Don's Road Less Traveled: Rainy Times in Nong Khai, Thailand

Hey All,

I was going to wait and post this Sunday night after my 2 days here in Nong Khai, but its 9 am on Sunday and raining pretty good out now, so might as well get this done now.

First of all, slept for 11 hours Friday night, which was nice, and it pretty much rained all night which was not bad. I was up at 8 am as the skies were starting to clear. I am on this trip about 2-3 weeks sooner than I usually travel to Asia as rainy season tends to end at the end of October. I have been pretty lucky to avoid the rains on my trips, may not be so lucky this time. But when you travel in monsoon season, guess what, it rains, deal with it.

My room and patio at the Mut Mee

After breakfast I had the nice lady who runs this place, set me up with a Tuk Tuk driver who took me around to some sights. Visited a couple of nice temples and then he took me out a bit to a Statue Park of some kind, and spent a few hours roaming around, it was nice. There were lots of locals spending the day taking photos, I only saw one other tourist the whole time. I have heard there is a similar place somewhere in Laos that is supposed to be better than this one, will have to investigate to see if its close to where I will be. From there he dropped me off at the market not far from home and I wandered and had a late lunch. Made my way back to the guesthouse about 3, just as the clouds moved in and started to rain. The travel had caught up to me again and I took a nap for a couple of hours. They have a night market here on Saturday and Sunday night and its just a short walk away. Went after dark, but soon after arriving it started to rain again. Managed to get a few shots and have a mystery meat on a stick, but I will try again tonight for better weather. They have a big stage with a band playing, and everyone gets out, but it was rather subdued due to the rain.

Night Market before the rain

Nice selection of Fried Insects and Bugs

As I was walking down the banks of the river to the night market, I heard this boat coming that had this most obnoxious must blaring from these huge loud speakers. As it got closer you could see it was some kind of party boat, and I think it was some karaoke, had to be as no body would record anything that god awful. At different points in the music you could hear people on board join in the chorus. As it passed it had a huge banner across the top which was in Khmer script so don't know what it said and had a Lao Flag waving in the wind. The only thing that makes sense is this is some kind of Lao plan to annoy the Thais. Well played Laos, mission accomplished. Good news is I recorded this and will post on You Tube when I get back home.

Lao Party Boat

A bit about Nong Khai. I can tell this is not a huge tourist area, not too much to see. Most tourist that come through are just passing through town to the Laos Border crossing, they don't even stop. There is a bridge here called the Thai / Lao friendship bridge that was built by the Japanese I heard. Its only 1 of 3 border crossing from Thailand to Laos, so its pretty popular. There is an overnight train from Bangkok to here and when the train arrives in the morning, the crossing gets busy. I like this place, people should stop for a day.

I have seen very few westerners meandering about town. I have noticed in different places what seems to be a small expat population. You can kinda tell when you see a group of older retired gentleman gathering, that they are not tourist, but live here. I can see why they like it here and will have to add this to my small list of possibilities. I have also seen a few of the Geritol Crowd here with younger Thai women, not unusual for Bangkok, but surprised to see that here. There are a couple staying at this guesthouse, so wander if the weather is bad down south and they are migrating up here for a few days. You hardly ever see these girls smiling, but who can blame them, YUCK!!!! I will avoid the Soap Box!!

Garden and Breakfast area at the Mut Mee

I wanted to tell you a bit about the Mut Mee Guesthouse, my home in Nong Khai. What a cool place, right on the river, cool garden area with covered tables for breakfast and meals. Once you check in you are given this book they keep by the kitchen. You can get any snack or drink from the cooler at any time, and write it in the book, then you pay at check out. They work off the honor system. Cant imagine this working in the US. The room is nice, with hot water, a/c, fan with balcony for $800 Baht a night ($22). I love Asia. They have 600 baht rooms if you are on a bit more of a budget. And a nice surprise is this place has the best Wi-Fi I have ever had in Asia. Kudos!

Speaking of the Baht, was pleasantly surprised to see that when I exchanged money at the airport, the baht was almost 37 to the dollar. just 2 years ago when I was here it was around 30 to the dollar. Only serves to make Thailand an even better bargain.

Well, enough babbling for now, the rain has stopped and hoping it clears up. Time to explore. My plan is to cross into Laos tomorrow. I have to figure out the process, but sure they will help me out here. Its only 22 km from here to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos, so will be a short trip. Will spend a few days there before making my next decision.

Happy Travels,

Don