The pack horse
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‘Land of Smile’ is a catchphrase for Thailand known by most comers to the Kingdom. After being here for some time, it is easy to forget just how much Thais really do smile. The trip I was about to embark upon would quickly remind me how true this slogan is.
The phone rang and an interesting offer followed. A friend was moving from Bangkok to Vientiane, Laos and wanted to make a journey out of it, rather than a quick, cross-country upheaval. She had rented a four-wheel-drive and needed a driving partner. A four-day road trip through Isaan was proposed. I dreamt of ‘all-you-can-eat’ sticky rice, somtam and grilled chicken buffets, salivated and gave the thumbs up.
We pilled her worldly possessions into the rented Suzuki, stocked the glove box with musical essentials, grabbed our map and navigated the mega-freeways out of the Big Mango, pointing ourselves towards Thailand’s second biggest city, Nakhon Ratchasima (Khorat).
With tunes blaring, we were relaxed, happy to be out of the big city and telling stories of past road trips. This, we promised ourselves, would be one of the all-time greats. It quickly hit us just how densely populated Thailand’s central basin is. Between Bangkok and Khorat, the urban sprawl really never came to an end. Upbeat, but in need of some wide-open spaces, we checked into our home for the night at the Dusit-owned, Royal Princess Korat.
Dusit hospitality is famous and the Royal Princess quickly proved why. Upon check-in, the general manager greeted us with a huge smile and asked about the journey we were on. A tour of the facilities revealed a remarkably well-appointed property with all the amenities. We enjoyed a short workout at the outdoor gym, took a dip in the pool and enjoyed a top-notch Thai feast in the comfort of our room. With a solid night’s rest behind us, we loaded up at the Royal Princess’ buffet breakfast and set off.
the dancing plants
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Having previously visited the superb Khmer ruins at Phimai (45km north of Khorat) and the even more impressive Phanom Rung Historical Park (150km SE of Khorat), we opted to shoot for Khao Phra Wihaan, located 300km SE of Khorat and 150km S of Ubon Ratchathani.
Located just across the Cambodian border from Si Saket province, Khao Phra Wihaan was long disputed territory between Cambodia and Thailand. The World Court finally awarded the area to Cambodia in 1963 and it finally opened up to visitors from the Thai side in 1998. We made it to the gates with just five minutes to spare before they closed for the day. A park ranger offered to scoot us through the site as they could only let us stay for a half hour. Once again, a smile adorned his face and he made the most of a way too short visit. The temple sits 600m atop a mountain ridge, looking over the flat, thick, jungle-covered Cambodian valley below. Construction of the temple began in the 10th century and took more than 200 years to complete. To access the site from the Cambodian side, one must hike 8 hours. Alternatively, you can leave your passport at a Thai military checkpoint on the Thai side and drive 10km to a parking lot and then walk a 500m set of stairs to the impressive site (100B for Thais, 200B for foreigners). Be warned, the site closes at 15:00, therefore you must set off very early from Khorat to take in the temple, or spend the night prior to your visit at one of the many nearby small villages. After an extremely worthwhile perusing of the area, and a bid farewell to the helpful ranger, we began our 200km journey NW to the Tohsang-Khongjiam Resort, in Ubon Ratchathani province.
Arriving in the dark of night, the resort was rather difficult to find, but well worth the journey. The large complex features a spectacular outdoor pool, impressive riverside gardens and plenty of chairs for lounging. Our room was right on the banks of the Mekong River, with Laos about 400m across the waters. If you are going to make the journey here, you are best to spend a couple of days enjoying the comfortable rooms and incredible scenery – true nirvana.
With just two days left on our rental car and a lot of ground to cover, we headed NW along the Thai-Laos border, using secondary roads to take in the countryside. Perhaps the most striking thing about Isaan is the lack of distinguishing tourist attractions. There’s a lot of farmland and not much else for long stretches. Instead of the traditional rice fields devoid of trees, found throughout much of Thailand, the majority of rice paddies in Isaan are strewn with trees. Farmers can be seen enjoying a snooze under the shade of these trees during peak afternoon heat and smiles once again abounded. The catch phrases most often hurled at us by locals were the standard “hello’, “hey you” and my favorite, “I love you”. It was hard not to feel like the Fonz after hearing this for the 50th time.
Wat Khaek
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After a long morning of driving, we stopped for lunch and a look around Mukdahan. Located on the Mekong River, the town is a crossing point into Laos. There is a large market along the river with merchants selling everything one can imagine. At points, it more resembled a large yard sale than a traditional market. Sitting at a food stall on the river, we enjoyed a lunch of pad thai moo yaw (fried Thai noodles with pieces of pork sausage) .The sausage is white in color and wrapped in the ubiquitous banana leaf. It makes a fabulous snack, lasts days without refrigeration, and is everywhere in Isaan – a must try.
With full stomachs, it was time to hit the road again. This is where the traditional breakdown of a road trip happened. Through a mishap that I am too embarrassed to put in print, I managed to puncture our gas tank while going about 5km per hour. There we were, a long way from a major center and I couldn’t be any less handy at fixing cars. Where’s McGyver when you need him? Suddenly, a woman selling enough garlic to drive off a gang of vampires assessed our situation and told us to patch the hole with soap. Who knew? Soap is the great fixer of holes in steel. With the business day pretty much finished, she got on her mobile phone and called a local mechanic to assist us. When the mechanic turned up, he was clearly not happy to be working. As it turned out, he had been on his way to go fishing and we had single handedly ruined his evening. A quick 200 baht repair later and our vehicle was again road-worthy. We put a smile on his face with a bottle of whiskey, and there it was again, that famous Thai smile. The garlic lady wouldn’t accept a singleBaht for her assistance and made us promise to come back to Mukdahan again. A big smile from us, a larger smile back from the garlic lady and we were off to our hotel at Sakhon Nakhon for a much needed rest.
We rose early and bolted straight to the border town of Nong Khai where I bid farewell to my road trip partner. She boarded a bus and said goodbye to life in Thailand. On my own, with a few hours to kill before I had to drop off the Suzuki in Udon Thani, I decided to check out a park I had heard of that is full of massive Buddhist statues.
Wat Khaek is a strange Hindu-Buddhist temple about 4km east of Nong Khai. Tones of Hindu-Buddhist statues cover the grounds, and the area looks much like I would imagine Disneyland if they had a ‘Buddha World’. Truly strange, overwhelming, and immensely interesting, this is a must see if you’re in the area.
It was time to head to Udon and return the rental, but not before a quick stop to check out the ‘Dancing Plant’ at Udon Sunshine Gardens. Dr. Pradit Kampermpool an agricultural professor in Udon and has spent years cross-breading Thai Gyrants. These plants have a natural propensity to sway when exposed to certain sounds and he has successfully bread a strain that sway when sang to. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it. After only getting a few bars into my rousing rendition of ‘Country Road’, sure enough, the plants’ leaves started to move. Dr. Kampermpool said they prefer other songs, but that was the only one I felt comfortable torturing him with. He also sells the only licensed perfumes made from 100% Thai orchids. A truly interesting stop – this is something right out of the X-Files.
In the center of Udon Thani, and now vehicle-less, I enjoyed a final feast of moo yaw before catching a train back to Bangkok. As I enjoyed my meal, many locals watched me eat, enquired to ‘where I was from, what I was doing, if I liked the food, Thai women, etc?’ The overriding theme was the smiles. For the last four days, I had received more smiles than I ever thought possible. Isaan truly is the ‘Land of Smile’.
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