Visited February 2023.

Many things already said here about the site, so I am just sharing some practical info.

How to get there using public transportation? The best place to start is Udon Thani. Renting a car or a car with a driver is one of the solution, but if you do not want to spend a lot of money, go to Rangsina Market (there’s no transport to here from any of two bus stations in Ubon Thani!!!) in the morning, the first sorng-taa-ou (50 THB) leaves at 6:30, and the second at 8:30; it takes around one hour and a half to get to Ban Tew (depending of how many stops would be on the road). Show the driver the picture of the site or the name written in Thai and he’ll drop you in the village at the small junction (close to the small police station) where the road west leads to the Phu Phrabat Historical Park. It is still circa 5 km to the entrance to the park or 4 km to Buddhist Wat Phra Bua Bok, temple that was also mentioned in the nomination from 2016. You can walk, you can hitch-hike or you can ask at the small shop at the corner to take you there for a small money. I started walking to the park and after 3 minutes some man stopped and gave me a lift for free (he did not want any money).

At the site. There’s a small visitors’ center where you buy your ticket (100 THB) and get a leaflet with a plan and some basic information about the park. As there was no guide, the girl at the counter told me about the possible roads to follow, marking the most important features on the plan, and informing that the most remote northern parts of the park (like Dinpiang Cave) are not open for tourists at that moment. I decided to see all the accessible points starting from the southern rock formations (little stable, lord’s stable, southern rock shelters with sema stones that seem to be the most important value in the new nomination dossier) and Tham Wua/Tham Khon with prehistoric rock paintings (my favourite part of the visit). Then I followed east to the view point – impressive view on the valley and forest; then – to then main part of the park, passing by hunter’s barn and very interesting partridge rock shelter. The main feature of the park is grouped around the famous U Sa Tower; here we have half a dozen other rock formations (they are similar, look like big stone mushrooms), many more sema stones (indicating 8 cardinal points from Buddhist belief), some surfaces with rock painting (hardly seen in here), the only superficial man-made structure – a well or cistern for storing water, Buddhist shrines with bas-reliefs and few sculpture; and at the end of the tour – the so-called temple of the son-in-law (Wat Louk Koei) with a Buddhist altar. Each of the important element of the park has an information board in Thai and English. I spent there almost three hours and met only one Canadian couple and five or six local tourists.

Leaving the site. 2 km from the entrance to the historical park there’s a Buddhist temple Wat Phra Bua Bok. You can walk there on the paved road and look two your left – you will pass 2 more rock formation and 2 more rock shelters with hardly visible rock paintings (but there are boards indicating where to look). The Buddhist complex consists of many buildings and rock features. The most important wat looks like a mini-sister of Phra That Phanom in That Phanom at the border with Laos. You can walk freely around. It won’t take longer than 30 minutes. No Buddha footprints here… If you wanna see them, you should go to another Buddhist site which is located 15 km from Bua Bok. Without a car I could not make it.

Back to the village. I was lucky that day, cos a monk offered ma a ride to Ban Tew and ask a lady at the junction to bring me to a bigger village of Ban Phue from where I could catch a bus/minibus back to Udon Thani (the last one from Ban Tew leaves at 2 pm). There’s no bus station in Ban Phue, you should find Ban Phue Pet Clinic on Thanon Chonnabot Bamrung, because on the opposite site of the street there is a stop for minibuses going to UT (80 THB).