Issan Part 2.

Khao Yai National Park

Thailand

November 25, 2004

Dear Family and Friends,

Yesterday I was in the jungle.

I left the Isaan Plateau and headed southwest to the mountain chain which forms the border between Thailand and Cambodia. 05:15 - 05:30...Motorbike taxi to bus station. 06:00 - 07:00...Bus to Pak Chong. 07:15 - 07:30...Khao Yai Garden Lodge picked me up.

Nang Rong, Buriram

Thailand

November 30, 2004

Dear Family and Friends,

When I mention to Thai people that I plan to visit Isaan, they all smile. Now the Thai smile can have many meanings: Genuine friendship, well-mannered politeness, slightly restrained affection, short-lived tolerance, and perhaps, "I smile because I know what you don't know." Take your pick.

March 9, 2005

Udon.

Another day trip. This one began at 07:30. After staggering and swirling around town looking for the right bus station, on my third try, three motor bikes later, I found the 09:00 mini-bus to Ban Phue where I hop yet another motorbike to Bhu Prabat. (I may be an experienced traveler but my Thai is just good enough to get me into trouble on occasion.)

Bhu Prabat Historical Park. A peculiar mix of pre-historic cave paintings, bizarre geological formations and Buddhist shrines.

"The formations are a collection of balanced rocks, spires and whale-sized boulders with several shrines and three wat built in and around them."

Udon Thani

Thailand

March 8, 2005

Dear Family and Friends,

I got tired of just sitting around at The Honey Inn so after a few days of R&R I hit the road again, this time heading to northeast Thailand.

It was a short but "monumental" ten day trip. Even a little bizarre.

Chaiyaphun. I thought was going to see a silk-weaving village outside of town but in the searing heat and under the penetrating and debilitating sun I lost my patience. (Another couple I met later in the day had the same problem. On the way out of town, on the bus, we saw the sign, facing the "wrong" direction.)

Udon Thani

Udon Thani Province

Thailand 

January 2, 2011 

Dear Family and Friends, 

“Mr. Jan, where you go cown dow?”  A Thai friend asked me this question just after Christmas. I was stumped.  I was puzzled.  It took me a few minutes to unravel the mystery.