Mar '08

Isaan County

This story was posted under the categories: Big Asia Trip, Cycling South-East Asia, Thailand

North-East Thailand, locally known as Isaan, is a lot less touristy than the rest of the country. The region is bordered to the East and North with Laos and to the South with Cambodia, making it a fascinating mix of new and old cultures. The main attractions are old temples, dating back to the Angkorian period (think Angkor Wat) and National Parks. We decided to focus on the latter.

Having just left “flat” Laos, we were surprised to find ourselves in rolling hills as we entered Thailand. Immediately submerged in a sea of green, we were in a whole other country all together. We exchanged our Sapadee (meaning Hello in Lao) for the similar Sawadee (meaning Hello in Thai) and turned our wheels to Kong Chiam.

Kong Chiam is known for its bi-coloured river, where the blue Mun river and the brown Mekong converge. It was a good thing we read about it, because you really wouldn’t have known otherwise. We’ll mostly remember the city for two other things:

Finally, good food again!
What are all those empty hotels for?

Yep, the Thai cuisine is surely the best in Asia and we indulged in not less than 7 different dishes on our first day. Our bellies satisfied, we rested up for what was going to be a very interesting day.

We rose early and headed up North towars Pa Taem national park, home to some great waterfalls, mushroom shaped stones and prehistoric drawings.

After spending a couple of hours, we decided to cut our visit short – mostly because in the dry season there are no waterfalls – and we made for Phi Bun, a small city on the shore of the Mun river. Phi Bun in itself turned out to be quite your average Thai city, but the trip there was certainly interesting: we saw giant cows, ostriches and huge gongs.

We slept in the only hotel – or should i say motel – in town (thinking back to the 50 something empty hotels we had left in Kong Chiam) but fell lucky to have found at least that. Another cold shower and stone bed, but we were high on hopes as we would set out to the big city tomorrow. Who knows, we might find a shopping mall and be able to buy some yoghurt and muesli!

True enough Ubon Ratchathani (or plain Ubon for the friends) proofed to be a most welcoming city. We fell right at home as we entered on a large avenue packed with Ikea-sized shops, passed a couple of parks and again the Mun river. The city being rather big, we were lucky to have our own transportation (the bicycles) and to stumble upon The Mansion, a student dorm which occasionally rents out a room to travelers. It was a pleasure to have such a spacious air-conditioned room, with two balconies and an “ensuite” – which is just a fancy name for a private bathroom – with hot water. All for the fabulous sum of 300 Baht per night (that is 6 EUR).

We spent a lot of time enjoying the Big C and Lotus shopping malls, relaxed in the parks and ate fresh fish on an island in the middle of the Mun river… It fell a bit like home, but with the sun