The forest wát peering down on the town lies just 2km away as the crow flies, but it's 19km to drive. Once a very serious meditation temple, it's now highly commercialised, with crowds coming up for the amazing Mekong views, which can be seen from a glass-bottomed 'sky walk'. In the cold season you might see the valley filled with fog early in the morning.
An overgrown footpath once used by the monks every morning to collect alms (they're now driven to town) begins east of town just before the Km 81 pillar. Follow Soi 5 past the last house, then veer right by the mango and papaya trees.