Do you ever just say "yes" to an adventure, not knowing what it will be, but with an open mind for whatever is in store? This is what I did last weekend, and it was one of my favorite adventures of my entire year in Thailand. This post documents my trip to the family farming village of my dear teacher friend, Teacher Pang, which turned into a 3 day, 4 province extravaganza that truly was one for the books!
Reading time: 11 minutes
Ready to explore Northeastern Thailand with us?? Let's head off to...
Bueng Kan, Thailand
Pang's home is about one block away from the river. The Lao mountains on the other side are stunning!
These divine beings certainly did not disappoint. LOOK AT THE BABY!!
Here is the family farm! The man on the right is Pang's dad. They have many ducks and chickens (pictured), buffalo, and a huge rice farm.
I hadn't done bumper cars in many years years, and I had so much fun. I felt like a kid again.
After some shopping, we left the fair and visited Pang's auntie, who runs a roadside boba stand. Her Thai tea boba was delicious!
After dinner, Pang, Ming, Joy, Mew and I went back to the fair for some evening fun.
Pang and Joy were very good at this game! They knocked over more than 20 stuffed toys with their rubber bullet guns.
We saw rowers heading to the river to participate in the boat races for the yearly boat festival.
There are many rubber farms in Bung Khla. These are all rubber trees, with bowls attached to collect the dripping rubber.
This is the water reserve for the surrounding farms. It empties into the river.
Back at Pang's house, we had a delicious breakfast of fish, sticky rice, and stir-fried vegetables, cooked by her mom.
The wonderful Ming motorbiked us to the bus stop, where we waited for a van to take us to Ban Phaeng.
When we arrived at the bus station, we learned that the last bus to our next destination, Nakhon Phanom, had already departed. So, we got to take a detour to Sakon Nakhon, which is a couple hours out of the way. Gotta embrace the adventure! (Isn't Teacher Pang's hat perfect?)
After a 2 hour bus ride, we waited on the side of the road for 45 minutes and luckily, a bus came that was bound for Nakhon Phanom! Apparently, these buses come about every 2 hours, so we could have been waiting for much longer. This bus had air conditioning, win!
We finally arrived to Nakhon Phanom in the afternoon. We took a tuktuk to our hotel, our fifth vehicle of the journey!
After a short nap, we headed out to explore the town.
We were at yet another riverside town, a few hours southeast of our last Mekong-stop in Bueng Kan. The mountains on the other side in Laos had the most beautiful outline on the horizon.
Boat season is in effect here, too! Next month this province will have their boat races. They are currently building the bamboo-based boats, 12 of them, one per district.
I was tempted to swim across to go explore those mountains!!
I have visited the Mekong in four provinces now: Loei with Teacher Phil at New Year, Nong Khai (my home in Thailand), Bueng Kan, and Nakhon Phanom. I love it everywhere. It is such an interesting perspective, to think that it is the same river, yet just at different places. All connected.
After walking along the river path for awhile, we stumbled upon a Saturday evening market!
The reason we went to Nakhon Phanom was that Pang signed up for a 10K run there! The run was to take place the next morning, so I got some photos of her at the starting/ending point.
We walked around the race prep booths for awhile, and then as we went to get a closer look at the naga statue, we ran into Pang's university statistics professor! Her name is Teacher Vi. Pang went to university in Sakkon Nakhon, where we had an impromptu visit earlier that day. Teacher Vi invited us to drive there with her the next day to show me the province, and, embracing "the plan is no plan," we said yes!
After talking with Teacher Vi and her mom and sister for awhile, Pang and I took a few more pictures by the naga statue.
We got dinner at a noodle restaurant by the evening market.
After this, we went back to the hotel and watched a Thai movie on the hotel room TV. Even though I didn't understand a lot of what they were saying, I could infer much of the plot, and the movie was so interesting to me. Plus, Pang helped fill me in on details I couldn't gather myself. We fell asleep before the end, and I still wonder what ended up happening!
The next morning, we awoke at 4:30. Pang went off to her 5 AM race, and I enjoyed the sunrise and chilled in the hotel room until she returned a few hours later.
...only to learn that the Princess of Thailand was there that day, so we were not allowed inside! There were police everywhere. They kindly allowed us take a few quick photos in front of the temple.
Even though we could not go inside, the temple's beauty was easily appreciated from outside the gates!
Vi's family, Pang and I prayed in front of the statue and left offerings of flowers and incense.
This was such a special experience for me.
We were super lucky to get seats in the van headed to Udon Thani - there were only two seats left, and the van was set to depart in 2 minutes!
When we got to Udon Thani a couple hours later, we happily got off the van and spontaneously went to the giant mall, Central Plaza. This is the biggest mall I have ever been to! It is five floors. Massive!
Reading time: 11 minutes
Ready to explore Northeastern Thailand with us?? Let's head off to...
Bueng Kan, Thailand
Teacher Pang is a math teacher at the elementary school I've taught in for the past year. She has always been so kind to me, and we've been working on teaching each other our respective languages (she helps me learn Thai and I help her learn English). I've seen photos of her beautiful home, and recently she invited me to join her for a weekend of travel, including a visit to her home village. I said a hearty "yes!", packed a backpack and went along for the ride.
Our motto for the trip was, "The plan is no plan." Time to embrace adventure!
We started out with a 2.5 hour van ride from Nong Khai to Bueng Kan.
Her village is called Bung Khla. It is gorgeous - green, full of farms, and right on the Mekong river, just like Nong Khai but two hours east.
Pang's friend Ming picked us up from the bus stop and motorbiked us to Pang's home.
Pang's home is about one block away from the river. The Lao mountains on the other side are stunning!
I got to stay in a sweet little cottage on the riverside, and Pang stayed with her mom and dad in their nearby house.
Isn't this lovely?? The cottage included this bedroom, a nice bathroom, and a porch with benches and the most delightful mountain/river view.
Next, we took the family motorbike to their farm, which is also on the Mekong, about a kilometer down the riverside street.
We. Saw. BUFFALO!!! These are the buffalo that they've raised on their farm. For those who don't know, I am obsessed with cows, and, by extension, most bovine creatures. Seeing these buffalo in person was the the thing I was most excited for about this trip.
These divine beings certainly did not disappoint. LOOK AT THE BABY!!
Here is the family farm! The man on the right is Pang's dad. They have many ducks and chickens (pictured), buffalo, and a huge rice farm.
This is the view from the farm entrance, looking out across the road to the river and mountains of Laos.
We brought Pang's cutie pie nephew, Bas. We hopped the fence to the rice farm...
...and this is what awaited us inside. Rice fields for as far as the eye can see.
Isn't Bas precious?
Back by the main farm building, the buffalo had come inside and were grazing on the delicious grass.
Pang snapped this fabulous photo of her family buffalo. She is a photographer by hobby. Her pictures are sprinkled throughout this post!
It was hot, so we went to Pang's grandparents' house, which is also on the riverside street and very close to Pang's home. Their family lives all throughout this village. I have never been somewhere with such a tight knit community, so full of family and connection.
This weekend was the yearly boat festival in town! This entails boat racing in the river, as well as a fair at a large temple in town. We gathered some of Pang's cousins and headed to the fair in the family golf cart!
Here is Pang with her cousins August and Mam-mam.
We entered the fair to find bumper cars, a carousel, a ferris wheel, rides, and tons of games!
This was a game to try to catch fish, with paddles that disintegrated after being dipped in water once. Very tricky. Mam-mam caught a small white fish! She victoriously put it back in the water and we carried on.
The kids got to play on this huge bouncy slide (left) and trampoline (right)...
...and I got to do the big-kid bumper cars!
I hadn't done bumper cars in many years years, and I had so much fun. I felt like a kid again.
Pang took a picture of me with the other bumper car players and her family members. The boy right next to me, in the orange shirt, apologized every time he bumped into my car, until he realized that I did not care and thought it was hilarious. He told me his name (Baht) and then we teamed up to try to bump other cars together!
After some shopping, we left the fair and visited Pang's auntie, who runs a roadside boba stand. Her Thai tea boba was delicious!
We went back to Pang's house, where I got to meet their 3 day-old chick, Namo. He was very vivacious and chirped all the time, except when I held him and gently pet his back. He became so soothed and calm when I held him like this.
We stayed at the house for a few hours. Pang's mother is an excellent cook, and she made special fish dishes for me because I am pescatarian! The fish in the lower left of this photo is hands-down the best fish I have had in Thailand. There was also a barbecue for vegetables, fish, and meats going in the back right. It was such a lovely family and friend meal, with Pang's parents and uncle, her best friend Ming, Ming's boyfriend, Joy, and Ming's sister, Mew.
After dinner, Pang, Ming, Joy, Mew and I went back to the fair for some evening fun.
Pang and Joy were very good at this game! They knocked over more than 20 stuffed toys with their rubber bullet guns.
I got to choose the prize, so I chose this fun stuffed seahorse!
At first I thought it was a lizard, and Pang said "No, horse fish!"... this is how she learned the word "sea horse," and I learned the Thai word, "Ma nam" (water horse)! Thanks for winning this for me, Teacher!
Following the fair, we were quite tired, so we headed home for the night to go to sleep.
This was the view out of the window above my bed when I awoke the next morning.
Pang knocked on my door at 6:20 to give alms to the monks. They make their rounds at 6:30 each morning. We gave them water bottles and sticky rice. I could tell they were surprised to see a foreigner - I was the only foreigner in town, and I get the sense that I was the only one to pass through in a long time!
Next, we walked down the street to Pang's grandparents' house. This was the view from the street on the way.
I meditated in front of the house for awhile as the sun rose. (You can see me seated on the left.)
I had some coffee with Pang's grandparents as we enjoyed the morning view together.
Next, Pang's grandmother wanted to take the golf cart to visit the farm and show me around the village.
We saw rowers heading to the river to participate in the boat races for the yearly boat festival.
There are many rubber farms in Bung Khla. These are all rubber trees, with bowls attached to collect the dripping rubber.
This is the water reserve for the surrounding farms. It empties into the river.
There is bamboo all around the farms that is over three stories tall!
I so enjoyed the drive around this beautiful riverside farming village.
Off to the boat races they go! This is the type of boat they race - kind of like a super long kayak that fits many, many rowers.
I spent a bit of time back at the cottage to shower and pack up my things. I had some spare minutes before Pang came to get me, so I relaxed on the porch.
Bas came to pick me up, too! I gave him a super ball and he loved it.
A quick picture with Pang's mom and Bas before we departed. I felt so tall here!
On our way to the bus stop, we visited Pang's friend, who runs yet another boba stand. This time I opted for coffee boba, which was so yummy and energizing.
The wonderful Ming motorbiked us to the bus stop, where we waited for a van to take us to Ban Phaeng.
I got to sit in the front seat! This was pretty awesome, especially because the van driver drove very crazily and I am prone to carsickness when I can't look out the front window to watch the horizon.
When we arrived at the bus station, we learned that the last bus to our next destination, Nakhon Phanom, had already departed. So, we got to take a detour to Sakon Nakhon, which is a couple hours out of the way. Gotta embrace the adventure! (Isn't Teacher Pang's hat perfect?)
After a 2 hour bus ride, we waited on the side of the road for 45 minutes and luckily, a bus came that was bound for Nakhon Phanom! Apparently, these buses come about every 2 hours, so we could have been waiting for much longer. This bus had air conditioning, win!
We finally arrived to Nakhon Phanom in the afternoon. We took a tuktuk to our hotel, our fifth vehicle of the journey!
After a short nap, we headed out to explore the town.
We were at yet another riverside town, a few hours southeast of our last Mekong-stop in Bueng Kan. The mountains on the other side in Laos had the most beautiful outline on the horizon.
Here's a quick map to get oriented! The green star is Nong Khai, our starting point. The yellow star is Bueng Kan, where Pang's home is. The pink star is Sakon Nakhon, our impromptu stop on the way to the blue star, Nakhon Phanom, where we were at this point.
Boat season is in effect here, too! Next month this province will have their boat races. They are currently building the bamboo-based boats, 12 of them, one per district.
I was tempted to swim across to go explore those mountains!!
We got some sticky rice/egg treats that were delicious.
We found some Nakhon Phanom signs, so we got some cute pictures.
We saw a beautiful, ornate temple by the market.
This gold naga statue overlooking the Mekong is truly breathtaking.
The reason we went to Nakhon Phanom was that Pang signed up for a 10K run there! The run was to take place the next morning, so I got some photos of her at the starting/ending point.
We walked around the race prep booths for awhile, and then as we went to get a closer look at the naga statue, we ran into Pang's university statistics professor! Her name is Teacher Vi. Pang went to university in Sakkon Nakhon, where we had an impromptu visit earlier that day. Teacher Vi invited us to drive there with her the next day to show me the province, and, embracing "the plan is no plan," we said yes!
After talking with Teacher Vi and her mom and sister for awhile, Pang and I took a few more pictures by the naga statue.
There were many people worshipping at the statue, paying their respects to the great naga.
After this, we went back to the hotel and watched a Thai movie on the hotel room TV. Even though I didn't understand a lot of what they were saying, I could infer much of the plot, and the movie was so interesting to me. Plus, Pang helped fill me in on details I couldn't gather myself. We fell asleep before the end, and I still wonder what ended up happening!
The next morning, we awoke at 4:30. Pang went off to her 5 AM race, and I enjoyed the sunrise and chilled in the hotel room until she returned a few hours later.
At 9 AM, Teacher Vi picked us up from the hotel and drove us about 2 hours to Sakon Nakhon. Vi's mom was so excited that I wanted a photo with her!
We got lunch at a Thai/Vietnamese restaurant.
We then went to visit the very famous temple in the province...
...only to learn that the Princess of Thailand was there that day, so we were not allowed inside! There were police everywhere. They kindly allowed us take a few quick photos in front of the temple.
Even though we could not go inside, the temple's beauty was easily appreciated from outside the gates!
A slightly uncomfortable Roxi in front of a gorgeous temple... police make me very nervous, haha!
While we were driving around after the visit to the Princess Police temple, we passed a reclining Buddha statue that I just had to see.
This statue is the first giant reclining Buddha statue I've seen in person.
Vi's family, Pang and I prayed in front of the statue and left offerings of flowers and incense.
This was such a special experience for me.
I am very grateful that Teacher Vi and her family were so welcoming and kind, inviting us to their city and showing us around at such short notice.
Teacher Vi even gave me her e-mail and told me that, if I ever need help with a statistics problem when I am in grad school in the future, to please e-mail her and she will happily help me!
She then brought me inside the temple across from the statue and insisted on taking a photo of me there.
I snapped this shot of Teacher Pang in her photographer element outside the temple.
Now it was time to depart Sakon Nakhon, so Teacher Vi took us to the bus station.
We were super lucky to get seats in the van headed to Udon Thani - there were only two seats left, and the van was set to depart in 2 minutes!
I use the term "seat" liberally - my seat was actually an armrest in between seats, and my seat back was Pang's and my backpacks. The van was very full!
When we got to Udon Thani a couple hours later, we happily got off the van and spontaneously went to the giant mall, Central Plaza. This is the biggest mall I have ever been to! It is five floors. Massive!
Just for fun, we decided to get some snacks: boba and Auntie Anne's pretzels (I was surprised to find this in Thailand - the flavors were very different from any we have in America! She got almond custard and I got garlic.). Boba every day keeps the doctor away... that's how the saying goes, right? LOL!
Another teacher from our school happened to be in Udon Thani at university that day, so she offered to pick us up and take us back to Nong Khai with her.
This concludes our weekend adventure! We ended up visiting four provinces, taking eleven different vehicles (bumper cars not included), and meeting up with countless family, friends, and teachers of Pang's, all over the course of three days.
I loved this weekend so much, and I am endlessly grateful to everyone who made it so fun and meaningful. Thank you above all to Teacher Pang! I love you and I will always remember this weekend so fondly because of your kind heart and adventurous spirit. "The plan is no plan!"
Thank you very much for reading! I will keep you posted on my adventures through Thailand, as now that I am done teaching, there will be *many* adventures to come.
Take care, one and all!
😎🐮
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