Elusive?

Elusive tranquility: the hot springs source reflects the palm oil trees nearby

Where am I?

How had I come to sitting at this table was a long story. Opposite me was the patriarch, his family crowded behind him. We were somewhere just above a stream in a palm oil plantation, somewhere north of KL, Malaysia's capital. He offered me some durian.
Obviously they don't see real tourists that much here, but that fact I had already established on this seemingly un-endless goose chase. On the other hand I knew I was near the hot springs; I had already asked a local laborer at this palm oil plantation twice, with differing answers but with the assurance that it was just one km away. But where?

Nearly there?
The first quest brought me to a five way crossroad of plantation tracks, all similar in size, none clearly indicating where they would end. My second effort, leading in a different direction, ended at an enclosure, surrounding a small stream. From the outside it was obvious that this area had been enhanced, so thinking that the hot springs must be here, I jumped the fence. Unfortunately once inside, the stream waters were cool. Some dams had been made and with the stream bed made of white sand, it certainly was a nice place for a picnic, but not what I was looking for.
At the far end of the enclosure I could see a motorcycle parked. I strolled over there, discovering a void in the fence and downstream, a young lady in a flowing and colorful dress was scooping up water out of the stream. I asked her for the directions and in excellent English she managed to communicate that

• a. yes, she knew where the hot springs were,
  
• b. they were not here,
  
• c. she was useless in giving directions and
  
• d. let's have a chat with her father, he knew the place.
  

So that was part of the story of getting here.

Where?
Hulu Tamu was the name of the hot spring I'd been on my way to. My info had narrowed down the search to the Hulu Selangor district, Selangor state. The day preceding, while looking for a good map in one of the un-endless shopping malls of Kuala Lumpur, I'd been able to find a map of Pahang state with an overview of Genting Highlands, showing a hot springs near Hulu Yam Baharu. Having pinpointed the hot springs on a map, it should not seem too difficult to find the place.
Hulu Yam Baharu is located just off state highway 1, north of Kuala Lumpur. About 30-35 km from the city center. After some weird procedures, the hotel enabled me to rent a car and this morning ten-ish I believe, I left the sprawl of high rises behind me.
And now, I was, what seemed to be the middle of a palm oil plantation, ever so near, but still not near enough, to see this my first hot spring of Malaysia.

Sungai Sendat
The trip up to Hulu Yam Baharu had gone brilliantly. On the map I also saw a named waterfall nearby so I decided to visit this as well; if only because it was sign posted.
The waterfalls of Sungai Sendat are relatively easy to find. Continue down the main street of Hulu Yam Baharu coming from the north and continue through a small neighbourhood ensuring you have the river on your right. After leaving the village the road becomes a little steeper and you'll be going through rubber and palm oil plantations. These give way to rainforest and the tar-sealed road turns into a dirt road. Eventually after about 3-4 km's beyond the village center, the road leads to a bridge, with a security gate across it. You can park here, I mean before the bridge.
Continue past a guard post and within 200m, you can see the main fall with a big pool in front. At the moment of my visit, construction work was under way; they are looking into sprucing the site up, so it seems. It did look a bit desolate, but the enormous amounts of refuse were ample evidence of recent visitors, so clearly the customers must have been satisfied. It being a week day, evidently meant that I was the only visitor.
If you climb up above the main pool, there are a number of other deep pools and falls, a really beautiful area, now why on earth would visitors trash the place?

Sungai Sendat: a great place to trash?

AllMalaysia.info ignores this last issue and concentrates on describing the waterfalls as follows:

'Paddling, swimming, picnicking - if that sounds like fun to you, then head for the Sungai Sendat Waterfalls. The falls are surrounded by greenery and kissed by sunshine; truly a place for relaxing and rejuvenating yourself'.

Well, if the Sunday crowds turn up, you might be just unlucky.

Back on the road
Leaving the falls site, I asked the guardsman for the way to the hot springs, to which he replied, turn right in the village. That means the road to Genting Highlands. After taking this turn, 500m out of the Hulu Yam Baharu, I take another turn right leading to ... well somewhere (There's a sign to Amberstone Eco Resort).
I continue up the road for about 3 km's, but obviously it's not leading anywhere. After some hand and foot work, a local manages to communicate to me that I should return and turn right to the Bundoora Estate (or is it Bindoora?). It being a narrow lane with no side roads, the turn to Bundoora is obvious. There's even a sign post. Five hundred meters up this road and you are entering the palm oil estate. And that's where it gets tricky.

Made it
With some translation by his daughter, the man opposite me now knew where I wanted to go. Fortunately he did not ask why. He set off trying to explain where it was, but translating this proved tricky. "You with car?" "Um, ...yes?", I replied. "Well, let's go!"
With that, we crossed the stream back to where I had parked the car and he had parked his motorcycle. He jumped on the motorcycle and I followed in my Proton Wajah. We returned to the earlier five way cross road, roughly 1 km beyond the plantation entrance. I don't recall which of the five we took, probably the most left, it leads across a stream from where you should take the next track right. The road is rocky and the Wajah is (still) scratch free. Therefore, I park the car here and follow the motorcycle for another 50 m on foot.
It's all pretty obvious though, there's only 1 stream and the waters of which originate from the hot springs. My guide shuts his motor at a small, foot high dam in the stream. "Air Panas" and stretches his arm. I feel the water. It' hot alright. There's also some trash around, so this must be the place.

The source of Ulu Kalong: in the middle of a palm oil plantation

Ulu Kalong hot springs

I proceed to follow the stream to it's source. There's another small dam, 20 m upstream with an overgrown pool close by. A further 20-30 m upstream, I come upon the source itself. The water flowing from a caved in gap in a 50 cm high wall is hot. Very hot. The pool itself is very tranquil. No bubbling.
After taking a few pictures I return to where the motorcycle is parked. My guide has just finished soaking his feet, strips to his underwear and takes a full body soak in the 30 cm deep water. Having no underwear on and unwilling to cause offense, I limit myself to a foot soak, hoping my host might leave me alone sometime soon.
After 15 minutes, it's clear that that's not going to happen, so I thank my guide who takes this as a sign for ending his soak and our paths diverge. I to return to the hustle and bustle, he to return to his hut on the beautiful river.

A futile attempt at developing the springs? About 5 m out of the hot springs stream bed, a large bath tub has been constructed, but is now filled with earth and partially overgrown.

So what's it called?
I hoped that this was Hulu Tamu hot springs, but my informer mentions it as Ulu Kalong. My map refers to it being "hot spring". Well, that's not much help. What I should have done on forehand was to look more carefully on internet.
Wikipedia's entry on Ulu Yam, refers to no less than 3 (!) natural hot water pools (if only I had known). The pictures to Hulu Tamu hot springs certainly don't reflect what I visited. Kerling, another hot springs in the area, it's not either.
This description of an ANZAC day run describes the location correct and refers to it as Hulu Kalong and the springs to be called "Ladang Jasmin (Air Panas)"; the Air Panas translates as "hot water". The plantation company is referred to as Bindoora. And somehow that's all the info out there. And now this. Elusive no more?

Getting There: From Kuala Lumpur take the old road to Ipoh and turn off this road, roughly 30 km after leaving Kuala Lumpur, towards Hulu Yam Baharu. (or Ulu Yam Baru or any variations of this). Entering the village from the north, turn left in the center towards Genting Highlands and turn right, 500m up this road, well before the main road to Genting Highlands starts. Follow this lane for 2 km, turn left (signposted Bundoora Estate).
After entering the estate take the dirt road right, more or less straight on from where you are coming from. Stay on this main track for another 800m leaving an abandoned building ('No trespassers') on your left. You'll come upon a five way crossroad. Follow the track (left?) crossing the nearby stream and take the first track right, after the stream. From here it should be easy to see the stream originating from the hot springs.

Soaking Experience: Well, what it lacks in depth, it makes up in naturalness. And though, the surroundings point to quite a bit of rubbish, the waters themselves are clean.

It's clear: a soak is required. The main soaking area, about 50-60 m below the source.

Overall impression: Truly a find. Despite the small quantities of refuse, the area is very tranquil. It being a palm oil plantation one would not expect it to be so 'natural', but only little has been enhanced in the springs themselves. You could hear birds jibbering and jabbering and I managed to spot a Kingfisher proof enough of a worthy visit. Let's hope it stays like this!

Appeasing the mountain spirits

One of the Semangat Gunung hot springs resorts, called Rindu Alam. Unmistakably in the background is the Sibayak volcano with visible thermal / volcanic activity.

Soaking (In)donesia

In the coming months you'll slowly see the number of soaking sites visited rise, especially after my most recent visit to Indonesia, arguably the top spot for soaks in Southeast Asia, at least in numbers. But how do they compare in quality?

Sibayak
The first soak ever taken in Indonesia was in Semangat Gunung, which is located under the shadow of the ever active volcano Sibayak. No active lava flows or eruptions though (the last eruption was more than a century ago), but up in the crater of Sibayak, the volcanic activities exist of a number of fumaroles / steam vents; enough to give the mountain a permanent plume of white cloud slowly dissipating into the north Sumatran air. But no hot springs on the mountain itself.

Inside the crater of Sibayak: not too dangerous, just a fair number of steam vents

The steep flanks facing and leading down to Semangat Gunung are also fumarolistic, if such a word exists (does not seem so). The sight from the village towards the mountain is quite special, a huge gash exposing, as it seems, part of the innards of the volcano, producing a number of clouds.

Captured heat
The same facing flanks also produce a great source of heat. Coming down from the mountain you will pass a electricity generation project, a small 2 MW project run by Petramina, which possibly might be upgraded to a 10 MW plant, even that is not considered large. Surprisingly, This plant is just one of three in all Indonesia despite the huge existing potential. However increased investment is 'heating up', Iceland leading the way!

Harnessing the steam, Semangat Gunung's thermal energy plant

Mountain spirits?
Coming from the mountain one needs to make a sharp bend before entering the town of the mountain spirit. Continue straight at this bend (or right coming from Semangat Gunung) you'll come to the site of Pertek Teken (or secret place) where locals pay tribute to the mountain spirits by offering fruits and foods.
Continuing straight you'll run into a large number of hot spring resorts. Typically these are places which either offer extended soaking facilities or have a small pool adjacent to a restaurant.

The biggest of these resorts is Alam Sibayak, but the beats emanating from this resort shroud the whole village. From the adjacent road, we could witness guests doing their moves, pool side. Maybe this was a draw for the weekend crowds from the million plus Sumatran capital of Medan, which is just 1,5 hours drive down the road. Or possibly this is the way to celebrate a soak in Indonesia.

Rindu Alam
We settle on the resort of Rindu Alam, mostly because it has many pools on offer, there are other people in the water (always a good sign ...) and is the furthest away from the aforementioned hot springs disco. There are about 10 public pools, private pools don't seem to be available. All pools contain water with varying temperatures, not necessarily from hot to cold. The ridiculous cheap entry fee (0,5$) however apparently doesn't include maintaining any hygienic standards apparently; the waters are quite filthy and a maintenance man nearby, whose job for the day consists of scrubbing the tiles surrounding the pool, regularly lets the resulting rinse water, flow back in to the pool! Luckily all water is a very cloudy white which hopefully obscures any other irregularities.

Rindu Alam: 10 pools with blue walls covered with Disney characters. Now, can anyone explain the connection between the two?

Business is slack, despite it being a Saturday, but a few out-of-towners have turned up. Possibly Sunday might be a day to avoid.
Besides Semangat Gunung having an ex proportional amount of restaurants and resorts the town also has a small market where most cars park. On sale are the various products from the sloping mountain fields. The produce on offer mid July are strawberries, small mangoes, avocado's, oranges, rambutans, passion fruit and tamarillo's. Another crop widely cultivated in the area is coffee.

As if there are not places to soak, more are on the way. This one looks big, but hardly adds to the existing choice. Moreover it will be viewable from the road. Could it be their main selling point?

Surroundings
The main town here is Brastagi (also known as Berastagi), which offers tourists a breath of cool fresh mountain air and a large number of resorts to stay. In the evening, the main road sidewalks turn into a large food market. The daily fresh produce market is very busy, with much local produce on offer. There is also a tourist market from where horse rides can be taken.
A nearby peak offers views of both Sibayak and Sinabung volcanoes. The highlands around Brastagi are populated by the Karo Dayak, which give a certain distinctiveness to the area.

More information on Brastagi can be found here:

• Natural highlights of Brastagi,
• Karo region,
• Tanah Karo Guide or the
  
• Wikitravel entry and / or
• Virtual Tourist entry on Brastagi

Some sites mentioning Semangat Gunung also refer to the village as or confuse it with another nearby hot spring called Lau Debuk Debuk. Another blog entry on Semangut Gunung hot springs is by Neil Hogan.

Getting There: Semangat Gunung is located 5 km's up a side road of the main Medan - Kabanhanje road. The turn off is located roughly 10 km before the mountain resort town of Brastagi, where there are ample opportunities for overnight stays.

Soaking Experience: Despite some serious reservations concerning the hygienic standards, the pools provided a great place to sooth the possible pains and strains of walking up and over Sibayak volcano from Brastagi, a 5 hour venture. The pools were hot, but not too hot and had a good depth, though all pools were a bit small. Don't know why the resort was covered in Disney characters, I myself preferred gazing up the mountain. There were no private pools and most pools can be seen from the road side. Changing facilities were poor and despite the setting there was little 'natural' to the soaking surroundings beyond the view.

Overall Impression: Would I travel far to soak here? I think not, but it being en route to and from hiking Sibayak, this certainly encouraged a soak. Let's hope Indonesia has more like this or even better on offer!

Bo Klueng: End of the road

Worth it?

Besides Pong Krathing hot spring, Ratchaburi province has another hot springs site: Bo Klueng hot 'stream'. These springs are situated in the Suan Phueng area, a recently approved accessible area of Ratchaburi province quite near the Burmese border. It used to be off-limits to all but locals due to the Thai-Burmese border relations or lack of relations more probabbly.
The area is now seeing quite a lot of tourism related construction: due to the amount of natural attractions, it’s ease of access to Bangkok (two hours if you fail to take your foot off the accelerator), it’s slightly cooler climate (due to it’s higher elevation) and enchanting natural surroundings (or did I mention it already?). Recently finished are a number of resorts / restaurants with others set to open in the near future. Roadside stalls specialize in selling plants (esp. orchids) and ‘souvenirs from Myanmar’ the politically correct name for the politically incorrect country of Burma.

How to get there
From the town of Suan Phueng to the hot springs site of Bo Khlueng is a distance of roughly 15 km. The scenery changes markedly from gradual rolling hills to medium high mountains covered with (pristine?) forest and small valleys with swift flowing streams flowing between the remnants of valley forests and more recently planted fruit orchards.

The (re-)sources
Located just 1 km before the end of the road (a side road of highway no. 3087), a small car park is situated off the left before a small booth with barrier. After paying 5 Baht to a disinterested receptionist and taking a short stroll of 100 meter or so along a large pond, one comes to an intersection of paths.
Here are situated a number of restaurants. To the left is a large concrete lined pool (7 x 15m) which during my visit is empty and receiving a well-needed scrub from a number of hard working ladies. This pool, created by damming a stream, is situated at the end of this stream with an overflow to the previously mentioned pond. The water coming from the stream is warm. Some would say hot, but it is not too hot. When filled, this pool must be quite attractive as during its construction considerable effort had been made to retain a certain naturalness: huge boulders are located in and along the side of the pool. The water depth maintained would be about 1 meter.

Traveling all the way out here only to discover the main pool is getting a scrub.

From this pool I walk further upstream, the increasing heat evidence of becoming closer to the source of the hot stream or was it just the soaring mid-day heat? About 200 meter from the pool there are a number of streams coming from small holes in the red-hot rock bed of the stream, obviously the source of springs. These springs are also way too hot to be considered ‘bathable’.

The source of the intense heat: coming from between the rocks

Surprisingly for a Thai hot springs site, no one has come up with the innovative idea of cooking eggs in the springs; maybe it's more a northern Thai / Cambodian thing to do. But it also happens in Malaysia...., ah, it's possibly a long established tourist kind of custom, developed through generations of exposure to unattractive and boring hot springs ("I'm sure we can get hot water straight from the tap back home").

The hot water stream flowing downwards. Besides the water being hot, so are the rocks!

Back at the intersection, a small side path leads to an office-like structure which proves to be the entrance to a separate pool / bathing area. During the week (as now) use of these facilities is free, however during the weekend a fee of 80 Baht (by the time of publication nearly 3 $ US) is required, which local Thai residents might consider steep. It gives access to changing rooms, showers and a 5 meter round and shaded hot pool with a few loungers / chairs on its fringes.

And the non-natural soaking pond: actually not too bad for a dip during the cooler months or in the evening.

A cooler soak
An interesting side trip, is to take the footpath beyond and above the hot stream. It continues up and onwards ending near Pha Daeng (or Kao Chan?) waterfall. This waterfall lies in a wide but steep valley through which the river flows in a succession of waterfalls, though few are really spectacular. Maybe that changes during the rainy season but now at end of March, before the real drought onslaught, at best the waterfalls are just OK. Along the waterfall, going downhill, the path continues until it ends at a huge and empty car park. Possibly the emptiness is different with the weekend influx, but I can’t believe that Bangkokians will or have ever arrived in such numbers. Then again, near the car park is such an accumulation of refuse, that certainly must come from somewhere. Just near the car park are a couple of stalls.
The upper levels of the waterfall though are deliciously unpolluted and at that moment unvisited, great for an all-natural dip.

Pha Daeng or was it Kao Chan waterfall? Whatever, for late March it still made a pleasant dip.

Overnite
The day is drawing to an end and distant thunder is rumbling ever closer. Moving onwards to Kanchananburi, Ratchaburi’s northern provincial neighbour, seems a bit too far fetched and I decide to seek accommodation nearby; there is some choice to be had and the surroundings here are certainly crispier and more natural than a downtown Kanchanaburi hotel.
I drive back a couple of kilometers towards Suan Phueng, take a right turn and drive down to the reception of the Scenery.

"No, we are fully booked this evening",

says a receptionist, clad as a pristine nurse,

"but you’re welcome to tour the grounds".

She is very persuasive though not really um, ... real or genuine. As I start to wander further, she insists on leading the tour and asks me to hop on her golf cart which she uses to drive me along a duck pond with sparkling white spacious bungalows beyond it. At the end of the drive the artificial scenery gives way to a shaded forest along a 30-40 cm deep stretch of a river. Chairs are conveniently located in the stream as well as some swings, originating from the overhanging trees. What a beautiful place! But no rooms tonite.

My nurse advises me to stay at the near the entrance located, white washed Nagaya, which she assures me, has several rooms vacant this evening. After close inspection, I must say that it does miss the magic of the stream, but it does have a better backdrop / view than its neighbour. The rooms are quirky: each different and carrying names such as 'naked' and 'nude'. One might expect a clothing optional resort but, this being Thailand, the names are meant as a teaser, alas. Nagaya provides bikes, but the tracks beyond Nagaya are equally enjoyed on foot: following and crossing the river and meandering through fruit orchards, especially when the threatening thunderstorm finally unleashes itself, drenching me to the skin.

After this partially involuntary soaking, I change into drier clothes and head back over to the Scenery, as they are only resort within walking distance with a restaurant. It only now dawns on me that, there being no accommodation vacant at this resort, might have proven to be an advantage: on every tree a speaker has been mounted from which Frank S. is crooning. I manage to pass the reception without requiring the assistance of a golf cart to face the 100 meter stretch to the restaurant. Unfortunately, the restaurant sound system is not rigged to the tree sound system and though the meal is excellent the intermittent jazz / Sinatra takes away from the meal.

The Nagaya, something not so Thai. Pity of the pond. But still well worth a stay.

And there's more
After a good (non air-conditioned) sleep, I decide to discover more of the Suan Phueng area. Highway no. 6070 heads southwest from Suan Phueng towards the border with Burma. There might be a couple of waterfalls accessible, though the waterfall to Pachundara is blocked.
At Kaeng Som Maew / Queen Sirikit Forest Park (25 km from Suan Phueng, then a left side road for another 2.5 km) the waterfall is actually a rapid with a lot of opportunities for recreation (read picnic). Surprisingly, I only learnt after the visit that there is much more to be seen, it's a nature study center.

The Kaeng Som Maew rapids, lie near a nature study area with a royal hut.

However, Bo Wi waterfall (15 km from Suan Phueng, then in Bo Wi village a right hand turn before crossing the river, continue upstream for another km) is much more worth a visit. Located in a narrow valley this is again a multi-level (seven?) waterfall. Go up a couple of levels and on this week day, a pleasant skinny-dip can be had.

Objective met, time to return to the world, to Bangkok.

Bo Wi waterfall, great place to really cool off and spend a pleasant time in complete solitude (as you can see)

Discovering more

A bit of surfing on the i-net, has revealed more. As usual, there's a seemingly unending list of alternative names for the hot springs: Bor Klueng, Bo Khlung, Bo Klung, Bo Khlueng and probably many more variations; I settled on Bo Klueng as the first picture reveals (above this post entry): the fact that the place itself uses it.

There are some more visitors / sites who have posted their views / additional info:

• Bangkokmum:

  'there are two springs at Bor Krueng , a cement pond located outside for all to see and a swimming pool higher up … we went for the swimming pool cuz it’s shallow enough for kids to waddle in … people there jump in wearing t-shirts and shorts so i looked a little over the top in my swimming suits … it was quite relaxing , just soaking in the hot water and watching butterflies fly by …'

• Chomphrai reveals the history of the hot springs: prior to 1960 it was a mining area which explains why it is now private property. He / she also comments on butterflies and does more exploring nearby.

• The official Tourism of Thailand site mentions the temperature of the water and adds a couple of good photo's.
  

• On this travel agency site ('Thailand Travel Tours') they mention both Pha Daeng waterfalls ('riddled with leeches') as well as Bo Klueng ('nice place to relax').

• Extensive information on, not only the direct surroundings of Bo Klueng / Suan Phueng, but the whole of Ratchaburi province is to be found on wikitravel.

  'In winter, in the morning, the hot stream will combine and form a terrific fog'.

  It also provides more info on the trail between the hot springs and the waterfall:

  'Route 2: Start from the office and walk along the waterfall, passing Bo Khlueng Hot Stream and turn back to the office, taking 3 hours'.

  It also mentions the nearby 'Natural Science Park' from which the trail originates. It also refers to the waterfalls as 'Kao Chan' rather than Pha Daeng.

• Finally, a German language wiki mentions the waterfall (Kao Chan) having 9 levels.
  

Getting There: From Ratchaburi city, take highway no. 3087, just north of Ratchaburi on motorway no. 4. The 3087 bypasses the town of Chombung and after a gradual climb you'll find yourself in the town of Suan Phueng. Highway 6070 towards Bo Wi and Kaeng Som Maew / Queen Sirikit Forest Park is a left hand turn in town itself.
Bo Klueng however is a well signposted left turn, 5 km further out of Suan Pheung still on the same highway, 3087. The hot springs are about 10 km from this intersection, on your left.
The Pha Daeng / Kao Chan waterfalls are at the end of this road, 1 km beyond the hot springs.

Soaking Experience: Tough luck for me, the natural (free) pond was being cleaned, which of course deserves a very positive review. The hot stream itself has been kept natural, but simply too hot for anything other than a burn. The artificial pool is not enticing enough, but in the cooler part of the year certainly worth a try, especially if you can avoid the more busier weekends / Thai holidays

Overall impression: However, with the delicious natural setting and attractions around, Bo Klueng hot springs are certainly worth a very pleasant visit. Stay longer, it’s worth it!

Update here.

Developments

Slowly but ever so securely, I have been exploring and linking sites from all over Southeast Asia to this site. It's becoming a huge list!

Currently the number of links is well over 200 with the volcanically active Philippines left to be included. In the process the site has become the number 1 site purely dedicated to soaking and finding soaks in Southeast Asia.

Additionally, I have tallied a couple more soaking sites I personally visited, though with Southeast Asia's hottest season before us, more personal visits might have to wait ...

Again if any readers would like to contribute, feel free!

Pong Krathing: the local soak

Not many non-Thai will have heard of Ratchaburi province in a touristy sense of way. This province lies due west of Bangkok and covers large areas of the main Thai lowland rice plains that surround Bangkok, as well as a mountainous area on the border with Burma. The Damnoen Saduak floating market may ring a bell to some, but this obligatory tourist creation, though picturesque, is not what I was seeking over the past Easter weekend. With a 24 hour time frame, I just had sufficient time to explore the mountainous part of this province.

Background
Ambitious plans a side, the first destination was Pong Krathing, a hot spring located somewhere west of the main motorway which dissects the province north-south on it's way from the south to Bangkok. Prior to leaving for Thailand, I failed to get much information on this hot spring. My own link to this hot spring referred to bangkokmum's:

'i just watch a tv programme on places to go to in ratchaburi … they showed another hot spring called ‘ bor pong krating ‘ … this one’s located on route 3206'.

Elsewhere on the internet there is:

'Pong Krathing Hotspring. A hot spring is located at Phu Nam Ron village in Ban Bueng sub district, Ban Kha district',

This excerpt originating from Chaloem Phrakiat Thai Prachan National Park website. Then there is:

'Pong Krathing hot spring with a diameter of 5m. When circled by a group of people who noisily clap their hands, bubbles will emerge from the well'.

All not very informative, so a task on hand! And let's hope not too many people turn up to clap their hands, even silently!

The road there
What's more is that the aforementioned links certainly don't exert themselves in details on how to get to the hot spring. Luckily, Pong Krathing is also the name of a large village so after leaving the motorway on the best detail I could find online ('highway 3206') a 'Pong Krathing' signboard was not so hard to find.
Just a few kms beyond the motorway one knows well-and-truly that one has returned to the real Thai countryside, especially as a couple of limestone outcrops pop up to the north each with a smiling Buddha somehow perched on these hillocks.
On a major turnoff opposite a traffic police office I managed to find a highly detailed provincial tourism map, which showed not only that I was on the right way, but the hot spring itself was quite a distance from the main road I was following. After passing Pong Krathing village (60 km from the motorway), the road takes a sharp turn to the north and a few kms further on, a hot springs signboard clearly indicates a road to your left / west. The countryside had by then evolved from lowland paddy fields into rolling hills with much secondary forest and pineapple plantations with some rubber plantations, eucalyptus stands and sugar cane fields. There are also quite a few fruit orchards.
The partially overgrown road leads to a large reservoir which, as it is now the start of the Thai hot season, is at quite a low level. At the other side of the reservoir an unpaved road continues along the shore where the main road continues downstream. The road splits after about 500m and the left split leads to the hot spring site of Pong Krathing.

The hot spring site
The hot spring site has seen some development; there is certainly ample parking space, but structures are mostly made by bamboo ensuring it's all low key and thus maintaining a friendly sort of character. No entrance fee is required and a small bridge leads over a stream. On the opposite side of the stream, a few steps lead upwards to a large cemented reservoir with half meter high walls to keep unsuspecting guests from falling in the spring itself while creating a larger reservoir of hot water. Between the reservoir and the stream 3 pools have been constructed each about 3 m in diameter with hot water standing half a meter deep.

The spring itself: walled in. Banana's have been donated to site lounging monkeys.

What makes this site unique is that just a few steps from the hot pools, a pond has been created through a low check dam on the stream. A wooden stair leads into the cool(er) water.

The pond with stair, the hot pools with behind them the spring itself and a few temples.

Usage of the pools was evident (as opposed to the previous blog entry 'Cambodia's finest'): a couple of (local) women were bathing (fully clothed of course), alternating between the hot pools and the cold pond. Near the entrance to the site a signboard gave an overview of the number of visitors which during January and February this year totalled over 200 daily. A local added that these numbers drop off during the hotter months and months which require more rural labour, but still more than 53,000 adults visited the hot spring site last year. Hardly any foreigners visit the site ('sometimes, but never many'), though my contact mentioned that the day before three 'falang' visited. Today I represented the rest of the world.

Other facilities include a number of massage huts and a few places where you can buy drinks, food, snacks and banana's so as to feed the local monkey troupe. The masseuse's had hung up photo's to show they had received some kind of training. There were also a couple of small temples / offer places both near the restaurants as well as beyond the hot spring itself.

The massage huts

Getting There: The best way to get to Pong Krathing hot spring is to take highway 3206, which leaves the A4 motorway a few kms north of where the A4 merges with highway 35. The road, at first flat, gradually climbs through more hilly terrain. After 40 km there is an intersection; the 3206 changes here to the 3313 and there is a road coming from the east (3337), from Ratchaburi city.
After 60 kms from the motorway, there is an intersection with a well-signposted road to the west / left. Taking this turn, the road continues on for another 10 km until you reach a large reservoir on your right. After a total of 13 km from the last major intersection, an unpaved road to the right passes over a bridge. Five hundred meters further on this unpaved road splits and the left split leads to the hot spring (500m).
A faster route from the motorway may possibly be the route coming from the north: the 3087 leaves the A4 just north of Ratchaburi City and passes the town of Chombueng. Forty five kms from the motorway one takes the direction of Ban Kha (3313) and continues onward to the aforementioned turn to the reservoir. The distance is roughly the same, but the road sees more traffic and is wider.

Soaking Experience: The possibility to alternate hot with cold soaks adds to making this place a great place to soak, though the hot pools are very small and during a busy weekend (when many non-locals visit the hot spring) the experience might be a bit disappointing. There were also no private pools, alas.

Overall Impression: The lack of any large scale development, the absence of an (excessive) entry fee and the efforts of locals to make the hot spring attractive to themselves with good facilities esp. like the huts for the masseuse's give a lasting impression. Added to this is the relative good access, though it still is remote. Unfortunately the local surroundings, though picturesque (mountains / reservoir) are not readily accessible and no local efforts have been made to provide accommodation even in the wider area. The direct surroundings were still very natural. But if you are heading either further upcountry or going south to Hua Hin taking this diversion is certainly worthwhile.