Khon Kaen

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From Bon Pan, I travelled to Khon Kaen, about 150 km west. Khon Kaen is a city of about 150,000 and I was hoping to be able to arrange a flight to Chiang Mai from here. My intention was not to stay very long. However, I arrived on a Sunday afternoon and the travel agency was not open until Monday, so I booked into a hotel for the Sunday night and the Monday night.

I went to the travel agency MOnday morning to find that there are no flights directly to Chiang Mai. I would have to fly back to Bangkok and then up to CHiang Mai from there. It would cost 5,000 B and take 5 hours. THis seemed like a bit of a waste to me, so I went to check out the bus situation. THe bus was 500B and took 12 hours. I decided to save some money and take the bus (these are nice air con busses - even nicer than the greyhounds back home). Unfortunately, buses only go to CHiang Mai over night - so I had to wait until Tuesday evening to catch my bus.

Khon Kaen is not a tourist city at all. It kind of reminded me of Nanaimo (for those who have been out Vancouver Island way) but without the ocean. It rained a lot too, so I spent most of my time hanging out in the mall, where it is dry and air-conditioned. It's still hot when it is raining.

I did mange to hit the night market one night when it wasn't raining. It was kind of fun, but the markets are now starting to look the same. Since I don't have much to say about Khon Kaen, I figure I will write some little things about THailand that don't fit into anywhere particular.

One thing that I love is the fruit carts. People have push carts of ice and a display with fruit - my favourite being pineapple. You point to a half of peeled pineapple and they cut it up for you, put it in a plastic bag, and give you a big toothpick. All for 10 baht (about 35 cents). Don't need to buy junk food anymore!!

This year is the 60th anniversary of the king's ascention to the throne. Thai people love their king and Monday is kind of the unofficial day to show this. There are yellow t-shirts for sale everywhere, bearing the same crest as the buddha flag (which is also yellow). Every Monday, almost every Thai person dons their yellow t-shirt - so us farang walk along in a sea of yellow.

Thailand is a very patriotic country. Everyday at 8 am and 6 pm, the Thai national anthem is broastcast over the tv stations and public address systems. If you happen to be in public at either of these times, you must stop and stand still until the anthem is over. I have only been in public once at 6pm - at the bus station back in Bankok. Everybody stands for the national anthem.

Anways, 12 hour bus trip ahead - not really looking forward to it.

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Photos

Crispy Citters
I will try most things once, but I couldn't bring myself to eat these!

Coffee to Go
This is the only volkswagon I've seen in Thailand