road trip Northern thailand,
February 2023 - 2,150 kms +
I had been to Phimai probably fifteen years ago, having cycled there and back from Nakhon Ratchasima. It’s about 120 kms return from there. I don’t know why I did that, apart from the business of trying different things. As I recall, it was hot and slow on account of me being on a mountain bike. I then drove down to join the rest of the family on Koh Chang. The road follows the Cambodian border all the way down, which I remember thinking was ‘quite exciting’, just for being there (having read so much Cambodian history around that time). Life eh! I then made an error of judgment at Koh Chang; I left the car and got the ferry over, being quite sure that I could handle that steep inclined road that crests the hills before descending to Whitesand Beach. Stupid or what? It may be steep in a car, but on a bicycle, it is steep in the sense that one’s pulse touches 200 and puce describes one’s appearance from the neck up. I collapsed, panting on a grass verge by some science research station half-way up. Eventually, I thumbed a ride with a rubbish truck, my bike being tossed unceremoniously onto the garbage. The driver thought the whole thing hilarious and kept chuckling to himself, whilst occasionally glancing at me, all the way to the hotel.
Phimai nowadays gets bus-loads of tourists, many of them French. I’ve noticed this before; I think the French go for the architectural heritage thing, plus tour-groups. Perhaps it was the crowds but I wasn’t exactly wowed by the site, and thought it inferior to Phanom Rung near Buriram, which is about the same age but better preserved. Perhaps the building stone there lends itself to longevity, or the refurbishment is more recent and was better funded.
Anyway, the aim of the trip was to get to Bueng Kan so, ‘What’s on the way there?’ gave Phimai an opportunity to raise its head above the parapet. It’s so easy to put together an itinerary these days. Just type things into Google Maps and see how far places are apart. Then sketch the relative locations on a piece of A4, before returning to Google to do a quick reccy on what places have to offer. I filled a page of A4 with different options in kilometres or hours – how far between x and y, between x and y via z, sort of thing - like about 50 pairings. I could easily have put together ten different trips. This one is tailored for seven days to include only places that I haven’t been before (apart from Phimai).
Driving for hours on end in Isaan, one is reminded of what a big country Thailand is, big and flat. Vast stretches of rice country, albeit just stubble at this time of year. A brown, hot, landscape with not much moving. It reminds me of a comment I heard when the red-shirts were blockading the streets of Bangkok, the reds being largely country folk. One of the yellows (hi-so types), said sneeringly, wait till it starts raining, they’ll soon be back in their fields. The inference being that they are only down here because it is the dry season and there isn’t much to do back on their farms.
Anyway, mile upon mile of parched stalks pin-pricking an airless, blue sky. At one point we passed a road sign for a village called ‘Ban Dong Man’. A voice instantly popped into my head saying, ‘This is what I’ve always said. But who listened? Nobody!’. It was Peter Cook’s voice.
A friend’s wife is from Mukdahan so I always wondered what it was like. Perhaps charming, despite its rather ugly name. It is actually quite without charm. Astride the Mekong, they have managed to make the corniche entirely of concrete with no views but roller-shuttered shop frontages. Bad show, I say. It does have the wat with the large naga and Buddha on the hill overlooking the town, so some civic pride has been salvaged. Two hours’ drive up the road is Nakhon Phanom, another town with an unglamorous name, to an English ear anyway. But, the Mayor’s office done good, creating a pretty and lively town featuring a boardwalk along the Mekong that goes for miles. Markets and restaurants add to the atmosphere, especially early evening. It also helps that across the river the Laotian mountains offer a terrific serrated, montaine backdrop which would grace the wall of a cheap restaurant.
Just outside Nakhon Phanom is a house where Ho Chi Minh lived in 1928-29. Generations of the same Thai family have preserved it and made the surrounding gardens a riot of pretty colour. Talking to the granddaughter of the original owner, she said that the family had repeatedly resisted the government’s efforts to buy their land. So finally, a site further down the road was purchased to build an official museum (with funding also from Vietnam). The original house is now like a shrine to Uncle Ho and is a popular destination for Vietnamese tourists. It is still remote, being 12 kms out of town on a rural lane, so it is difficult to envisage the kind of work that Ho was doing whilst resident there. One imagines a network of agents and runners going back and forth, with Laos and Vietnam being not too far away, across the Mekong River.
Halfway between Mukdahan and Nakhon Phanom is one of the most famous wats in Thailand. Wat Prathat Phanom. It is so holy that pilgrims come from miles around. I couldn’t quite divine why this is the case* but there were loads of hawkers – release a caged bird to make merit – sort of thing, and a surfeit of monks having their photo taken. There was also a rather large guy in outsized glittery pantaloons, Thai-dancing in the middle of the road. Mr Hunky Pants had all the moves, so I put 20 baht in this hat. I was surprised to see a stack of cash in there, and also surprised to see him exit at the back of the market and drive off in a Mercedes. It was a bicycle actually, but that dosh did rather explain the fancy-pants. *I looked it up, it hosts a relic – the Buddha’s breastbone.
Yod Phu Tok is an isolated hill near Bueng Kan with a gallery of Buddhas in one of the recessed cliff-caves. The reviews said that some of the walkways are scary. The reviews were not wrong. It’s funny is vertigo, because it is impossible to control. If you have it, it kicks in and there’s not much you can do about it. If you haven’t got it, you can be a steeplejack or clean the Shard’s windows, with nary a second thought. The gantries look like they are held in place with a combination of nails and hope - not a good look for the nervy types. They were indeed a challenge for me, looking dead-ahead and crouching forward as I made my way around the overhangs. Having said that, I did enjoy the trek up and down, it was rewarding, not just for braving the walkways, but also for the physical endeavour. I got to the top level seven, the step called ‘heaven’, but lingered all-a-gingerish, as there was nothing to stop you walking straight off the peak, no fence or rail, just a track that led to some flags on the cliff and, next stop, thin air.
Hin Sam Waan is also near to Bueng Kan. The three sandstone outliers resemble three whales – a mommy, daddy and a calf. Not so much when you are standing on them, but more from above at drone level (drone plus operator for hire at 1,000 baht). I had mentally geared up for a fearsome several hours hiking to get to the lonesome three, but they have now built a road up there. You can pay 500 baht for a private baht-bus plus guide to take you all the way. Yes please! It has gone from a trek rating of ‘kin tough’ to ‘doddle’. Even old ladies were up there; in fact, a gaggle of grannies were on the trail whooping it up. What a racket. ‘Oi, grannies, pipe down!’ H&S had thoughtfully put some odd pieces of tape on the rocks, several were still in place. ‘Stay this side if you want to live,’ Arnold’s voice carried as a whisper on the wind. It wouldn’t take much effort to fall off the sheer cliff though as you angle for the perfect selfie – indeed, someone did a few years ago. Hence, the yellow tape I suppose. They are nothing if not thorough, these H&S folk!
I really enjoyed this one, which finished early as there was no trek. Quick 4.5 hr drive down to Khon Kaen to make inroads into the journey back. Just a final eight-hour drive home the day after. Pics:
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com) Naga and Buddha near Mukdahan
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com) Nakhon Phanom
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com) Holy wat
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com) - Uncle Ho’s house
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com) Stairways on cliffs
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com)Three Whales
Phimai nowadays gets bus-loads of tourists, many of them French. I’ve noticed this before; I think the French go for the architectural heritage thing, plus tour-groups. Perhaps it was the crowds but I wasn’t exactly wowed by the site, and thought it inferior to Phanom Rung near Buriram, which is about the same age but better preserved. Perhaps the building stone there lends itself to longevity, or the refurbishment is more recent and was better funded.
Anyway, the aim of the trip was to get to Bueng Kan so, ‘What’s on the way there?’ gave Phimai an opportunity to raise its head above the parapet. It’s so easy to put together an itinerary these days. Just type things into Google Maps and see how far places are apart. Then sketch the relative locations on a piece of A4, before returning to Google to do a quick reccy on what places have to offer. I filled a page of A4 with different options in kilometres or hours – how far between x and y, between x and y via z, sort of thing - like about 50 pairings. I could easily have put together ten different trips. This one is tailored for seven days to include only places that I haven’t been before (apart from Phimai).
Driving for hours on end in Isaan, one is reminded of what a big country Thailand is, big and flat. Vast stretches of rice country, albeit just stubble at this time of year. A brown, hot, landscape with not much moving. It reminds me of a comment I heard when the red-shirts were blockading the streets of Bangkok, the reds being largely country folk. One of the yellows (hi-so types), said sneeringly, wait till it starts raining, they’ll soon be back in their fields. The inference being that they are only down here because it is the dry season and there isn’t much to do back on their farms.
Anyway, mile upon mile of parched stalks pin-pricking an airless, blue sky. At one point we passed a road sign for a village called ‘Ban Dong Man’. A voice instantly popped into my head saying, ‘This is what I’ve always said. But who listened? Nobody!’. It was Peter Cook’s voice.
A friend’s wife is from Mukdahan so I always wondered what it was like. Perhaps charming, despite its rather ugly name. It is actually quite without charm. Astride the Mekong, they have managed to make the corniche entirely of concrete with no views but roller-shuttered shop frontages. Bad show, I say. It does have the wat with the large naga and Buddha on the hill overlooking the town, so some civic pride has been salvaged. Two hours’ drive up the road is Nakhon Phanom, another town with an unglamorous name, to an English ear anyway. But, the Mayor’s office done good, creating a pretty and lively town featuring a boardwalk along the Mekong that goes for miles. Markets and restaurants add to the atmosphere, especially early evening. It also helps that across the river the Laotian mountains offer a terrific serrated, montaine backdrop which would grace the wall of a cheap restaurant.
Just outside Nakhon Phanom is a house where Ho Chi Minh lived in 1928-29. Generations of the same Thai family have preserved it and made the surrounding gardens a riot of pretty colour. Talking to the granddaughter of the original owner, she said that the family had repeatedly resisted the government’s efforts to buy their land. So finally, a site further down the road was purchased to build an official museum (with funding also from Vietnam). The original house is now like a shrine to Uncle Ho and is a popular destination for Vietnamese tourists. It is still remote, being 12 kms out of town on a rural lane, so it is difficult to envisage the kind of work that Ho was doing whilst resident there. One imagines a network of agents and runners going back and forth, with Laos and Vietnam being not too far away, across the Mekong River.
Halfway between Mukdahan and Nakhon Phanom is one of the most famous wats in Thailand. Wat Prathat Phanom. It is so holy that pilgrims come from miles around. I couldn’t quite divine why this is the case* but there were loads of hawkers – release a caged bird to make merit – sort of thing, and a surfeit of monks having their photo taken. There was also a rather large guy in outsized glittery pantaloons, Thai-dancing in the middle of the road. Mr Hunky Pants had all the moves, so I put 20 baht in this hat. I was surprised to see a stack of cash in there, and also surprised to see him exit at the back of the market and drive off in a Mercedes. It was a bicycle actually, but that dosh did rather explain the fancy-pants. *I looked it up, it hosts a relic – the Buddha’s breastbone.
Yod Phu Tok is an isolated hill near Bueng Kan with a gallery of Buddhas in one of the recessed cliff-caves. The reviews said that some of the walkways are scary. The reviews were not wrong. It’s funny is vertigo, because it is impossible to control. If you have it, it kicks in and there’s not much you can do about it. If you haven’t got it, you can be a steeplejack or clean the Shard’s windows, with nary a second thought. The gantries look like they are held in place with a combination of nails and hope - not a good look for the nervy types. They were indeed a challenge for me, looking dead-ahead and crouching forward as I made my way around the overhangs. Having said that, I did enjoy the trek up and down, it was rewarding, not just for braving the walkways, but also for the physical endeavour. I got to the top level seven, the step called ‘heaven’, but lingered all-a-gingerish, as there was nothing to stop you walking straight off the peak, no fence or rail, just a track that led to some flags on the cliff and, next stop, thin air.
Hin Sam Waan is also near to Bueng Kan. The three sandstone outliers resemble three whales – a mommy, daddy and a calf. Not so much when you are standing on them, but more from above at drone level (drone plus operator for hire at 1,000 baht). I had mentally geared up for a fearsome several hours hiking to get to the lonesome three, but they have now built a road up there. You can pay 500 baht for a private baht-bus plus guide to take you all the way. Yes please! It has gone from a trek rating of ‘kin tough’ to ‘doddle’. Even old ladies were up there; in fact, a gaggle of grannies were on the trail whooping it up. What a racket. ‘Oi, grannies, pipe down!’ H&S had thoughtfully put some odd pieces of tape on the rocks, several were still in place. ‘Stay this side if you want to live,’ Arnold’s voice carried as a whisper on the wind. It wouldn’t take much effort to fall off the sheer cliff though as you angle for the perfect selfie – indeed, someone did a few years ago. Hence, the yellow tape I suppose. They are nothing if not thorough, these H&S folk!
I really enjoyed this one, which finished early as there was no trek. Quick 4.5 hr drive down to Khon Kaen to make inroads into the journey back. Just a final eight-hour drive home the day after. Pics:
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com) Naga and Buddha near Mukdahan
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com) Nakhon Phanom
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com) Holy wat
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com) - Uncle Ho’s house
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com) Stairways on cliffs
Travels in Asia, a Photoblog by Michael Deveney - TRAVELS IN ASIA (photoriente.com)Three Whales
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