Pork spring rolls and Mekong sunsets in Nong Khai


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Asia » Thailand » North-East Thailand » Nong Khai
March 16th 2013
Published: April 14th 2013
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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 the water we only had to visit the hotel's outdoor eating area to enjoy the view. Mekong sunsets are pretty spectacular and we were looking forward to enjoying them over a couple of drinks each evening. That night though the riverfront promenade was lined with dozens of stalls selling all manner of homemade craft items and a large variety of hot food. The weekly night market was in full swing and there were hundreds of people enjoying themselves. We ate at the guesthouse before exploring the market. Jerry enjoyed a couple of beers whilst I spoilt myself with yet another foot massage. Life on the road is hard sometimes....

We were going to spend the next week or so hopping between some of the Mekong towns in Thailand - we had previously done this in Laos and loved it - as we made our way down to Siem Reap where we were meeting up with family. Our first day in Nong Khai was spent exploring the undercover markets which lined the riverside. Predominately tourist markets - catering mainly to the domestic tourist market - they were however fun to wander around and we did spend some money. We walked along the river after leaving the markets - the heat under the market roof drove us outside where there was at least a cool breeze from the water - we set off to find Wat Pho Chai, renowned for it's splendid golden bejewelled Buddha.

The temple was buzzing with activity when we arrived - dozens of people were lined up waiting to be blessed by the monks and to worship at the main shrine. The Buddha was lovely but I actually loved the murals which covered the temple walls more. Gloriously coloured and beautifully detailed , the pictures were highlighted with tiles and gilt. In this temple you had to have your legs covered and even tiny children were being wrapped in borrowed sarongs from a basket piled with fabric pieces at the entrance of the temple. Everybody was making donations and purchasing flowers and incense to use in their worship. We were amused to see these offerings being recycled behind the temple. Large bins of used lotus flowers were being trimmed and tidied before being resold. In the temple offering buckets of personal items for the monk's everyday needs (eg thongs, towels, mosquito coils, food) were piled up after people offered them as payment for blessings. I'm sure most of those orange buckets of goods would also be resold many times over.

Later that day we visited the large Tesco supermarket to buy a few necessities and spent a long time there. I love checking out goods for sale in local supermarkets - many products are unrecognisable but because all prices are set it does give you a true idea of what the local people pay for everyday items. And it was air conditioned - which we were fast discovering was a necessity in this part of the world. That evening we had a fabulous meal at an extremely busy restaurant near our guesthouse. It specialised in Vietnamese spring rolls and was incredibly popular. People were buying boxes of them to take home - we understood why once we tasted them! We enjoyed a couple more meals there as well before we left the city.

One thing that was very noticeable in the city were the Western men with Thai women. We barely saw any other tourists but did notice dozens of such couples - sadly, mostly older men with beautiful young women. We explored the massive riverside undercover markets - they seemed to stretch for ever and everything for sale was ridiculously cheap. We bought a few T shirts to supplement our meagre summer travel wardrobe - winter clothes were more a priority when we packed.

Next day we visited Sapa Kaew Ku, a Hindu Buddhist shrine established in 1976, which included a collection of bizarre cement statues of deities. On a previous trip we had visited another of these parks, designed and built in 1958 by yogi priest shaman who merged his religious beliefs in Vientiane. The park in Nong Khai was inspired by the one in Laos. It was much bigger and even more weird - full of fantastical cement and brick statues - most were huge, all were fun to wander around and were quirky examples of modern religious art. We enjoyed a couple of hours wandering before catching a tuktuk (which had happily waited for us) back to Nong Khai.

The rest of the day was spent planning our onward travels, catching up on the news (cable television with English channels) and again watching the sunset over the river. We enjoyed our few days in Nong Khai - comfortable and surprisingly cheap room considering the touch of luxury, great sunsets, tasty food (highly recommend the pork spring rolls at Daeng Namnuang), and quick cheap laundry services. Also despite the obvious tourist resort town feel a quiet traditional place to enjoy wandering around the back streets.


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19th April 2013

Great update and pics!
Hi Friends, We're back home in Canada and picking up the pieces. It's been great reading about your trip and viewing your pics. I'm so pleased we met back in Phonsavan, Laos and had the opportunity to explore the ancient Plain of Jars and the bomb village together. Beers and music around the campfire in a spent bomb casing was memorable too.

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