Petchabun 5 Tier Buddha Temple & a Hunt for Route 12 Sticker

One of the main reason for aiming and plotting my route this round so forcefully for Petchabun district was to see the famous five tier buddha temple, Wat Phra That Pha Sorn Kaew. Back in 2018 when I was really roaming Thailind in detail, I missed out the central spine area and this was what I missed out unknowingly until the trip was done.

Wat Phra That Pha Sorn Keaw - Petchabun Thailand 

First stop aim was temple, but before that, along the way out from Khao Kho was to find a bike shop to check out Bragge chain and general condition due to the mud ride and fall yesterday. I stopped at this bike workshop in Khao Kho called 71 Bike that was pretty cool and looked like a niche handling cafe racer modification shop of all sorts of big bikes. I got Bragge throughly clean up espescially the chain and re adjusted the brake peg which was somehow dented due to the fall making it now higher from the foot rest.

Fixing up Bragge at Khao Kho 

While the good guys were doing good work with bragge, I scouted the shop and saw this beautiful Yamaha 400 cc classic bike. The owner could speak a bit of english and he explained that this was the limited edition Yamaha series which only produce 500 peices in the world. The tank colour looks like the Yamaha classic guitar and the special serial mark on the bike was 71 which matches his plate number 71 and also his shop which was called 71 Bike shop. Pretty cool and unexpected insight when I am not expecting it.

71 Bike Shop - Khao Kho

Limited Edition Yamaha 400cc Classic 

I notice quite a few stickers on his window which was from all touring riders around the world. One particular sticker cought my eye which was Khao Kho Route 12 sticker. I was already riding the Khao Kho loop and asked him where to get this sticker. He did not sell it but told me of the coffee shop which does down the road.

Wat Phra Sorn Kaew looked like a tibetian style temple and really rich. The view simply breathtaking, the architecture and micro detail could make one stay there for days without ever getting tired of just looking. I spent around 2 hours there just soaking in the ambiance.

Wat Phra That Pha Sorn Kaew - Petchabun 5 Tier Buddha Temple

I timed my arrival at the temple around noon where I could video call mom and show her the temple and let her pray through the video call for recovery. Sometimes pictures does not tell the story, sometimes video also does not tell the stories but these days there are live video calls ... the next best thing from being there in person I would think.

After temple visit it was a mandatory stop to hunt for the sticker. Sliding off the main road to the coffee shop and I saw a group of Malaysia bike plates. I could only have a big smile on my face and chatted up with the group a bit. Big bikes ... touring thailand for a week and doing a whooping 1200km per day. Not much development from there and while getting a coffee at the shop I kept scouting around where the sticker would be sold and saw none. Finally I asked one of the bikers if he knows and it was down a small little stairs tucked just behind the coffee counter and viola, another cafe with a view and upon asking, stickers of Route 12 obtained.

Route 12 Coffee Shop - Khao Kho

While most riders going on tours from Malaysia or Singapore would be collecting stickers along all the famous route markers, this was actually my first time coming to know about it. So Khao Kho route 12 was my first sticker and hence starts my riding stickers collection hunt.


Traveled on May 2023