This Sunday, my good friend Phil took me to Udon Thani, the province south of Nong Khai. We spent the day exploring temples, parks, and markets, and of course eating glorious food. Come along with us!
Let's hop in the car and travel 60 km south to...
Udon Thani, Thailand
We started our day with a breakfast of jok (rice porridge with eggs) and khao piak (rice noodles).
To my surprise, when we got to Udon, all of the signs were in Chinese!! I learned from Phil that the population of Udon Thani (at least the portion that we visited) is primarily Chinese and Vietnamese, and that there are very few Thai people living there.
First, we visited a huge market filled with products from China. It felt like the aisles went on forever!! The stalls contained many knockoff items from popular brands, undoubtedly mass-produced, and all very inexpensive.
Look at the beautiful traditional Chinese outfits!
Phil has a business in which she sews and sells tote bags, shopping bags, and satchels. She comes to Udon Thani whenever she needs fabric and supplies. This is why we visited the Chinese market and the fabric shop pictured above.
I had never been somewhere with so much fabric in such a small area!
Next, we visited Wat Pothisomphon.
This temple was built in the 20th century and features a multi-leveled, panoramic stupa.
Massive nagas guarded the stairway, along with a stray temple dog.
The emerald buddha has Buddhist relics directly in front of it, flanked by golden buddhas and elephant tusks.
Big murals depict the Thai royal family interacting with two sacred monks, a group of characters all featured throughout the temple complex. The woman in the white shirt is the princess of Thailand.
The two monks centrally honored in this temple.
Notice that the gold monks on the left and right of the large jade buddha are the same monks eternalized in life-like statues in the two photos above.
Gorgeous golden buddha in another building in the complex.
I have no idea what kind of fruits these are, and neither does Phil; anybody know? They definitely look interesting...
The palm trees immediately made me feel at home.
This photo was actually candid... I grew up with palm trees lining my street, so these have a special place in my heart.
There were many locals reading and napping on blankets in the shade of the lakeside trees.
Lounging on the remains of a felled tree.
Say hello to my beautiful guide and friend, Teacher Phil!
This park was such a great find, especially due to the portion featured below...
We found a DINOSAUR park!!
This place truly unlocked the child within. I was so excited to pet the huge dinosaur figurines, pose in a dino eggshell, and frolic through the playground.
I'm hatching!!
Notice the cool fossilized skeleton structure on the other side of the egg.
I wonder if dinosaurs actually had such big, cute eyes... maybe a little bit of artistic license was taken to make this a kid-friendly environment, but I'm all for it.
I like that this one has a beak; probably more realistic in terms of the close relationship between birds and dinosaurs than the usual way we see dinosaurs portrayed.
We spent some wonderful time on the swings, truly getting in touch with our inner kindergartener. I remarked that we had returned to the age of the students that we teach!
After leaving the park, we went to Nakha market.
This wonderful temple greeted us at the entrance.
A massive gong, with a Roxi for scale!
We were very hungry by this point, so we bought some snacks. First, khao ji (grilled rice patties).
Next, Phil's favorite, gluai ping (grilled bananas)!
Now, these are my new favorite, too. So warm and sweet! I highly recommend if you are ever in a country where you can try these. (Or, try making your own!)
The market was full of traditional Thai dress outfits.
I bought a traditional Thai dress shirt! Phil is going to give me a skirt to go with it so that on Fridays, I can fit in with the rest of the teachers and wear traditional Thai dress. I got this for the bargain of ฿250, just under $8 USD. (Normally, articles like these are much more expensive!)
Wat Phrathat Bangphuan contains myriad archaeologically significant artifacts, and features a central pagoda which is believed to house a relic of the Buddha brought to Thailand from India: the remains of the Buddha's gaster (stomach). The Buddha statue above is over 300 years old.
The age of the sacred site itself is unknown; the chedi prior to the current one was constructed 500 years ago over an older stupa, although rain caused the more modern stupa to topple in 1970 and the structure has since been rebuilt (again).
I absolutely love this statue. The naga protecting the Buddha reflect the style and beliefs of the Nong Khai region, as these mythical sea serpents have long been believed to inhabit the Mekong and protect the city and its sacred sites.
This is only one of the impressive covered archaeological features in the complex.
Another, close by.
Brick structure with a carved stone Buddha niche.
The tree on the left is called a Bodhi tree; this is the species of tree under which the Buddha sat and attained enlightenment. Bodhi trees are often found in sacred Buddhist locations like temples and stupas.
Here, the glorious stupa itself. We made a small donation in exchange for some fresh lotus flowers and incense. We then followed the tradition of leaving an incense offering, walking around the entire stupa (which is actually quite big!) three times, and leaving the flowers as an offering, to honor the 29 Buddha relics inside.
This stupa complex is considered by locals to be one of the most sacred sites in the region. It is actually quite difficult and inconvenient to get here by public transportation, so I am very grateful that Phil took me here by car.
We drove deeper into Thabo for some pad thai made by a very special vendor Phil loves dearly, but she was not yet open so we got lunch of vegetables and seafood from a nearby coffee shop.
We drove back to our area of Nong Khai and visited the massive fresh market so that I could buy supplies to cook my dinner. We saw some fascinating, surprising foods there that I am very excited to share with you... (warning: squeamish readers should consider skipping this section.)
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These are squirrels and a wild bird. I have never seen squirrels in the context of food before; I was pretty shocked to say the least.
Frog skins...
...and frog meat. The bag seen in part on the left is frog claws.
Whale catfish. These are the same massive fish I fed in the sacred ponds at Sala Keoku... to be very honest, I was pretty shaken to see these at the market.
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OKAY, potentially-disturbing section over!
This was my haul from the market!! Tomatoes, broccoli, Thai eggplants, quail eggs, duck eggs, and jackfruit! YUM. Grand total cost for everything above: ฿90, equivalent to $2.85 USD.
Last but CERTAINLY not least, on our drive home, we saw some precious Thai buffalo. Anyone who knows me knows that I love cows and buffalo, anything of the bovine nature. I obviously freaked with excitement and joy, so Phil stopped for me to take some photos and bask in the glory of these perfect creatures.
This one had a bird perched on its head!!
And THIS ONE HAD A BABY!!!!!!!
That wraps up this blog post, a record of another wonderful adventure with Teacher Phil.
Here is a video compilation of the day:
Thank you for reading, and for coming along to Udon Thani with me!
See you in the next installment of my life in Thailand...
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