Place Name (with link)

Brief description

To the north of Kalasin is a Temple with dinosaur remains. Well worth the drive when in Kalasin - or driving in the area. It is well signposted. On my last visit I chatted with an English-speaking monk on duty in the entrance hall.

The city accepted as the administrative capital of the Isaans region. There are many places of interest generally less than 1 hour's drive from Khonkaen centre. It is a good hub for touring Isaans, with an excelllent selection hotels and bus services to most of Isaans. THAI Air has 3 flights a day to and from Bangkok (about 50 minutes and only 1400 baht).

A small village close to Phuamarn National Park. There are some interesting rock formations and a small temple built in a cleft in the rocks.

A monkey sanctuary with many wild monkeys, including the rare Golden Monkey, wandering around - and hoping to be fed. Greedy but not aggressive - to those with bananas or pea-nuts. It is located just off the Khonkaen to Maha Sarakham road - about 40 or 50 baht for a bus journey, then 5 minutes walk from the main road.

A small, friendly city to the east of Khonkaen past Khosum Pisai. Maha Sarakham is a very important seat of learning, having one of the oldest established Universities in Thailand. The City was known as the "Taksila of Isaans". (Taksila was an Indian city where education of all disciplines was centered).

A border town on the Mekhong River with wonderful open-air seafood restaurants, and a wide selection of hotels - from small comfortable Thai boarding houses to a large Western hotel. Within a short drive are many interesting Wats, and a section of the Mekhong where a tributary mixes a different coloured water in the main flow.

A village of great historical value. It can easily be reached by bus from the main bus station in Khorat, the journey taking around 45 minutes. As well as the museum with many early artifacts, try to take a samlor or tuk-tuk to the massive ban-yan tree. In the heat of the midday sun it is cool and seems to have a gentle breeze even on a still airless day.

On the main road from Si Sa Ket towards the Prasat Khao Phra Wiharn National Park is the waterfall 'Narmtok Phu La Oh'. Turn right at the blue roadsign and several kilometres up the road is a parking space with food, drink and souvenir stalls.

Phuai Noi is the remains of a Hindu Sanctuary dating back around 1000 years. It was built in the Khmer "Angkor" style and comprises three buildings ("prangs"). A moat originally surrounde the three prangs.

A National Park close to Khunming. Sadly it is where the forest fire photographs were taken, so when you visit PLEASE do not start another one. This park also has a very lovely waterfall and even in the dry season it was great to visit.

An excellently presented museum. Light, airy and with a massive amount of information on dinosaurs found in Thailand. It has some beautifully made replica dinosaurs in a natural setting with trees and a water-fall actually inside the building. I particularly liked the dinosaur footprint paving slabs which guide visitors around the museum instead of the usual arrows on the floor.

Another National Park, but this time on the escarpment overlooking Kampucha (Cambodia). The views are magnificent. There is a Wat to the left of the main road, but having seen the signs for "Mines" and having heard that the Khmer Rouge still existed in the area, I avoided slipping across the uncontrolled border crossing to visit the Wat.
Discretion ... valour - and all that stuff!

In the North East of the North East Sakhon Nakhon is the area containing the King's Summer palace. Until recently it could claim to have the largest milestone in Thailand, but now that honour goes to one at a car showroom alongside the Khonkaen to Udon Thani road. Personally, I think that the gardens in the centre of the serpentine road where the milestone is situated are preferable to the car showroom.

A city on the border with Kampucha (Cambodia). There are many Khmer speakers here in this pleasant city. Just to the south is the Moon River - not the Andy Williams one from the song. I used Ubon as a base to head south to Si Sa Ket and Pra Wiharn.

What can I say about Ubonrat Dam? Perhaps just that it is my favourite retreat, about an hour's drive from the centre of Khonkaen - on wide easy roads (except for the last few kilometres. It has clean shallow water, great shaded beach huts and food as good as any top restaurant, brought straight from the charcoal grill to your beach hut. Pedalos and "banana boats" are available as are several floating discos which are towed out and allowed to drift just out of earshot from the relaxing families.

The last major city on the journey north to Nongkhai and the Laos border. It has an airport with regular THAI services from Bangkok and an airconditioned bus runs from the bus station right through to the Laos capital Vientiene. It has the usual Lotus and Big C stores close to the main highway, and I believe an unusual street with the majority of shops dealing only with Morlam music and musicians. It has good quality hotels so is a good relaxing stopover on a journey to Laos.

The capital of Laos and close to the border crossing at NongKhai. A regular air-conditioned bus runs directly from Udon Thani to Vientiene, stopping at the Thai and Lao border crossing points. I paid 80 baht (just over £1.00) to travel to Udon Thani from the Thai border post. Very good value.

Only a short drive (3 or 4km) to the east from the centre of Nongkhai is this very interesting temple which combines both Hindu and Buddhist statues and images and which was the vision of the Temple founder Luang Pho Bunleua.