Nong Khai: Touch Point

The Fireballs Naga Festival, Bang Fai Phaya Nak, occurs in October and provides a good reason for visiting the town. I was a whole week and no fireballs were visible, but that was irrelevant. Dozens of food stalls appeared at the promenade and at least two stages hosted local musical groups in the evenings. The food was fabulous, and besides the expected hits, many tasty variations appeared, like the Ma Muang Tam, a variation of the Som Tam salad prepared with mango instead of with papaya. The Mekong got its share in the festivities as well; during the day, it hosted colorful boat races and in the night, it was elegantly decorated with Naga Boats, which resembled serpents and dragons. People launched Krathong (candles in the center of flowers' crowns) from a small wooden pier, and they gracefully floated away into the dark. Wat Pho Chai is east from the morning market and hosts a Lan Xang era sitting Buddha, its head is pure gold, and the Utsanit (the flame top head ornament) is set with rubies. Sala Kaeo Ku is located east of the town and includes a diagram of the Wheel of Life, built with Hindu shaped statues.

Quick Tips:

Inner Isaan is a thrilling place; if you are short in time, you can make a day trip to Srichiangmai. Chiang Khan offers a better option, but you will need to stay overnight. If you decide to continue eastwards along the Mekong, then arriving to Nakhon Phanom in the same day is difficult; plan a night in Bung Kan. The Morning Market is behind the terminal and it is worth a visit; the coffee here arrives from Laos and they use similar preparation methods. As in all Thai towns along the Mekong, there is here an Indochina Market; it is in the northwestern part of the promenade; if you are continuing from here to Laos, it is wiser to delay the shopping. There is a small tourists’ center hosting several guesthouses and restaurants by the market’s north end. Even if you stay in another hotel, I recommend visiting the Sawasdee Guesthouse, 402 Meechai Road, opposite the Srikunmuang Wat: its traditional Thai structure has been tastefully restored with much love and care and is a feast to the eyes. On Prajak Road, around the Seven Eleven, is the Night Market that hosts many food stalls every day after dark.

Best Way To Get Around:

Nong Khai is a narrow town entrapped between the river and Highway 212; walking is the best way to move around while there. From here to the Friendship Bridge, a tuk-tuk costs 30B from the Highways 2 and 212 junction at the town entrance. There are buses from the terminal, which is between street number 3, called also Prajak Road, and the Highway 212. The buses to Tha Bo and Srichiangmai travel south and enter Highway 211, thus they are of no help. Nong Khai is very well connected to Bangkok, but due to the length of the trip, I recommend to take a local bus to the next city, Udon Thani. Local buses cost 21B (1hr, 57km) and leave you at the local terminal. A tuk-tuk will take you to the center, where the main terminal is (10B). Udon offers many options for a pleasant afternoon before taking a night bus to Bangkok. If you are planning to explore inner Isaan, you can travel along highways 211 and 212, which follow the Mekong, or opt for the dry way: go to Khon Kaen in the geographic center of Isaan; it is superbly connected to all its towns.

Location

Sawasdee Guesthouse is opposite to the central Srikunmuang Wat. Located at the almost geographical center of this elongated town, it offers an ideal location near the promenade over the Mekong River and the Indochina Market.

Thai Teak Wood

The guesthouse traditional Thai teak-wood structure has been tastefully restored with much love and care and is a feast to the eyes. The external wooden doors have big rectangular windows; some of them are divided into small squares with colorful blue and yellow rectangular subunits. Carriage's wheels cut by the half connect the doors to the ceiling. The lobby is the adapted interior of an old wooden shophouse.

Reception

The reception looks like a wooden bar corner, each side built from a customized old carriage’s wooden wheel. The lobby opens to an internal patio, around the which, the private rooms are located.

Staff

The staff is very friendly, knowledgeable of the town and makes anything possible to transform the stay into an enjoyable one.

Rooms

The less expensive rooms are on the second floor, over the lobby, and facing the street; they cost 100B per night and include a fan, a bed and shared bathrooms. Despite being very basic, they are clean and functional, providing a real teak-wood house experience. The adjacent bathrooms are kept clean at all times; being shared by few rooms, the privacy provided by them is reasonable.

The air-conditioned rooms cost 300B and include private bathrooms with a basic water heater. Due to the guesthouse specific setup, the private rooms with air-conditioner are well isolated and offer views to the green central patio, while the second floor rooms are rather boxy and offer – at their best – views to the noisy street below.

Gate

Late at night the staff close the main gate; backdoor leading directly to the inner patio is then habilitated.

Lobby

The lobby has a pleasantly high ceiling and is richly decorated with hanging old furniture and artifacts. Hanging from it are also some very old lamps, which have been modified for using neon lamps.

Old wall clocks showing different times hint to the meaningless nature of time in this relaxed town. A nice sitting corner next to the main door has what seems like the original prototype of the electric fan, old but still functioning. English books are scattered around and free for borrowing while in the guesthouse. Comfortable seats with low coffee tables transform the well-illuminated place into a writers’ paradise.

Srichiangmai is one of those rare towns overlooked by most traveling guides; such places withhold a promise of a close contact with the local life and culture.

Timing the Visit

The town is better explored as part of a trip along the Thai Mekong River or while traveling in western Isaan. Another possibility is making a detour from Nong Khai or Vientiane.

Reaching Srichiangmai

Reaching Srichiangmai is easy; from Nong Khai there are frequent buses to Tha Bo, which is fifteen kilometers to the northwest, the trip costs 8B and longs thirty minutes. Another bus completes the next forty kilometers to Srichiangmai in less than an hour for 17B.

Direct buses from Nong Khai are rare; an air conditioned one will cost 45B. If arriving from western Isaan, then from Chiang Khan there are trucks to Pak Chom (41km, 20B, 1hr) and from there any bus to Nong Khai (159km, 57B, 4hr) passes through Srichiangmai.

Surprisingly, Srichiangmai is connected directly to Bangkok, though even if planning a long trip in Isaan, Srichiangmai is not a good starting or ending point.

The River and the Capital

Srichiangmai is along the Mekong River and in front of Vientiane, the Laotian capital; thus, it offers a clear sight of some of its landmarks.

Since Vientiane drowns in greenery, only the few buildings rising over the treetops are in view. The bright green sign in clear sight belongs to the Lao Plaza Hotel and the bright yellow lights to the stadium; triangulating from them it is possible to locate the other main attractions.

However, do not expect to recognize Srichiangmai once in Vientiane, from there it is just a row of low houses hidden in a dense, dark green foliage.

Rice Wrappers

Srichiangmai is famous in Thailand for preparing circular rice wrappers; pay attention at the town’s entrance where they may be sun-drying on slanted bamboo surfaces.

Infrastructure

Being so close to Nong Khai, no tourism infrastructure has been fully developed and the guesthouses choices are very basic; I recommend returning to Nong Khai for the night. If staying, then the best place is Sitsuwan Hotel, by the promenade and Soi 17, where a single room costs 150B.

Morning Market

The morning market is by Highway 211 at the eastern part of the town. The coffee beans used to prepare the coffee served there at breakfast is brought from across the river and it is prepared in a similar way to the Laotian one.

Sunrises by the Promenade

The promenade is magnificent: wide, clean and with a wide road next to it, creating a feeling of luxurious space. After sunset, many stalls appear and cater splendid Thai food to what seems to be the whole village population, which comes to enjoy the breeze and the views.

The sunset over the Mekong River belongs to Laos; however, from Srichiangmai, sunrises would bright the day of intrepid travelers departing for new adventures.

An attractive option for an overnight stop along the wilder parts of the Mekong riverside is the town of Beung Kan; the 136km separating it from Nong Khai do not allow a short day trip, but the town is worth a longer visit, and is a natural stop while Thai Mekong.

The Way

The way from Nong Khai to Beung Kan does not follow closely the Mekong riverside and most of the time the river is not visible, nevertheless the Laotian mountains across it are an appropriate substitute.

Several buses connect both towns; the way longs three hours. If not planning to stay overnight, a bus departing before noon is essential. Bus 224 leaves from platform 12 in Nong Khai's terminus, the ticket costs 50B. The departure times are: 06:40, 07:25, 08:00, 08:35, 09:10, 09:50, 10:30, 11:10, 11:50, 12:30, 13:10, 13:50, 14:30, 15:10, 16:00 and 17:00. The last two ones do not leave enough time for checking out the guesthouses in daylight.

For the return to Nong Khai, the same bus 224 departs from the bus stop at roughly the same times as in Nong Khai. Another option is heading south along the Mekong to Nakhon Panhom; there are hourly buses leaving from the clock tower, the first at 9:00 and the last at 17:00, the ticket costs 70B and the three hours way is 175km long.

The Clock

Beung Khan has not a proper terminal; the bus stops by the entrance, next to the clock square. The planned spaces for the digital and analog clocks in the tower were empty at the time of my visit, emphasizing the meaningless role of time here.

The Promenade

The town’s main attraction is not far away from the bus stop; the promenade is one of the most attractive along the Mekong River and is characterized by small gardens along it, their flowers adding color to the otherwise emerald green area.

At night, the area is transformed into a lively night market, with many food stalls serving tasty Isaan dishes.

The Guesthouses

The Mekong Guesthouse is the only one on the promenade itself, but it charges a startling 250B for a simple fan room. Other guesthouses - at least three - are along the road connecting the market with the terminal. They are not very well advertised and thus can be easily missed; single rooms with fan, an attached bathroom with hot water and a television set cost at them 150B.

The Morning Market

The big morning market doubles as morning and night market and has a definite Isaan flavor. The usual breakfast consists of two eggs cracked into a bowl with hot water, to which soy sauce is added; however, many locals opt for betel nuts, which are piled in nearby shaky stalls. Next to the market is the only Seven Eleven branch in town and one of the few stores in this part of Khon Kaen offering non-local products and toiletries.

Even while visiting paradise, we feel once in a while the longing for an espresso or the will to see useless gadgets shining behind a spotless mall window; then, most of us would find the right excuse for reaching the nearest city. Nong Khai has a beautiful and comfortable mall just south from its main entrance; but placed in the heart of a rural area, the experience feels wrong and unfulfilling its purpose.

The Escape

An hour south from there, is Udon Thani, the last city along northern Highway 2; it is not even the biggest city in Isaan, the northeastern lobe in Thailand's map, but when the Espresso Syndrome hits, it is a handy trip from Nong Khai.

The Fruity Rationale

Because of its midway location, few choose Udon for more than a night stop, but if given a chance, Udon would show several hidden treasures. Being so close to Isaan's heart, culinary jewels exist in every stall and mall. A testimony of that richness is the ambulant fruit stalls, which are double in size than in the rest of Thailand; the extra storage room allows them to hold up to ten different types of fruits - some of them are hard to find elsewhere.

Reaching Udon

Nong Khai’s bus terminal has frequent buses to Udon. However, the opposite direction is less obvious than expected, since Udon Thani has two terminals; the secondary one serves only certain lines and is the useful one in this case since from there leave the regular buses to Nong Khai. Buses leave every hour during the day and cost 20B.

Reaching Nong Khai from the main terminal is possible with buses arriving from other destinations; it is more expensive and the buses do not always have available seats, hence using the secondary terminal is recommended.

Robinson Mall

The best opportunity in Udon for enclosing yourself within a concrete monster and forgetting for a while the green Eden waiting outside, is the Robinson Mall, which is in clear sight from the main bus terminal, just across the big junction.

Its food plaza offers an incredible variation of food. As in most modern Asian malls, it resembles a traditional Asian Food Market, where each shop specializes in very few dishes. Buying a whole meal at one stall is not possible; the idea is wandering around while creating the ultimate meal dish by dish.

This is the only place in Thailand where I spotted a variation of Ice Kachang, a popular Singaporean dessert which is ideal in the hot weather: beans, corn and colorful jelly put upon grounded ice.

The rest of the mall offers everything expected from such a place – including a cup of espresso; spending a couple of hours exploring its wonders is an attractive option before ending the day-trip to Udon Thani at the nearby Night Market on Thanon Prajak.

No visit to Nong Khai is complete without a stopover in Sala Kaeo Ku, or Wat Khaek as is usually called. Slightly east from the town, it offers a sculpted interpretation of the Hindu and Buddhist mythologies.

Reaching the Site

In a sunny day, it is a pleasant walk from downtown to the temple. Follow Highway 212 eastwards and at kilometer 4.15 (many milestones help accomplishing this task), slightly over thirty minutes from the bus terminal, a small detour appears at the right side; the temple is two-hundred meters along this road.

If traveling by car is prefered, tuktuks from Nong Khai happily cover the distance. Moreover, every bus leaving the town eastwards stops at the highway’s detour.

The Buddha Park

If after the stay at Nong Khai you are heading for Laos, then it is recommended to visit the temple here and then the Buddha Park, known also as Xiang Khouan, which is slightly south of Vientiane, the Laotian capital across the river. Both were constructed by the same monk: Luang Po Boun Leua Sourirat.

History

The Laotian park was created in the 1950s by the above mentioned monk, who was the disciple of a cave-dwelling Vietnamese Hindu hermit. After returning to Laos from Vietnam, he began constructing sculptures in a garden on a Mekong riverside meadow.

Following the Laotian Communist Revolution, the monk was forced to flee to Thailand, where he created a parallel garden across the Mekong River. The temple across the river was built from 1978, and the monk died there in 1996.

The Sculptures

The sculptures garden is an open book showing its creator’s life philosophy, which in essence is a mixture of Buddhist and Hindu philosophies.

The sights are often strikingly bizarre, with huge serpents appearing over the treetops and oddly shaped domes. The central structure is peculiarly fashioned, with domes of extremely unusual design and weird columns; as the rest of the site, it was constructed in grey, solid concrete.

Nearby, a diagram of the Hindu Wheel of Life adorns an internal yard and nearby is a tall Buddha sitting under some frightening sized Nagas, the Hindu mythology’s snakes.

It is useful to bring a book with illustrations of the Hindu-Buddhist pantheon; in such a way the recognition task would be easier. The grayish, heavy ferro-concrete sculptures have very little artistic or aesthetic value but provide a fascinating view into the local culture.

Several statues illustrate well-known Thai proverbs, but a solid background in the Thai language is needed for fully appreciating them.

Once a year, Nong Khai becomes the center of a big event: the Naga Fireball Festival, locally known as Bang Fai Phaya Nak. Due to the lunar calendar characteristics, its date changes yearly, but usually it takes place during the month of October.

Origin

Several versions exist regarding the true nature of this event; the mythological one claims that Nagas spit fireballs from the Mekong riverbed, the unproven, scientific one, tells that methane gas is discharged from the depths, but most locals testify of firecrackers launched from just below the water surface by resourceful kids on both shores.

The point is that the source of the fireballs is completely irrelevant since the festival provides an amazing opportunity for a close meeting with the local culture. Thais arrive from the surrounding towns and gather by the beautiful promenade for social evenings full of dining wonders, musical performances and new friends.

Krathong and Nagas

The river is dressed up for the occasion; its shores and access ramps are heavily decorated. At night the sights are overwhelming, but also the days hold colorful sights; especially the traditional long boats races which can be enjoyed from the promenade at all hours.

After the sunset lighted Krathong and Nagas float gracefully in that ancient, charming slow pace of the Thai culture. The Krathong are flower crowns with a candle in their center. The Nagas – literally snakes - are traditional boats of different shapes decorated with colorful electric lights. From time to time, the skies are illuminated with firecrackers that look like a compulsory gear for any participant below fifteen years old.

The Promenade

Nong Khai’s promenade is several kilometers long, occupying all the north-eastern side of the town. The wide sidewalk dresses up toward the festival and practically the whole’s area population appears there during the festival days’ evenings. Laos is clearly seen across the Mekong River and countless illuminated boats float on it.

Ma Muang Tam or Khao Nio Ma Muang?

By the shore, the most festive dishes of the fabulous Thai cuisine are served in countless stalls during the festival. Variations of popular dishes can be easily found, like the Ma Muang Tam, a modification of the popular Som Tam salad, which is prepared with mango instead of with papaya.

Other options are relatively rare, seasonal dishes like the Khao Nio Ma Muang, which makes a cheerful appearance in Nong Khai. This is one of the local cuisine’s greatest creations and consists of sticky rice soaked in coconut cream and covered with ripe mango; it is a sweet, delicious plate which suffers from the short season in which the mango is ripe; usually that fruit is consumed in Thailand while green.