During the December holidays of 2014 (goodness, I’ve kept this story much too long), a good friend of mine invited me to visit her and explore Thailand. She proposed a grand roadtrip, to see Thailand from the eyes of a local. All the way from Bangkok, then across the northern border to Laos.
I was keen for a change and always up for adventure, so I packed my bags and took her up on the offer. And I have to say, all my expectations of Thailand and Laos were blown away. I was totally impressed, had my eyes open to a whole new world and absolutely fell in love with Thailand and Laos.
One of the main highlights of this epic road trip was when my friend brought me to Saraburi district. She had heard by word of mouth that there were gorgeous fields of sunflowers that were in full bloom during November and December. It was northeast of Bangkok, just less than 2 hours drive in north central Thailand. So off we went!
We set off from Bangkok city early in the morning and drove along the PhatthanaNikhom-Wang Muang Road. I was really quite surprised to see that there were many convenient rest stops along the way. And I never expected Thai food to be so exceptionally excellent, even at rest stops! This simple bowl of noodles, fish cakes, pork and fried dumplings was perfection.
We drove along winding roads, passed by lots of rice fields (they were empty since it was off-season) and finally when the yellow sunflowers started to come into view, I couldn’t help but be completely thrilled. Just by the roadside, there were fields and fields of sunflowers. And the best thing was, there were no crowds of people or tourists.
I can see why the sunflower is the symbol of Saraburi province. The fields were glorious. The farmers usually grew rice but during the off-seasons they planted sunflowers as a substitution crop.
The farmer and his family had set up a little stall in front of the fields. He sold some fruits, sunflower seeds and snacks. There was no entrance fee. He let us walk around freely and take as many photos as we wanted.
Having never seen any sunflower field before, it felt quite surreal to me to walk through the sunflowers and take in the view of golden yellow against the green hills and blue sky.
Have you ever been here before? Comment below and let me know how your experience was! 😀
Here are some other related posts on Saraburi and the sunflower fields!
From 10best: Has good expert tips on using the train if you don’t have a private car to get around.
Get to know Saraburi: other sights to see around Saraburi.
