Villa Thongbura Nong Khai

... us. We cut our trip short in this city by about 2 days, there was a lack of vegetarian food or sites to see, and it was full of OLD western men with their Thai wives/girl friends. Not really in a sleazy way but still just not something we could relate to.

We did manage to walk the length of the esplanade to go see a temple, and it was nice sitting on the river having a beer and looking over at Laos, but we were happy to leave the next day and cross over the friendship bridge into laos.

... so last time we stayed in a national park and did a Trek - i swore i would NEVER do it agan!! Freaked out by leeches, snakes and creepy crawlies i promised myself i would never put myself in that position again... so what did we book for today?! - A trek into the national park - leech socks provided!!! What was i thinking!??
So off we set in the truck with todays guide - Mr Ae... nerves building and temperature rising.
On the way we stopped to see ...

... attempting to explain away the fireball phenomenon, all to no avail.Some say it is an elaborate hoax, but the only way to find out is to travel to Nong Khai and check out river scene and the carnivals that villagers organise to celebrate the now famous legendary serpent.

Nong Khai, Thailand amazingthailand

Sun.10 May. Nakhon Ratchasima - Nong Khai. Happy Mothers Day to all the Mums who are reading this... and most especially my Mum.

We left a little later than usual because we discovered Dave's new TomTom is missing. We searched the truck in vain so tonight we'll get busy on the internet contacting the hotels we have stayed in since Darwin. TomToms can't be used thru' Asia so we hadn't missed it.

I'm afraid it's ...

... beds but they were all sold out so we had to settle for regular seats. The seats were not very soft and happened to be located at the back of the car, right by a sliding door. Employees and passengers were constantly going through the door, slamming it shut each time. But hey, i only had to deal with it for 11 hours!! I actually managed to sleep for most of the trip, although it wasn't the most pleasant of slumbers it was better than nothing :) We arrived in ...

... all wandered around in search of an affordable place to stay. After chatting a while about our traveling adventures we decided to meet up again. We grabbed a quick breakfast and hopped on another Tuk-Tuk that took us around the city to see the sites. Our first stop was a "Buddha Garden" which was beautiful. We wandered around a garden full of sculptures of Buddhist and Hindu Deities. One of the main attractions here is the enormous laying Buddha ...

... hours getting the water level correct, and then a monsoon shower arrives and you have to start all over again. Water management in the rice fields is something you either love or hate and Guy happily potters around changing water sources into the fields and telling me that ...

... angebaut haben und den Elephanten das geschmeckt hat; ein Bauer hat einen Elephanten erschossen, durfte dafuer ein Jahr ins Gefaengnis, er ist heute der Tourismusdirektor des Dorfes:-) gute idee, so kommt er nicht mehr auf die idee elefanten zu erschiessen, schliesslich lebt er nun von ihnen). Die Dorfbewohner haben einen watchtower errichtet (well, Kanada und Deutschland haben ihn errichtet) wo man uebernachtet und mit etwas Glueck Elefanten sieht (sie ...

Soooo, after a lot of thinking about what the best way of getting to and fro Phon Phisai would be, I graciously declined the offer of a lift at 9 am in the morning (fireballs are supposed to happen after sunset!) with Sun's friends. They freaked out just a little and went early in the morning to get a good spot. So we went by guest house organised truck at around 2 pm and got to Phon Phisai at ...

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." Albert Einstein Many years ago I heard about the balls of fire that rise out of the Mekhong river each year at the end of Buddhist Lent near Nong Khai. I had heard that they were as big as small cars. No one knows quite why or how it ...