Udon Thani

Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010--Nong Khai to Udon Thani

There was heavy rain during the night. It was dry when I left the guest house, but rain began again about half the way to the bus station. Normally, I wouldn't travel on a day like this, but there was no reason to remain longer in Nong Khai.

We got out of the rain and it was dry when I arrived in Udon Thani. I ran into trouble finding a room, however. My first choice was a serviced apartment complex, but I couldn't find it. The building at the address on their website was locked. Usually these places are big buildings with offices that are open 24 hours per day. My second choice, also a serviced apartment, was a disappointment because they have wifi only in their lobby area and not in the rooms without paying extra. As I walked to my third choice place which was across town, the rain began again. Fortunately, Jan Condotel had a room and had free wifi. I checked in and stayed inside most of the day because the rain continued until 17:00.

Although across town from the bus station, Jan Condotel proved to be a good location. There isn't much worth seeing or doing in Udon Thani, but there is a wonderful park and lake that is near where I was staying. I walked entirely around the lake seeing many activities in the park and on the streets beside it: joggers and bicyclists each with separate pavements around the park, restaurants serving fish and other foods, places for painting ceramics, places for getting massage, exercise groups, etc.

I ate a very nice dish for dinner near my room. It was rice topped with slices of park with a dark sauce and was served with slices of cucumber and with green onions.

Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010--Udon Thani

The weather was nice, so I walked back to the bus station to check schedules for leaving tomorrow. I had read that Udon has nice breads and sandwiches, so I stopped at a local place where a woman made me two small sandwiches. They were good, but not as good as the sandwiches in Laos.

A large mall was nearby, so I went there. I checked to see if any English language films were showing that I would like to see. Only Toy Story 3 and Salt were showing, and I didn't feel like seeing either of them. There was a Dairy Queen in the mall, so I decided to have a Blizzard for dessert. They were out of the chocolate flavoring, so I ordered an Oreo Coffee one. It was delicious, but the coffee flavoring was very strong.

As I returned to my neighborhood, I went by the lake. It was deserted at 14:00. The temperatures are just too hot to be out at that time. Therefore, I returned to the room to relax. When I returned to the lake around 18:00, it was buzzing with activity.

I returned to the same restaurant and had noodle soup with pork. My diarrhea I had three days ago is still bothering me some. I don't have to stay near the toilet, but it hasn't firmed up. Therefore, I took Imodium tonight.

Monday, Aug. 23, 2010--Udon Thani to Khon Kaen

I didn't sleep well last night. Could the coffee in the DQ Blizzard have still be affecting me? Anyway, I had trouble going to sleep. Then I found myself waking up and tossing. I got up at 3:30 and got on the computer for a while, then I went back to sleep. But I was up again about 5:45.

Fortunately, the weather was fine for traveling. I caught a bus at 8:45 and was in Khon Kaen at 10:15. It was a rather long walk from the bus station to where I had decided to stay. Then when I got to the area, I couldn't find the place. It was just off the map in my guidebook, and I had marked where it seemed to be. However, it was obvious that it and the nearby hospital were no where around where I was. I went into a shop to ask, and the man indicated that it was south of where I was. Apparently, I had marked it in relation to the street north of the one where I should have marked it. Then the man did a remarkable thing. He told his employee to take their pickup truck and drive me there!

Khon Kaen is another town that is not much of a tourist destination. It is filled with western men with Thai wives or girlfriends, however. I've seen them all over the place. In fact, my hotel, the Orchid Hotel and Serviced Apartments is owned by an American man who is married to a Thai woman. It's a nice place. My room has a balcony overlooking the green trees of a local temple grounds. The room is furnished with nice locally-made furniture of heavy wood and has nice decorative touches. However, the location suffers from being just across a major highway from the rest of town.

I went exploring. A huge shopping mall, Central Plaza, is just across the highway from here. Getting there is a bit of a hassle, though, because it is necessary to go up the street to an overhead crosswalk or down the street to a lighted intersection. It's NOT the kind of highway one can just cross; it would be a bit like trying to cross an expressway in the US! Because it was too hot to explore the town, I went there. They had a Dairy Queen, so I treated myself to another Blizzard. Today, I ordered the "take home" size which was a pint (1/2 liter) and got the chocolate extreme--chocolate flavored ice cream with chunks of brownie inside. It wasn't as good as the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup version I usually get in the US, but it was fine. And the price was good at $1.83 US.

I was so tired from not sleeping well last night, that I went to bed about 14:30 and didn't awaken until 18:30! Guess I will have problems sleeping again tonight. I was still sluggish and didn't feel like going out. I just stayed in the room and watched TV. I'll read now until I decide I am tired enough to sleep again.