We have been travelling in Myanmar and a little bit of Thailand. When we left home I thought there would be plenty of interesting gardens to photograph and write about. How wrong was that! In the part of Myanmar we were in, for most of the trip, the ground around the houses is flooded each rainy season and as such was not kept as a garden. Further more as the house owners were frequently farmers there was no requirement for vegetables etc around their houses and the ground around the house was often used for pigs and chickens etc.
In Thailand we were travelling along a rather obscure route from Kanchanaburi to Ayutthaya when I spotted a very tall Buddha in the distance. Our guide had no idea what it was so we had to investigate.
Phra Buddha Metta Pracha Thai Trai Lokanat Gandhara Anusorn
Phra Buddha Metta Pracha Thai Trai Lokanat Gandhara Anusorn, is the largest and most beautiful standing bronze Buddha image in Thailand. It consists of a 32 meter high bronze statue standing on an 8 meter high base. The statue was cast in 2014 under Royal Patronage of Her Majesty the Queen of Thailand. 
The standing Buddha is surrounded by a very large landscaped park, at Wat Thipsukhontharam, Don Salaep subdistrict, Huai Krachao District, Kanchanaburi Province. The modern temple also has an excellent exhibition concerning history of Buddhism, life of the Buddha and information on the casting of Phra Buddha Metta Pracha Thai Trai Lokanat Gandhara Anusorn.
The whole park and setting are outstanding and the following pictures should explain why we spent a couple of unexpected hours here.
Some amazing topiary
Clever use of bricks to create an interesting path
Classic temple guardian
Keeping the whole park immaculate
This is part of the less formal area. (5 on the map above). The pathways here are lined with rough cut blocks of stone with Buddhist history.
An interesting bridge with upright metal rods forming the fence on either side
Looking back to the Buddha statue from the bridge with some of the Buddhist history blocks of stone
As you can see an exceptional park around an amazing bronze Buddha. When you consider it was only opened two years ago the planting was looking great. Oddly enough there is very little about this park on the internet and none of the tourist guides seem to mention it. We were there on a national holiday and there were very few people there. If you are travelling in this part of the world then make a visit, I am sure you will not be disappointed.
Glebe House Garden
Three weeks holiday and the garden is not in too much mess. There had been some very cold weather, while we were away, which has finished off most of the herbaceous plants and the final leaf drop has happened. Yet-lag and dull weather have meant only 4 hours in the garden this week. A quick lawn cut to pick up the leaves and some cutting back of the herbaceous borders.
| Gardening Hours | ||
| This week | Total since June 19th | Average per week |
| 4 | 460 | 18 |
Glebe House Garden 