This was taken yesterday morning, the third day of the tour. The middle Triassic ribbon chert in the background, and the older Ordovician limestone in the foreground, sliced up. The two rock types are in contact within a small area.

Both types of rocks can be seen. In the foreground is shallow-water Ordovician limestone containing stromatolites, and on the other side is much later, deep-water Triassic ribbon chert. The relationship between the two rocks has long been debated.

The stromatolite mesh pattern is magnificent. Unfortunately, there are no right-angled shells here.

Both types of rocks can be seen. In the foreground is shallow-water Ordovician limestone containing stromatolites, and on the other side is much later, deep-water Triassic ribbon chert. The relationship between the two rocks has long been debated.

This is Triassic ribbon chert. This is Triassic ribbon chert, a thinly stratified chert that sometimes folds violently. The two people in the picture are young staff members of the Geology Department of Mahidol University, who later drove me to the university today.

The next site in the morning was an Ordovician fossil site where a paper had recently been published. I was motivated and wandered around in the wforest, but could not find Notiloid shells so easily. Instead, I found a nice outcrop of stromatolites on the hillside.

This is stromatolite. It looked almost identical to the preserved outcrop near the Notiloid Museum in Kanchanaburi. I looked with my eyes for other fossils, but could not find any. I was disappointed. I wrote at the end of the year about the controversy over whether this is really a stromatolite or not at the time of the Satun GeoPark tour to the south, but afterwards I asked the staff of Mahidol University about it, and they said that at least the one from Kanchanaburi is definitely a stromatolite because the internal structure of the pile is visible when it is thinly sliced.

The stratified limestone containing stromatolite is beautifully expressed in this outcrop. My only regret is that I could not spend much time there as lunch was about to be served. I would like to try fossil hunting again.

At last, I found kai jiao (Thai-style omelette) in a countryside restaurant. It is my favorite dish.

Sugar cane, as you can see, is planted in abundance on the plains here. I thought they were for food, but instead they are used as fuel by adding to petroleum to make bio-ethanol. I did not know this. I heard that it is a common industry in Thailand. The huge trucks you see in the movie are quite common on national roads.

In the afternoon, We examined a middle Triassic limestone along the road. This is different from the stromatolite, because they formed in a slightly colder sea and for which no fossils were found.

A large sample of massive limestone was dropped into a ditch, and will be brought back to the university by car to be used as a teaching material. Dr.Prinya said he was collecting samples of limestone from various periods. Many of these limestone rocks were originally considered to be Ordovician, but were later revised to Triassic.

On the left edge of this outcrop, I found the slightly black translucent rock you see, which I thought was chert, and reported it to Dr.Prinya. He agreed that it was probably chert gravel, looking at the scratches made with the tip of the hammer.

I saw some futons with interesting designs during my trip. They may be popular in Thailand. Dr. L of S University, who is a friend of mine, uses this green character stamp on Line a lot.

We returned to the hotel with a Russian couple who looked a little tired, but the young staff of the university invited us to go to a nearby dam. The dam weir is said to be 3 km long, which is incredibly far away. The foundation of this dam is different from that of the small dams in Japan. This is also a so-called rock-fill dam, using limestone from this area.

Here we checked the limestone outcrops along the road extending from the weir. I examined the pattern of the limestone with a young lady researcher, Dr.Y. I told her that I thought it might be a bio-turbation, just as I had learned from Dr.Hisada during the year-end Satun tour. She showed me an image she had found on the Internet that showed such a picture.

Since this limestone has a relatively clean stratigraphic surface, I used GeoClino to measure and map several places. The bedding planes are quite well aligned.

The hotel I stayed at this day was quite spacious, but there was no electric kettle for the first night, so I borrowed one from the front desk. I managed to get a pack of regular coffee from Amazon (not from an online shop, but from a cafe attached to a PTT gas station), and had the best coffee in my room for a long time.

Breakfast this morning is served in the hotel courtyard. The staff bought it for me in the morning.

There are also rice dishes, but I opted for chimaki, fried bread, and instant coffee with lots of milk. I chose the egg food in a cup.

Today we had less than half a day for sightseeing, as you can see. This is a former limestone quarry that has been converted into a temple. The main attraction is a huge stone Buddha. No entrance fee is required, and the Russian husband slight disabilities on his legs and us are offered a free ride in a golf cart instead of going up the stairs.

It is unimaginable how much it cost to make this stone Buddha. It is amazing that the temple is open to the public free of charge.

There is even a tunnel behind the stone Buddha, and there are many decorations inside. These flowers look like cherry blossoms, and there are even artificial flowers of autumn leaves. For some reason, they looks to use Japanese decorations.

These are gilded Buddha images. You can often see them in Thailand.

On the other side, SkyWalk is under construction. It seems that Thai people really like SkyWalk. When I visited Loei the year before last, I walked the SkyWalk along the Mekong River.

Prinya says they are Ordovician limestone, but most of them have been recently revised to Triassic. I don't know about this.

He was looking for something to write on, so I gave him a piece of paper and a drawing board that I happened to have with me. An impromptu graduate lecture began. For readers, "Do you know the red badge on this husband's hat? I was a little surprised. He was a man of few words and I could hardly talk to him and i naturally avoided sensitive topics, but the young university staff told me that he was critical of the war in Ukraine. It was a good sign of a conscientious Russian's true feelings.

After a long drive and dropping one of the other staff members off in another town, two young staff members drove me all the way to the front of my room at the university in Nakhon Pathom. I had not only my luggage, but also heavy boxes of samples, so it was very helpful to be able to go directly to my room. Thanks to them. I regret that I forgot to take a self-photo with them.

Finally, we are back home. Here is the university's dormitory. I feel at home here. I check out the stone catch right away.

Now, here's an example of basalt as a souvenir. I'm really looking forward to making Thin-sections of them.

I'm so excited to see the various types of xenoliths that I'm almost drooling over them. Just to be able to take these home with me is worth the round-trip airfare.

This is the transcript of the lecture written by Prof. Prinya, which became a graduate school lecture. After I returned home, I have been unraveling it together with related literature, and it will be my future Advanced Geology lecture. The upper left hand sign is written by an old Russian professor, whose hand is shaking a little.

The square pizza set with chicken nuggets for 199 baht at the Pizza Company in front of the university. I think the amount of cheese is better than that of Pizza Hut. This volume of pizza can be served both in the evening and in the next morning. Beer is a little black beer from Chang, which is also good. The 7-11 on campus does not serve alcohol, so I bought these at the Lotus convenience store in front of the university. A new coin laundryt has opened in front of the university, and it is very comfortable to stay in this dormitory. The only regret is that there is no refrigerator, so you have to buy beer on the day of your stay. Still, I can't complain since I am staying here for free. I would like to thank Dr.L san of the university for always taking care of me. Next time I will see her in Japan in May.

Here is the guide for the 4-day tour. I received it on the morning of the tour, but I wish I had received the PDF file a little earlier so that I could have prepared for the tour. It is a very complete guide with detailed maps.

There is even a page for taking notes. This was a big help. I sometimes guide high school students, so this format is very helpful.