Biking Around Nong Khai

I was in Nong Khai for a couple of nights to attend this conference on visual heritage. The sad part of attending the meeting though is that it was conducted in Thai, which makes my participation there practically useless. So I had every excuse to leave the meeting and wander around the city.

Nong Khai is located on the upper tip of Northeast Thailand (or the Isan Region as most Thais call it). Last Saturday evening, I had to take a 10-hour bus ride from Bangkok alone coz three of my colleagues have left earlier in the morning. The ride was pretty comfortable, the bus even provided cookies, water, and a tiny blanket (na wala sa Cebu Pacific!). Traveling in the evening though was not a good chance to see the scenery. Instead I only had glimpses of sleeping towns along the wide highway.

Upon arrival early the next day, I immediately explored the town with my Thailand Lonely Planet in my hand. I rented a bicycle, which proved to be scary coz I’ve never been on one for years. Worse, driving in Thailand means that I have to stay on the left side of the road, a thing that I’m not used to. A number of times I found my self going to right side, nearly colliding with rushing cars and motorbikes.

Swerving constantly on my rented blue bike, I followed the Lonely Planet suggestions about the must-sees in Nong Khai. First, I visited a couple of temples. The first one had a magnificent mural of the life of the Buddha. Other than that, the temple was an overwhelming and blinding display of gold stuff, I nearly wore my sunglasses inside had it not been considered disrespectful. From there, I proceeded to the highway under the blazing heat of the sun. With just me and the bicycle, my hands were shaking at the thought of being flattened by a huge bus or truck. After asking directions from several people who could hardly speak English, I found my next temple. The place was covered from the highway by huge trees so it was eerily silent in the compound. I wandered a bit and found a temple (influenced by Lao architectural style) and a stupa.

(Click on the pictures for the larger version.)


A couple of kilometres down the highway (and with the sun burning my skin) I found the Wat Sala Kaew Goo. The park is an amalgamation of towering sculptures of Hindu and Buddhist gods and whatnot. Actually I was crushed by the kitsch of the place I had to leave immediately.



I went back to the town centre where I found my self at the river side... and I was looking at the historical Mekong. The river is shared by Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao, Thailand, and Vietnam and has played a colossal role in shaping the history of these countries. Just across the river is Lao People’s Democratic Republic (where we crossed a couple of days later). The river was muddy and the water was high as it is the rainy season. On the dry season I was told that the river banks would become a “beach” for the locals. But that day I only saw a few people having lunch at the river walk and some monks staring at the river.


Nong Khai was pretty manageable to go around in. I was finished visiting the interesting places in four hours. The next day I stayed in the hotel, watching BBC and Fashion TV.

That evening the conference was treated to local performances by schoolchildren.


The fellowship night ended rather early so we went to river side again and found a tall stupa where we took pictures. It is actually just a replica of a stupa submerged in the middle of the Mekong, which is found nearby. Driving back to the hotel we stopped by this roadside cafe that had low tables surrounded by mats. It was very local way of a roadside eatery, I was told, as opposed to the eateries in most Thai cities that provide chairs.


More pictures here.