Phu Thok, a climb and a half
If you head southwest out of Bueng Kan, along Highway 222, you will eventually come to Ban Si Wilai. If you take a left turn there, and continue along the smaller roads past Banna Singh and Baanna Sabaeng, you will eventually reach a rocky outcrop.
The journey would have taken you through many small villages. You would have seen woods, rice fields, fruit plantations and rubber plantations by the sides of the road. Then you would have seen mountains, not so tall as the ones in Laos that can be seen across the Mekong, but still mountains, towering above the surrounding plain. At one point the row of mountains seems to end, but then you notice that after a bit of a gap there is another mountain there, a solitary rock–Phu Tok.
If the mountain were all there was to it, Phu Tok would still be an interesting place, on account of the panoramic views of the surrounding countryside that its isolation from the rest of the mountain range allows. One can see miles of fields, villages, lakes, woods, even the Mekong in the far distance. However, good scenery is not all there is to this place.
Like experiencing life, it's one step at a time.
Its very isolation–not just its standing apart from the mountains, but also its remote location–had led meditation master Phra Ajan Juen to set up a meditation retreat on Phu Tok many years ago, in 1968. Wat Phu Tok has steep wooden staircases, precarious wooden boardwalks climbing up the rock, and many meditation spots along the way. Some of these spots are small huts by the side of the mountain; others are just large rocks with views over the surrounding countryside.
The ascent is divided into seven levels, symbolizing the seven traditional steps to enlightenment in Buddhism. With each level the ascent gets trickier. At the fourth level the staircases seem to become narrower and more twisting. At the sixth level the boardwalks seem to barely protrude from sheer cliff faces. If you look down, you would realise that were it not for these miraculously placed wooden planks, you would be walking on thin air. Then at the seventh level, the staircases and boardwalks disappear. There are only the trees, the rocks, and dirt paths created by previous visitors or pilgrims. Just as how enlightenment in Buddhism mainly involves casting away previously-held notions rather than building new ones in one’s mind, so the highest level in this meditation retreat has been left in its natural state, without any man-made construction. The wooden devices which assist visitors up to the sixth level stop and go away, and leave the pilgrim to seek higher enlightenment by his/her own strenuous efforts.
The meditation area for monks on the mountain.
High up on a mountain, in a quiet, secluded forested area, with a good, clear view of the surrounding area below the mountain. Could there be a better spot for a meditation retreat?
The students who come to our Cultural Centre in Isaan Thailand or take this from our website should thank volunteer Feng and intern, Kelly for their help in describing this wonderful Thailand retreat. If you would like to learn more or see other pictures of Mundo Exchange volunteers climbing Phu Thok please feel free to visit our Facebok Fan page, see our Flickr photo albums or write to volunteers at info@mundoexchange.org.
About
Linda is a retired musician and writer. She welcomes new knowledge and expression with an open mind and happy heart. She writes as she travels and shares her observations about differing cultures.
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Great description , informative directions and makes it more interesting to want to see as well as being very helpful in how to get there .