Month: November 2008

We awoke from a much needed nap, and decided to explore Nong Khai a bit more. This time, we strayed from the normal tourist path of the riverside walkway, Rimkong, and Meechai, and took a stroll down Prajak(Prachak) Sillapakhom. Prajak is Nong Khai's main business strip, with everything from the Esso Gas Station to a Honda Dealership lining the double wide (by Nong Khai standards) roadway.

 

This is by far the busiest street in Nong Khai, and the speed of the motorbikes and cars made crossing interesting….especially since driving is done on the left side of street in Thailand. One has got to break that rule we learned in the first grade, "when crossing the street, always look left, than right." It's amazing how ingrained those rules become.

Since the streets were wider, it made one's field of vision larger. And we started "looking up", and taking note of the French influenced architecture. Looking at the businesses from street level, you'd never have noticed…..

 

 

And this being Thailand, food was only steps away.

 

While aimlessly wandering down Prajak, we came across a fruit stand, and the Missus was smitten by this fruit.

 

We had never seen anything like it. The fruit had a threatening…and frankly, a bit of a dangerous look, in the "you wouldn't want to drop it on your foot" kind of way. In fact, I don't think it would look out of place being swung on the end of a chain in battle. The exterior of the fruit looked to have almost an exoskeletan, like that of a crab or a similar crustacean. So of course, the Missus purchased a Kilo, and started peeling as soon as we walked away from the fruit stand.

 

As threatening as the fruit looked fully dressed in it's armor……once peeled it looked quite harmless, almost silly, and kinda resmebled an….well, you can figure that one out yourself.

 

This was our first encounter with the Salacca, the fruit of a species of palm. I'm not a big fruit guy, but I enjoyed this; tangy and acidic, with a mild sweetness, it was right up my alley.

Returning from our "little" walk, the Missus decided that She "needed a break" from street food, and desired a proper restaurant, with a real table, real seats, and most of all "real ice, with some real water, in a real glass." We homed in on a large restaurant right off the street.

 

Food was almost an after thought here, as the Missus savored Her iced water, sipping it as if it was nectar of the Gods. After looking through the huge and exhaustive menu of Chinese and Thai dishes we ordered a few items.

Thai Fermented Sausage (Nam Sohd):

 

I found the flavor of the sausage to be only mildy sour, and over powered when eaten with the potent raw garlic. The chilies were positively searing hot….the Missus thought the flavor was a bit too "funky" for Her, but scarfed up all the peanuts.

Yum Nuea (Beef Salad):

 

I thought this version to be nice and beefy in flavor, but much too sweet. The Missus really enjoyed it. The mint added a nice flavor, and the onions were nice and sweet as well.

The main thing we really enjoyed was just sitting back and watching the world go by.

Of course, you know that I couldn't ignore the Kai Yaang (Rotisserie Chicken):

  

This stand was doing some major business….you could smell the chicken "fumes" from several blocks away. I recall reading that Kai Yaang, Khao Niaw(sticky rice), and Som Tam (papaya salad), make up the "trinity" of classic Issan foods. So you can be sure that we bought a bird, and a bag of sticky rice.

I thought the dark meat and the skin of the chicken was fabulous, a combination of sweet(a nice complex sweet – probably from palm sugar), salty, and savory. The breast was on the dry side. The Missus found the chicken a bit too salty for Her taste. I thought the sticky rice was the best I ate during the whole trip…..perfect and consistent in texture.

 

We walked back to our room, grabbed a bottle of Chang Beer from the reception area, and than walked out to one of the pavillions overlooking the deceptively languid appearing Mekong river, and watched the sun go down. After several days in which we seemed to be always on the go, it finally set in….we were really in Thailand! Things sometimes take a while to sink in……

Later we settled into our room. Since we're on the subject, a word about Mut Mee Guest House. Mut Mee, is without a doubt, the most well known, and popular Guest House in Nong Khai. And there's some charm to the place. It is very laid back, and has an interesting policy of not blocking out rooms. Folks can stay as long as they wish, so you can't be sure of which rooms are available on any given day. Thus, bookings can never be done for specific rooms. If you read this page on Mut Mee's site, you'll notice the sentence, "You can even stay in our house!" Which is what we did….

 

It's the room called "JPS" – "Julian and Pao's Suite", and is where Pao's Mum stays when she visits, an enclosed room attached to their home. Please be aware that this is still a Guest House. The windows and doors are a bit warped, so it's a wrestling match to close…you'll have to make sure to use the mosquito netting if you are prone to bites.  The floor is also a bit off kilter, which can cause you to sway a bit drunkenly while walking over some of the floorboards…to us, this was just part of the charm. Plus, for $20 a night….what did you expect? The only thing that ever bothered me was when the water seemed to be shut off in the middle of my shower. The bathroom is down some stairs, and looks like it was enclosed just a few years ago…… You can watch the Mekong roll on by from your porch, or walk the mere 10 yards out the gate and sit on one of the pavilions like we did for dinner. When you check in, you are shown a book that is kept out front with your room number on it, you can grab beer and water from the frig, and just log them into the book. This is all done by the honor system, and everything is tallied up when you leave. An added bonus to everything is that since you're attached to his house, you'll undoubtedly meet Julian. We did, and had a nice conversation about Thailand, Issan, Laos, politics, and many other subjects…..

Out your side window, you can see the back of Wat Haisoke:

 

Which posed no problems as we rose early in the morning.

 

As we did on the morning of our departure from Nong Khai. We took our usual morning walk, and found the streets to be as still as the Mekong at this hour.

 

We had not had time the previous day to check out the very large Thasadej Market, which runs parallel to the Mekong for several blocks. So we decided to pop in for a look. At this time of the day, the aisles are mostly dark and silent…

Every so often you hit an open food court area.

 

Nong Khai may be very laid back, but it is still a border town, and the melting pot of nationalities will always show itself. While walking through the market, the Missus over heard a conversation….."I believe they are from Yunnan, by the accent."

One of the most succesful businesses in town is Daeng Namnuang, you can't miss their signs which seem to posted everywhere.

 

 

You can't miss the huge restaurant and large and clean production area which faces the Mekong. We watched in awe, as one car after another stopped in front of the restaurant early in the morning; folks running in to the shop, only to exit with cardboard cartons minutes later.

 

What does this place sell? They specialize in Namnuang…..Vietnamese Spring Rolls! So popular that folks grab boxes of it when leaving town.

For our breakfast before taking leave of Nong Khai, I selected a little hole-in-the-wall right at the edge of Thasadej…….a dark, cluttered, little place that looked almost like a warehouse with tables.

 

The Missus selected the Issan Sausage and Rice:

 

She thought the sausage too hard, gamey, and "porky". I thought it to be fine. The sticky rice was much too hard.

I ordered the Pad See Ew:

 

I didn't care much for this, the noodles were much to gelatinous and gooey for my tastes…almost like overcooked rice cake. The Missus, on the other hand, loved the egg, and enjoyed the dish. So after trading off our dishes, we each ended up with a decent breakfast!

We returned to our room, picked up our bags, wrestled the front door close, and padlocked it….went to the front desk and checked out. We headed up the path to the street…the one that had been shrouded in darkness when we arrived. It sure looked much more welcoming in day light.

 

As we hit the main road, we found our Tuk-Tuk Driver who had taken us to Sala Kaew Ku the day before. And we were on our way…the next leg of our trip was coming up fast.

You know which way we turned at this sign, don't you???

 

Early in the morning of what was our third day in Thailand, we took a quite stroll down the well paved and maintained promenade that lines the shore of the Mekong River. The contrast to "go till you drop" Bangkok was quite evident.

 

At this early hour, it was quite tranquil….

 

Even the chairs and tables for the Naga Festival were nicely folded up….and the pavement was swept clean.

 

Perhaps folks were still sleeping off the effects of several nights of partying…the Naga Festival runs for a week….

Transversing Nong Khai is not very difficult, there are only a few main streets going from East to West…..on the street called Meechai, full of guest houses, a few bars, and other pieces of the tourist infrastructure, we passed by this.

 

Yes, a Bus Station…..but the Missus spied something that got Her attention.

 

And so the Missus had found the first piece of our breakfast puzzle. These wonderful, orbs of coconut goodness was crisp on the exterior, but contains molten coconutty goodness inside. It is well worth risking, and often sacrificing several layers of skin….and even your lips for a great version of Kanom Krok…they need to be consumed hot. So if you run into lipless people in Thailand, chances are they've run into an irresistible serving of these coconut-rice snacks.

The Missus declared this the second best we had on our trip. The nice kernels of sweet corn placed in the center of the Kanom Krok was a nice touch.

 

While doing a bit of research, I found this  interesting article noting the Scandinavian tie in with regards to Kanom Krok. 

Leaving the compound, this platform caught my attention.

 

What was it? An impromptu nap area perhaps? After looking at the charts on the walls, it became clear; this was a Thai Massage station. What could be better than a good massage after a long bus ride? Looking over the poster of the various Masseuse on staff gave me pause…they looked pretty tough…like they could rip my arm off. The photos were very unflattering, and the women looked more like inmates than Masseuses.

Making our way back to the area of our Guest House, part 2 of our breakfast puzzle was solved.

 

There must be tens(hundreds?) of  thousands of "food courts", of all sizes and shapes across Thailand. And this was one of them. There was something interesting about this food court in particular, which I'll go in to later. There was only one station open at the time we walked passed…..but once we saw what was being served, breakfast part 2 was solved.

 

Simmered Pork Shank over Rice (30 Baht – about $1/US):

 

The broth provided was fairly salty, the pork was quite tender and mild in flavor. It seems that many of the sauces provided for these type of dishes is of the "must use" category.

We tried to avoid the tuk-tuk "feeding frenzy" in the area, and walked over to a side street where an older gentleman was minding a grill stand. There was a tuk-tuk parked in front of it. He asked us, "you want tuk-tuk", and we said yes….we settled on a price, and was shocked when he abandoned the stand! Starting up the vehicle he made a  turn down a side street 2 blocks over, and called to a lady, who we found manning the stand when we returned. They've got quite a system working…..

 

Our destination? In all of the guidebooks we read; the one must see destination in Nong Khai is Sala Kaew Ku.

   

Sala Kaew Ku was the work of Shaman-Mystic-Priest-Yogi, Luang Puu Bunleua Surirat. This park is a collection of sculptures, some over 80 feet tall, representing various Hindu and Buddhist deities and stories.  As the story goes, when Luang Puu was a child he  fell into a hole. At the bottom he subsequently met a acetic named Kaewkoo who taught Luang Puu all the mysteries and secrets of the underworld. Surirat was born and raised in Laos, and in fact, created a version of Sala Kaew Ku on the banks of the Lao side of the Mekong. After the Communist takeover in the mid-seventies, Luang Puu fled to Thailand.

 

Luang Puu developed a devoted group of followers, all of whom he claimed were untrained in the creation of sculpture, but were powered by a divine source that enabled them to create these massive idols. As for Luang Puu, he died in 1996, but his mummified body can still be found on the third floor of the main building on the grounds. His followers say that Luang Puu's hair still grows, and needs to be trimmed from time to time!

For me, this was a strange side excursion…..the park is a sometimes bizarre collection of sculptures that range from the nightmarish:

 

To the fascinating:

 

The most popular piece on the grounds is the wheel of life, which is entered by passing through a giant mouth, and through a passageway that has been described to me as being reborn through a womb…..

 

Whether a mystical "Walley World" or a site of sacred significance, it's up to you. It was an interesting, and sometimes strange little side trip.

 

Upon returning to our starting point, the Missus determined that She wanted to "ride a bus"…….and had selected the Market Town of Tha Bo as our destination.

All hail the "Yellow Bus"…..

 

The ride to Tha Bo takes about an hour, and costs 20 Baht a person. The bus travels along the road, making stops as it is waved down…the seats are not very wide…..a second person can fit sitting "half cheek" style. The diesel fumes soon overtake much of the bus. If you want a short "rural Thailand" experience, this may be it!

 

 

The most interesting thing about these buses is the front dashboard area…..which has been decorated with various knick-knacks….some of which date back to who knows when???

 

In just over an hour we arrived in Tha Bo. The market is just across the street from the end of the line for the Yellow Bus.

 

Because it rather late in the morning I did not expect to see much at the market…..so I was rather surprised to see it quite crowded.

Tha Bo itself is quite small, with a population of about 16,000, making Nong Khai with it's population of 62,000 seem a metropolis. One of the interesting facts about Tha Bo is that the citizenship of the city is 80% Vietnamese. The largest church in the area is not a Buddhist temple, but a church called Wat Satsana Krit – the Christian Temple, indicative of the religion of the Vietnamese refugees who settled in the area.

One of the largest industries in the area is tobacco.

 

And besides the presence of a good amount of "Bun" (Vietnamese Rice Vermicelli Noodles), the market is like many we've seen throughout Southeast Asia.

 

There was also a fruit we had not seen before. You gotta love the vendor, who instead of standing, just sat on top of her counter!

 

At first, the Missus thought this was Longan, but I thought they were a bit too large to be Longan. It turned out to be Langsat (Longkong).  When the Missus peeled the skin off, the flesh of the fruit was divided into 5-6 segments. The flesh was firm, and had a taste vaguely similar to longan, except sweeter. Delici-yoso!!! 

 

As we left the market, we could see smoke drifting down one of the streets…along with the unmistakable smell of "charred animal flesh"…..

 

Ah yes, a plethora of pork sizzling away.

 

It even wore down the Missus, a noted Pork-o-phob……

 

2 sausages, and a bag of sticky rice – 30 baht (less than a buck).

 

These sausages had more pork than filler, and was only slighly sour. The grilling had created a nice crust. The sticky rice, was decently prepared. All in all, a nice snack to tide us over until we got back to Nong Khai. You could tell by the look on the Missus's face during the long, crowded, and hot trip back to Nong Khai, that all of the novelty of a "bus ride just like the locals", had worn off!

We arrived back in Nong Khai, and found ourselves right back where we started….in the food court. Check out some of the details in the photo; it gives a hint as to the location of the food court.

 

The Missus went for a Papaya Salad from one of the stalls.

 

This was a pretty strange version…..it was mildy spicy, and very, very, pungent and fishy. But the oddest thing were the rice vermicelli noodles at the bottom of the salad.

I was mesmerized by the smells coming out of this stall:

 

This lady had some major wok moves……

I ended up ordering a chicken dish. At first I thought it was chicken with basil, but the herb used to flavor this dish had a very earthy flavor….

 

The fried egg was a winner, though. And the cucumbers in Thailand and Laos always taste good. Not bad for 30 baht (less than $1/US). Of course you also need the ubiquitous fish sauce-chili condiment!

Any idea of where this food court was located? Here's another clue, check out where the utensils are stored…though these type of containers are not used much anymore, it should look familiar.

 

Yep, they are old surgical instrument sterilization containers!

And the food court is located right across from:

 

NongKhai Hospital…..it's the Hospital Food Court! It was also just a block away from where we were staying.

We walked back to our room, badly in need of a nap……

 

And dozed off, dreaming of what possible food was in store for dinner……