Blogs from Nong Khai, North-East Thailand, Thailand, Asia

There has been lots of fun and anguish. Ian is OK. He can draw. But me. I only pretend. Give me a computer any day. For the first piece we had a look around our local area. Ian chose the house next door which had a great big power pole in the middle of it. But it turned out ok even after he painted over it with violet ink. Mine is from a photo. Of Tuscany from Fiesole looking back towards Florence. I took it in 2018. Strange I think, coming to Thailand to draw and doing a scene from Italy. Jeremy's style is very loose and scribbly. We started off with small thumbnail sketches. I wasn't much good at them either. One was chosen to put on paper. Very good, expensive paper. We're supposed to ... read more

We finally made it through our long flights none the worse for wear, and were very glad to arrive in Phon Phisai, at Jeremy Holton and his wife Waree's house on the banks of the Mekong River. When they're not here they live in Perth, together with their three sons, the youngest of whom is Cody aged 4. We're getting in practice for when we see Alexander again in a couple of weeks, who is also 4. Jeremy teaches a particular drawing technique using oil pastels. Quick thumbnail sketches of scenes, choose one, transfer it to a large piece of paper and colour it with thick layers of oil pastels beginning with light colours. It is supposed to be done quickly without thinking too much and looking for patches of colours. Covering it all over with ... read more

The train chugs as it arrives at the station, the final stop after traversing the northeastern railway for almost 11 hours overnight. I quickly alight the train, a purple second-class sleeper, and make my way to the information desk. I am now in Nong Khai, a sleepy riverside town in northeastern Thailand more famous as an entry point to Laos than as a charming destination in its own right. But I have spare time so I might as well burn it exploring the town. Nong Khai is a multi-ethnic town that’s prospered since the construction of the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge in 1994, connecting it to Vientiane, Laos’ capital, in the northern side of the Mekong River. Consequently, trade between here and Laos flourished, and made travel between the two areas easier. Notwithstanding the growth of the ... read more

Arriving in Vientiane after a thirty minute flight we cleared customs and immigration before catching a taxi to the the Friendship Bridge (built with Australian money in 1994) which crosses the Mekong River which is border between Laos and Thailand. We had decided not to spend any time in Vientiane as we had visited the city twice before. A bus took us the short distance across the bridge and a small local bus dropped us at the Nong Khai bus station about 8 kilometres away. From there a tuktuk drove us to the riverside hotels, stopping enroute so we could take some Thai baht from the ATM. A lot of luggage changeovers in a short time! We found a lovely guesthouse - the aptly named Mekong River Guesthouse - and though our comfortable room didn't overlook ... read more

Well today was the first day for our 800km bike ride – it started off really slow which was nice considering I didn’t do any training then everyone found their pace after the first water stop. One leg I found really hard but then we stopped for lunch which was nice and of course I over ate so the last 20kms was also a little tough! No stacks today so that was good! We did 85kms so was a shorter ride than I thought which was a GREAT thing as when I finished I was hurting! Claire and Pete were the little rockets and leaded the pack most of the day with their matching bikes (cute)! J Claire and Peter have had to drive back to the airport as Claire left her laptop on the flight ... read more