Trip Report: Isan for New Years plus Wat Kham Pramong

[anonone]

With a tip of the hat to Christianpfc, a trip report outside of Bangkok and Pattaya....

I flew into Udon Thani via Thai Airways, arriving about 1900 hours. Larger airport than I would have expected.

I had pre-arranged a rental car with Lek Car Rental. Due to the holiday, it was 1,950 baht per day for a Mitsubishi Triton Plus (pickup truck with double cab), plus a 2000 baht deposit. It was the last vehicle they had available, and only because of a cancellation. (I should have made these arrangements sooner.) They also provided a portable GPS unit, which was very important for me. http://www.lekcarrentaludonthani.com/index.html. Rate included full insurance.

Their staff was waiting for me at the airport exit with my name on a sign. Filled out some paperwork in the parking lot, got a brief overview of the vehicle, and more importantly the gps. My first experience driving something beside a motorbike in Thailand, and my first experience with driving on the left side of the road. Took a bit of concentration and never got comfortable driving around...but not a terribly difficult transition....or so I thought. More on that later.

A bit of difficulty with the GPS. I was using English, and like most translations from Thai, it took a couple of attempts to figure out the right spelling of things so that it would be recognized. It was actually easier to search around the "points of interest" for something close to where I wanted to go then to attempt addresses.

I headed towards the city of Sakon Nakhon along route 22 / AH15. BF lives on the route to the city, in a smaller village / town type of place. He was waiting for me at the driveway of a local hospital, just because the GPS recognized the location and it was close to his house. I was not about to try and navigate the dirt roads back off the main drag trying to find his place. :sign5:

After visiting with the family for a bit, we headed out to the first of our rooms (resort). There are several of these places in the area. BF says they are used as short time rooms for the locals, as well as falang visiting their significant others. This matches with what I observed of our fellow guests coming and going. The resorts consist of 20 or so small bungalow type structures around a common driveway. Air conditioned, free wifi (which worked very well), small refrigerator, modern shower/toilet, Satellite TV. No safe box. 500 baht nightly.

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1st resort room

For New Year's Eve, we went to the local club and invited a group of BF's friends to party with us for the night. I had met many of them during previous visits. It was nice to see everyone again. All are very friendly and a lot of fun to party with. The club had live music most of the night, including band and multiple singers and a dance troupe. A mix of scantily dressed females for the straights...and overly dressed guys for the gays and girls. :tongue3:

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A rather blury picture of the club...and this was before any drinking

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Holiday wishes

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A very familiar sight in either Pattaya or Isan

And to upstage christianpfc....some video
EDIT: After posting this, it seems that you cannot make the videos any larger when embedded into this site.
If you click on the "watch on youtube" button, you can make the video larger, as well as switch it to high definition.

[youtube:24f24pvs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9osiSEw8ks[/youtube:24f24pvs]
Some of the guy performers do a little dance.
I was told that one of these dancers used to work in Pattaya, but I didn't recognize him. Anyone?

[youtube:24f24pvs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zbiDjCVxHY[/youtube:24f24pvs]
Moments before the stroke of midnight

Before the night was over, we had a group of 12 at the table. We went through 2 bottles of JWR, the various mixers and ice, several rounds of food including a whole fish on a hot pot skillet. Total bill for the evening was about 4500 baht, which I thought was pretty expensive for Isan. Not sure if there was a holiday surcharge, a falang surcharge, or just the way it was that night. But no regrets...we had a great time.

The next day we decided to move to a different resort, which was closer to the family home. It was not quite as new, but we had stayed there before and it was comfortable and easy to get to, right off the main drag. Pretty much the same type of setup and the same price.

Interestingly, neither place had any paperwork for us to fill out. It was really informal, just stop by the reception desk, pay a night's fee and you get a key. No ID checks, no signing anything. If you want to stay another night, just stop by and pay again. Ah...the simple country life.


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Next came a family trip to a remote temple - Wat Kham Pramong. It was rather touching...both Mom and Dad dressed up for the outing to the wat and were clearly happy to be tooling around in the car to a far off temple. The BF, not so impressed. :tongue3:

From the tourismthailand.org website: The temple is the meditation centre of the famous monk Luang Pu Sim.

BF indicated adjacent to the wat, and somehow affiliated with it, was a sort of hospice facility. I believe it is mostly for cancer patients who go there to be cared for both spiritually and medically until their death. BF's sister was involved in some fund raising for it, I think. Sometimes difficult to translate what the BF says into reliable information. :sign5:
I will post some photos and provide some brief captions, but if you don't really care about temple stuff, feel free to scroll on through....

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Pedestrian entrance. Gate closed, but side opening allowed entry.

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It was in a very rural location with a fairly large lake on the property. Lake was full of BIG fish.

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I was sorely tempted to ring the bell, but resisted the urge

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The inside of this building really reminded me of a western church...a lot of stained glass windows

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This is what I feel like when I am stuck at work LOL

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Not sure why one guy is facing away...

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Monkey and elephant get into the act

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Typical offering of flowers and Fanta

I can't seem to find a picture of the exterior of the largest building. It was pretty nondescript from the outside, but very ornate inside.
BF, Mom, and Dad all spent some time "praying" in here (is that what it is called?). I joined in for a bit. BF had me lift a small budha statue to my head as it brings a lot of good luck.

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The small, cement-looking budha on a pillow on the floor, just to the right of the red stool, is what you lift to your head for luck.

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OK...Enough of the Wat.
Time for one of my favorite things...Thai English translations
From the menu at a restaurant in town...

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Next, a trip out to the large lake in the area, created by a dam. BF says there was much talk last year during the heavy rains that the dam may fail and the resulting flood would wipe out many housing areas. The lake is HUGE, no doubt it would be calamitous if the dam totally fails.

As a local note, the wooded area adjacent to the dam is a hangout for the local teens. A place to drink, party, and in the words of BF "lose your virgin". :evil4: It has some waterfalls in the area as well, though we didn't venture to far. And the story would prove to be true as we came across a group of about 10 teen boys and girls hanging out in the back area. They were very friendly, and quite amused to have a falang visit their turf. We chatted with them for a bit, but I think they were anxious to get on with their "activities"...so BF and I headed on out.

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Irrigation system alongside the road leading up to the lake.
As would be expected, BF indicated land more expensive around here due to available water supply
Farmers can plant their land year round...

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A lot of green crops in this area, contrasted to the brown land away from the lake.

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A shot of a portion of the lake, taken from the raised road/berm that is on top of the earthen dam.

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I am not very knowledgeable about dams, but I believe the large pipe is an overflow of sorts, letting a small amount of water out of the lake
when the level gets too high.

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This was on the opposite side of the road from the pipe and I assume where the overflow water would come out.
This is also part of the wooded area "hang out"

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Small waterfall back in the hang out area...notice evidence of the parties?

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This type of stuff was all over in the area. Shame really.

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Roadside stalls on the way back to the house. We stopped to buy melon for Mom and Thai whiskey for Dad.
Melon was all over the place...everyone out of Thai whiskey. Sorry Dad. :sign5:

Next, a visit to the market to gather some supplies for the family....

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The meat department

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Isan has the same obsession with white skin...not just a Pattaya thing.

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Almost enough to make you homesick...NOT.
BF told me what this actually means (not at all related to the USA), but I forget now.
It was on some type of soap...either laundry or dish.


And now, for some random pictures from around town.

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The local song taew. Looks funny to me in red instead of blue

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A typical stretch of route 22

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Thai engineering

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A main intersection in the area between Udon Thani and Sakon Nakhon. I think it is route 22 at route 222.
typical wires strung everywhere

Finally time to leave Isan. BF and I packed our bags and piled into the truck for the trip to Udon Thani Airport.
And here is where I ran into some driving difficulty.... :crybaby:

First, the GPS went a bit nuts. I found Udon Thani airport in the points of interest, selected it, and after computing the route....
"The destination is in an unreachable area"...WTF? :dontknow: But then indicated we should drive down route 22.
So, off we go.

Well, how bad could it be. We were on a major route into the city...there would certainly be signs directed us to the airport....NOT.

Anyway, we get into Udon Thani. It is the middle of the afternoon, traffic is heavy, and my days of driving out in the country had lulled me into
thinking I had the hang of driving in Thailand. And the damn GPS has me going in circles in the center of the city, including going back and forth between 2 round-a-bouts...
Insidious traffic devices created to torment unsuspecting falang.

I then see an airplane taking off in the distance, so I know in which general direction to head. Feeling better, I am maneuvering in that direction, still mired in heavy traffic.

And then it happens, I cut it too close and clip the side mirror of the truck on the side mirror of a vehicle stopped in traffic. SHIT !
Anyway, I stop the truck. BF and I both hop out and run back to the other vehicle. I am wai-ing, BF is wai-ing, Thai driver looks mildly amused, to my great relief.
I later learn the BF was saying "so sorry, my friend not drive too good"...or words to that effect. :kap:

After a short bit, the Thai guy indicates all is OK. We pile back into the truck, me feeling very chagrined, and I slowly putter away from the scene.

I finally get out of the heavy traffic and we find a friendly passerby to ask directions. Turns out we were not too far off the track, and in 10 minutes we were parking at the airport.

In a rather surprising development, the car rental guy appeared next to the truck and asked me how everything was. We were about 30 minutes earlier than expected and it is not like we were the only car pulling into the airport...so either they have a locator on that thing, or the guy was just hanging out at the airport waiting for our eventual return. If they were tracking us on some type of system, I am sure they got a good laugh at our circular tour of downtown Udon Thani.

Anyway, we turned in the vehicle and received the 2000 baht deposit back. I had purchased one-way tickets for myself and BF with Thai Airways, business class, for 4000 baht each. Udon Thani has an interesting setup, where they xray your checked luggage before you go to the check in counter. They put a sticker / label across the zipper when it is x-ray, then you go up to the counter. Took a bit to figure that one out.

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Public area (before security)

Anyway, checked in without problem. We each received a voucher for 80 baht for use in any of the restaurants as they do not have a business class lounge in the airport. We went upstairs to the only sit-down restaurant in the place. Pretty basic place offering what had to be the saddest looking buffet lunch I have ever seen. Anyway, BF got a small plate of made-to-order food and I got a large beer to nurse during our wait.

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Flight was eventually boarded and we jetted off to Bangkok airport (BKK) and a Mr T taxi to Pattaya...which did not go well (See "Slip in Mr T service" thread for details, if interested).

Anyway, that is a short visit in Isan. Hopefully someone found it of interest as this takes a long time to put together...i never realized how much work goes into these things.
If you have any questions, post away.

[Jellybean]

Great report and photos Anonone, which I enjoyed immensely. You certainly have raised the bar on report writing by including videos as well as photos. But donтАЩt worry, you wonтАЩt be getting any competition from me as I find posting photos difficult enough!

I admired your decision to rent a car, although I suppose you had little alternative given your location, but IтАЩm sure it gave you greater flexibility over choice of sightseeing and visiting local places of interest. Your rental car is the same model as mine by the way, which came in very handy many times for taking loads of stuff back to my then boyfriendтАЩs village in i-saan when we used to share the driving from Bangkok.

Driving on the other side of the road does take a little bit of getting used to; I had the same problem when I used to rent a car in the Spanish island of Gran Canaria.

I also admired your ability to work the GPS well, apart from your circuitous route back to Udon Thani Airport. : ) I wrote about my difficulty trying to use a GPS some time ago. I simply couldnтАЩt fathom how to work it, despite the best efforts of trying to follow the advice from SGT members, including a telephone conversation with Geezer who, I must say, had the patience of a saint! I ended up taking it back to the Tesco Lotus within the 7 day sales expiry date. ItтАЩs a pity really, IтАЩd love to simply drive north with no pre-set destination in mind, just stopping over at the main population centres or anywhere in between, but without a GPS IтАЩd end up totally lost within a short period of time!

I take it your boyfriend does not drive? If thatтАЩs the case, have you considered paying him to take driving lessons? I paid for my then boyfriend to have lessons at a driving school in lat-prao in northern Bangkok. Surprisingly, after two lessons a day for one week he received his license! My Thai teacher said this is about the average time for Thais to obtain a license, which explains a lot!

Once my ex had passed his test it was very difficult for me to do any driving as he simply loved driving, especially in his home village . . . IтАЩd never seen him so happy and contented! In fact, sometimes, (well most times) he would take the longer route through the village rather than take the quickest exit when we were going somewhere . . . I think he was just showing off! : )

Incidentally, we had more rows about the standard of his driving than any other subject, so you may not want to go down this route after all! But a number of years later, to give him due credit, he did concede that I had his best interests at heart and was right to give him extra tuition. As a result he is now a very good and safe driver.

[joe552]

Great report, anonone. Thanks for taking the time.

[pong]

some explanations:
I guess JWR is red Johnny? Then 4500 is not that high- import spirits cost the same wherever, no cheapie Isany (unless it was illegally imported from Laos....), -will cost 12/1500 each, likely more.
Udorn airport is so big as it was a major US-airforce base in the VN war. As Udorn has so many ex-soldiers left too, Isaan's nr 1 farang city.
The check luggage first is also done that way in DMK=Don Muang-also when it was the major airport.
That restrt with cook the (=phat) dishes is pretty expensive for isan-BKK is cheaper for that stuff.

Cracking report Anonone, thanks for taking the time, it's really nice to see other parts of Thailand again and I think for sure on my next trip I'm going to try and get up to Issan again for a while.

I laughed at your comment re the usual Fanta offering at the temple etc as just as you say you see it everywhere and Buddha obviously doesn't seem to like Coke so much these days, but then I wondered as all things in Thailand that us stupid farang don't see I wondered was there more to it i.e. maybe is it Fanta used so much BECAUSE it's orange ( colour of monks robes perhaps ?) or something more practical like it's one baht cheaper ( or dearer perhaps !) in the local store and so they either save more ( or make more merit) by using it - or as I said at the start perhaps Buddha just doesn't like anything other than fanta ! :-) Anyone any ideas ?? Pong, this should be right up your street if you're a Buddhist perhaps ??

[anonone]

jellybean:
Yes, renting the car made the most sense for this trip and I have wanted to try driving in Thailand for some time. I am trying to gain these experiences as my eventual intent is to live in Thailand, so these are the types of things I need to be able to do. The GPS was challenging, but incredibly helpful at the same time.

BF does not drive (except for motorbike). I don't think he has much interest in learning to drive but we have never really talked about it. If I can ever live in Thailand, having him learn to drive would be something to consider. I would bet that we would be in the same position as you....standard of driving would cause some relationship stress. LOL

I liked having the car for the most part. It was great to do things like drive to the wat and the lake. We also made trips to some of his friend's houses which didn't make the report. (I wasn't about to post their pictures and homes and such.) But having the car also meant I had to be pretty careful about drinking too much, which was a pain at times. I would have really stepped up the New Year's party if I didn't have to drive home afterward. I guess everything is a trade off. It was a bit of a relief to get back to Pattaya with the easy song teuws and motorcycle taxis.

I know you indicated you find posting photos difficult, but if you have a chance to post some photos from around Hua Hin, I would find that interesting. I have not been down to that area and am curious as to the location. I have read your posts about the house and all and have found it to be very interesting. I am convinced that any move on my part to Thailand will involve renting a place...at least for many years.

Pong:
Yes, JWR is Johnie Walker Red. I assumed the bottles would be about 12-1300 each with some mixers included. I honestly didn't review the bill as I told the BF to take care of his friends and make sure everyone had a good time. I didn't pay close attention but it seemed we went through a lot of food, which is probably where the higher cost came in. This was real food, not popcorn nonsense. I think he was trying to sober everyone up a bit at the end of the night.
And yes, the restaurant with the menu was the highest cost place around. Air-conditioned and very clean, etc. BF thought I would appreciate it...though I am just as happy at a roadside Isan stand with a grilled chicken and papaya salad.

Joe:
Thanks for the encouragement. I was really surprised at how long these things take to put together. I also had some issues with the photo sharing site. I couldn't get the pictures to stay "rotated" to the correct position and I came close to bailing on the whole thing....but finally got it figured out.

NIrish:
Not sure about the Fanta preference. If I think about it, I will ask BF and see what he says. For some reason I want to say it is because Fanta is sweeter...but not sure why I think that. Maybe something I heard somewhere.
You were part of the inspiration to dive in to the rental car deal and explore a bit. If you go back North on the next trip, I will expect some photos and reports. It would be interesting to see how the single guy passes the time....

jellybean: If you go back North on the next trip, I will expect some photos and reports. It would be interesting to see how the single guy passes the time....

Ah HELLO ! are you CRAZY :-) I never said I was going alone ! a) unlike you GPS or not I would get lost in a heartbeat and end up throwing the damned thing out the window hence only making the problem worse, then b) going alone woudn't be half as much fun as the last time I went up with a guy it was all the silly wee things we did like stopping at roadside places etc to eat that where the fun part, plus going to his friends and family houses etc and being paraded about ( and his mother commenting on how big she thought my nose was ( it's not overly) - and even though she said it in Thai to her family I KNEW exactly what she said from her body language and got great mileage out of pretending to be all offended for all of 2 minutes - although I had to add that like most Thai people I've found when it came to perhaps personally insulting my she didn't give a damn and quite happily repeated it just so I was clear that she thought I had a Cambodian nose ! - mind you I find most Thai people are OBSESSED with the size of others noses and look up and down their own nose depending who they are talking about as they seem to believe they can tell not only what country but what village and actual house someone from 1000 miles away comes from just from the size of their hooter ! lol

However, you do pose a dilemma as the last time I spent time up there with a guy I seem to recall spending an equal amount of time wishing he wasn't with me so that I could sample a few of the locals who were many and willing I would guess.....oh course sods law now that I've said that I'll go there and there won't be ONE single free gay gay interested in the WHOLE of issan and I won't get laid and it will all be YOUR fault !! lol

[joe552]

NIrish Guy, surely your problem is easily solved? I seem to recall that you're not averse to a 3some, so you could bring your guy from Pattaya or Bangkok and still enjoy the extras that Isaan has to offer? That would be a trip report worth reading :party

he he you know Joe minutes after I posted that I thought EXACTLY the same thing myself ! :-) As it so happens that the guy I last went to Issan with was also into 3 somes and that very thought crossed my mind about having the best of both worlds, I'm glad to see we're obviously on the same page, you're a dark horse I think ! :-)

[ceejay]

Anonone. Thank you for an excellent trip report, with beautiful pictures. I know how much work goes into posting that many pics - it inspires me to be less lazy and to catch up with some promised posts of my own. Thanks for sharing.

N Irish Guy - don't be offended if a Thai says you have a big hooter! Have you noticed that some Buddah images have exaggerated facial features? I don't know what all of them mean, but very long ears are for long life and a big nose is for physical beauty!

Ha ha yes thank you ceejay I'm sure now that you've said that that's EXACTLY what she was saying ! Lol

Actually on a seriously note I find it crazy that you meet these absolutely beautiful Thai, Laos and Cambodian guys who are all beautiful in their own ways and just about every one wants to get their nose reduced or enlarged or some other form of surgery to make themselves look "handsome" as they all believe they are ugly - or at least not as beautiful as they could be, it just goes to show you that human insecurities run deep and no matter how lovely other people think we are as human beings unless you actually believe that ( or at least are content in yourself) then no matter what others say you'll never be content.

So thank you ceejay, I've just cancelled my nose reduction surgery set for the morning and in the words of the song "I am beautiful, no matter what they say" :-) - mind you the bottle of wine I've just had perhaps helps with that somewhat - so, the answer seems to be keep on drinking no matter what for fear reality kicks in some time soon and I wake up to find I DO have a massive hooter - but should that be the case, so be it !! :-)

[CoffeeBreak]

OP: Congrats on your detailed and entertaining trip report. You deserves thanks for the obvious effort you have made in preparing the report, and its' helpful for those who are considering a trip to Isan.

[Jellybean]

Thanks Anonone for your comments and suggestion about taking some photos around Hua Hin. I took some last week and have posted them under my тАЬNow back in ThailandтАЭ topic. IтАЩll take more over the coming weeks.

But what a nightmare I had trying to post the photos! During my first attempt the web page timed out and I lost everything. I had to shut down my computer and start again, crossing my fingers each time that it wouldnтАЩt time out again. I blame the damned Dongle and not having proper Wi-Fi! :-)

Cheers Annone....enjoyed reading your report....out of the 7 weeks i'm in Thai...4 weeks were in Isaan near my bf village

[anonone]

NIrish: I do recall you took a friend up with you during your jaunt to Isan. It is a bit of a tradeoff. Obviously for me with the BF, I will always have him with me during these trips. And while we have been known to dabble with a threesome, he would be more shy in doing so in the home town. I would not push this with hm as while he would probably go along with it if I really wanted, I am sure it would be uncomfortable for him, especially after I have left town. The gossip level in these towns is something fierce.

However, the local club gets pretty cruisy. There was lots of flirting, and as the drinking progressed, groping and such. I could only imagine the fun that could be had as an unattached falang in one of these towns. Having a Thai friend with you would certainly make it more accessible.....Might be a bit of an adventure if you are willing to take it on. Again, reports will be expected.

Thanks to ceejay, coffeebreak, and bluechris for your encouragement and kind words.

And I agree with all the comments about noses and overall appearances. BF and I have actually talked about this a lot. All the Thais want to have the falang nose and white skin....while all the falang are at the beach trying to get a tan for dark skin. Crazy. And it is interesting to learn what some people look for in attractiveness. During the last trip, I was complimented on how I have such great eyebrows...? Really? Too funny.

Jellybean, I saw the pictures on your thread. Thank you for that. It is not the easiest thing to post pictures on here, so I am always grateful when someone takes the time. When I put this report together, I hit "preview" and about half the pictures were rotated sideways. Not sure if it was the photo sharing site or how I embedded the pictures on here, but I cursed when I saw it. I ended up having to change out about half the pictures and trying again. :banghead: But glad I persevered as I now have a pretty good record of my trip.

One thing I neglected to mention in the trip report was the absolute crazy volume of the music at the club. When we first got there, we were seated at a table directly in front of speaker...and it actually hurt to be there. Every beat of the music as like being hit in the ear with something. After moving to a table off to the side just a bit, it was a little better. Still, it took most of the next day until my hearing returned to something like normal. I was really impressed with the iPhone 5 in this regard. I used it to take the video at the club and it handled the loud volume really well during recording. I had tried to take video with previous iPhone models, and the audio was always really bad.

Cheers all.

[colmx]

Just getting around to reading this trip report... Excellent work Anonone!

As someone that used to always write trip reports i know the effort that is involved and really appreciate it...

With regard to the expensive bill in the Issan club... its usually always down to the food... as soon as you see a Tom Yum bowl or one of those fish platter things coming out (or anything with a parafin candle/heater under it!) you know you can add 400B per item to the cost of the bill!

The food ordering from one of my BFs friends became so bad that others had to intervene and tell him to eat at the chicken/rice shop @35B before going out!
His food would usually tack on 7-800B onto a trip to Tum Nan Issan/Chon... that was before he got voted out of the gang!

[a447]

Yeah, I missed your report, too. You posted it when I was in BKK and I had trouble accessing the board there. But I do remember you talking about your trip at the beach.

Congrats on a great report. I imagine it really did take a lot of time and effort to post such a comprehensive report, and I'm sure we all appreciate it. And you even included video!!! Now that's something I'd like to do, but the nature of my reports preclude that, I think. :sign5:

Loved the shot of the bed. Maybe some action shots next time?

BTW, how did the chicken fare in the kitchen? Find any stray feathers in with the cashew nut? lol

And I've heard of lemon chicken, but lemon pig?? WTF?

All part of the travel experience. Glad you had such a great time.

Thanks again.

[anonone]

Colmx: I am sure you are right about the food being the source of the check bin increase. A couple of the group were pretty drunk, which is when the second large round of food showed up at the table. Not complaining about it at all....I am pretty sure BF ordered it to try and sober some people up. Most of the group had to drive motorcycles back home at the end of the night. Much better to pay for some extra food then hear about someone getting in an accident on the way home.

We attempted to take some of the group out to a restaurant after leaving the club, but everything was closed up (most likely due to New Year holiday). So we popped into 7-11 to devour some junk food. High dining indeed.

A447: Not sure about posting action shots on the bed. I would bet there is some rule preventing me from posting those pictures on the forum. And I am such a shy boy anyway.... :sign5:
Perhaps you want to start by posting some action shots of you and "Em"? :dontknow:

I followed your posts with interest...you certainly got around Thailand more than I do. I wouldn't mind spending some time in Bangkok...even just for the change of scenery. But BF does not like Bangkok at all. Too much of a "big city" for him. We did talk about a trip up to Cambodia - Siem Reap, which he is OK with. So perhaps that is in our future.

[dab69]

Finally read this post. BEST pics of a trip I have ever seen here.
Or is it just so long since I have been there?
LOved the local club and airport.
Only panning the crowd for guys would have made it better :)