Khon Kaen, Thailand

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Khon Kaen is located in the Northeastern section of Thailand known as Isaan. Isaan is the poorest area of Thailand and the least travelled by foreign tourists. I stopped here on the way from Vientiane, Laos to Bangkok, Thailand. The town is known for two major universities and is important in the silk trade.

At first I didn't find it appealing, but as I wandered around, I began to see some cool things. The first night I wandered around and found a park with a beautiful, heavily lit white shrine, a mini-Epcot style globe and a group of about 200 people laying on the grass watching a movie that was being projected from a truck.

They have some great temples and a large lake at the south end of town.



There was a small night market next to the hotel where I stayed. Usually I can get by with the little bit of Thai I have picked up and some finger pointing if there is no english on the menu. This place however did not cater to tourists at all. There was no menu, you are just supposed toknow what you want by name and they cook it for you. I tried to talk to a cook there, but didn't get very far so I finally pointed to a dish that somebody was eating that looked good. Everybody in the place was laughing at the silly farang trying to get some food.

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