats still come out on time, say Hi to everyone around 6.15pm. Everyone was ready with their cameras, yes, the show is here! and it lasted for at least an hour without stopping! OMG can you imagine how many bats are there inside the cave? 

It looked like bees but it was actually a giant flock of bats. They fly in a formation towards somewhere else, until now, no one knows where are they heading to. amazing huh. 

me with the flock of bats. I was so excited. this is the first time i saw the bats flying like this. I visited some caves before in Malaysia like Gua Kelam and Gua Tempurung, the bats i saw just hang on the ceiling on the cave, but this one was flying in front of me!

Hi bats, Where are you going? 

bats and the sunset. such a beautiful combination. 

The beautiful sunset. I love sunset so much. 

take a closer look. yeah u can see, they were bats!! millions of bats. 

Together with my family. My sis, papa and brother. 

We left the Khao Chong Phran around 7pm and went back to the town centre for dinner. It was a wonderful day for me in Suen Phueng. And i think I really fall in love with this little paradise in Thailand

Khao Chong Phran, bat cave

Address                             :    Tambon Tao Pun, Amphoe Damneon Saduak, Ratchaburi

best time to view the bats   :   6pm onwards till 7.30pm daily

admission fees??   Free!!

So here is the summary of my first day schedule in Suen Phueng

Morning

Departed from Bangkok, 2 hours driving

Afternoon

Reached Suen Phueng, had our first lunch in New Land restaurant. 

Around 1.30pm, visited Ban Hom Thian the candle making factory

Evening

Around 4pm, checked in hotel, had a rest

5pm, departed to Khao Chong Phran

7pm, went back to Suen Phueng for dinner. 

Night

Enjoyed Tv show in the hotel ( Eden Garden was really awesome!!) and planned for the next day schedule. 

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Wish to blog about this trip long long time ago but there are too many things kacau kacau recently. the most troublesome: research project =..=. thanks GOD im almost done with my part and can have a sweet time blog about one of my favorite trip: Suan Pheung trip. Thanks to mummy she really did a very great job in planning this trip hehe. Lots and lots of fun!! I love Thailand so much, visited it 3 years consecutively adi, and planning for a trip to Bnagkok and Kanchanaburi this year, if can better make it in Sept. 

Thailand is really a good place to explore, for the islands and a lot of nice attractions beside shopping. I have no idea y my frens love to go overseas just for.... shopping. Back to topic, last time I wrote about the resorts in Suan Phueng, Ratchaburi, and today im going to continue with some attractions in Suan Phueng, which is about 160km ( 2 hours journey) from Bangkok. Today, i would like to write about a special candle making factory in Suan Phueng, Ban Hom Thian. 

Ban Hom Thian is a candle making factory, which we can make our own candles too at here. If im not mistaken there is a candle festival in Ban Hom Thian during every weekend in December every year, but i cant find it in internet becoz the info about Ban Hom Thian is too limited. Check it out if interested ^^

found an interesting pet shop when i was in Bangkok hehe.  

Suan Phueng is very famous with the sheep farm, there is why we can see sheep souvenirs everywhere. 

Sheep farm in Suan Phueng : Scenery Vintage Farm

cute cute cute~ all these souvenirs sold at very cheap price, but we did not buy it becoz we scared it will overweight for the flight.

So after our lunch we went to Ban Hom Thian. I don really remember the exact location becoz my dad was using GPS that time, I remembered it was quite near to a resort named : The Canal. It looked like nothing special at the entrance, but when we stepped in for more "explore", OMG seriously tis is such a beautiful place! admission fees: I don really remember but it was quite cheap to me and worth!

Ban Hom Thian is a traditionally-designed compound with colourful made in Ratchaburi province fragrance candles and good local food. There is a restaurant inside but I did not try it out la. 

took picture with the entrance, hehe those cars were so special to "float" in the air.

my sister with the toys.... hey those are for children lol. 

took by my mom using DSLR. eco friendly and creative hehe. 

another look of the entrance with my cute sister. Don't judge the look by its entrance, more surprises were waiting for us inside!

the first stop: the souvenirs shop. mostly handicraft by the locals, but this one was not really surprising enuf, they got another better one inside hehe. 

the sheep and the candles in the Ban Hom Thian. Ok, don get too surprise, the sheep was actually made by candles too. I was totally amazed when another local tourist told me about it. 

candles on the ceiling. I guess it will be extremely romantic when it comes to night and the candles light on. 

time for self-shooting in such a beautiful place hehe. I can say this is a romantic + amazing + wonderful place.

romantic candles again. nice place for photo shooting!!

Mummy with the candle man =)) Most of the things here were made of candle!! of coz la those wood remain wood not so insane to clone a wood with candle yet.

Me again, if not mistaken, the flowers were actually candles too. LOL. Love the colourful sticks behind me =) Oh gosh this place is so unique and different from the others!

some of the samples of the DIY candles available. Sheep again haha. the workers there guided us how to make our own candles very well, and we can choose the colour of the candles that we want too ^^

My sister with the cute statue outside the small factory. hmm, not really correct to call it as a factory coz it does not look like one. haha. 

Someone was so happy to have the chance to make her own candles. She chose to make a sheep candle. There was a lot of choices, price range from 25 baht to 200 baht. quite cheap and worth to try for it ^^. I tried a simple one with 3 colours mixture, then gave to my bf as souvenir haha.

My sister's production. cute huh hehe

My brother with the angry bird. He also made a candle with angry bird. 

Price for the candle, the angry bird costed only 100 baht, i should make the "love shaped candles" too lol. If you wish to make one based on ur creativity, go ahead haha

inside the candle souvenirs shop. I really love the candles becoz they made the environment very beautiful and romantic. sorry for the poor photo quality and the skill ><

Guess who i met in the souvenirs shop?? haha

Lots and lots of made-in-Ratchaburi fragrant candles. really smell good haha. And they costed only 25 baht!! shopped till crazy haha. Dont forget to buy souvenirs here!

my photo together with another big candle~ 草泥马 muahaha

Family photo with tuk tuk at the exit of Ban Hom Thian, we really had a nice time here! That is y I love Thailand so much hehe

Some of the souvenirs we bought in the Ban Hom Thian. really some of it only XDD

Our next destination of the day in 1st day in Suen Phueng, guess wat is it? haha, next stop: Khao Chong Phran in Ratchaburi. 

Suan Phueng Ban Hom Thian candle making factory, Ratchaburi, Thailand

Opening Hours    :   7am-6pm daily

Address              :   Baan Hom Tian, Jom Bueng-Suan Phueng Rd. 33rd km, Ratchaburi, Thailand

Phone                :   085-845-7379

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