Ban Phueng has a school right on the main road we were taking to get out of town and they close the street at both ends of the block during the morning student drop-off time. Students with fluorescent safety vests guarded the gates, moving them for parents on motorbikes. We didn’t feel like going on some indeterminate detour so we dismounted and walked our bikes through the fray of students. Kids in Thailand wear uniforms to school, and they vary depending on the day. If it’s a day with physical education they’ll be in sporty athletic wear, but usually the boys wear white shirts and tan shorts, the girls light blue shirts and navy skirts and clodhopper Mary Jane shoes. Oh, and it appears most schools in this part of Thailand have a hair code too, the girls ALL have these chunky bob cuts and the boys are high and tight.
Anyway, we ran the gauntlet of students and smiled affably and then off we went. Most of our day was to be spent on back roads, suh-weet! And wonderful roads they were, with glimpses of the Mekong, rice and tobacco and rubber and temples. Ho hum, are we used to paradise yet? Not that some of those crops remind one of paradise but the air has been very clear and the views of karst formations on the Lao side of the river gradually becoming more dramatic. That meant a headwind for us but we’re tough and survived it. We stopped for cha yen (iced tea) and the woman put tapioca in it, barf. Good thing her puppies were so cute.
While most rice fields in the region are fallow in the dry season those near the Mekong or other rivers are sometimes allowed irrigation and are a beautiful green in an otherwise dry season landscape.
Cha Phayom (Thai iced tea) with bonus tapioca balls. I’m not fond of tapioca especially after seeing the impact it has on the environment and soil, and also after seeing the tuberous roots drying right on the ground everywhere. Have some asphalt particles with your cha phayom, mmm.
Kristen ArnimYou must have had 0% interest at the time. But, guys, there is always room for ice cream! Reply to this comment 4 years ago
Bruce LellmanTo Kristen ArnimWeird as it sounds, I never really thought about actually having some ice cream. I was too busy photographing and looking at all the stuff on his rig. He never even pushed us to have some ice cream. For some unknown reason we kind of gave up on ice cream this trip. Reply to this comment 4 years ago
A water station along the road. These pop up in various parts of Thailand and they’re great, they have filtered water for dirt cheap, maybe 3 baht for a refill. We never knew how much water would come out of each machine so always had several empty bottles on standby.
An older teak house, also with attractive decorations. Unfortunately it’s sliding into disrepair. We don’t often show the substandard housing of the very poor in Thailand but it really can be bad.
The last few miles had to be on 212 again though and that was pretty terrible because they are widening the road and there are vast tracts of dust and dirt on each side, the shoulder of the existing roadway has eroded to hardly anything, drop-offs are horrible and traffic is obnoxious.
I thought we could turn off at a giant watermelon. I was wrong, so we stood in the shade and drank our water and returned to the torture road but soon enough we were on a funky but quiet road along the river into Tha Uthen. It was hot and we were glad we’d left early but the forecast now has settled into constant cloudless days in the 90s and it wears me out.
I’ll bet you thought I was kidding about a giant watermelon.
I don’t know what this species of tree is called (Bill?) but I call them the Blessing of Southeast Asia. They hug riverbanks everywhere, provide immense shade and cooling, shelter all sorts of temples, roadsides, shops, gathering places, and they are absolutely gorgeous and magnificent.
There is a nice little homestay in Tha Uthen called Siriporn (alternatively spelled Siriphon) which is also the first name of one of our favorite Isaan singers. When we asked if it was named after her they got a little chuckle because it’s named after Grandma, who was inside watching over the brand new granddaughter who was only a month old. They let us tiptoe back and see her sleeping like an angel.
Siriporn’s little granddaughter. We were ushered in to see her, which we consider a huge honor. Newborn babies aren’t usually seen out in public in Thailand, they are sheltered for a few months inside. She’s a beautiful healthy baby and we were glad to get to meet her.
Grandpa, who runs the place, speaks great English and has made the backyard into a true jungle paradise of tropical flowers and plants with bungalows tucked in here and there.
The garden at Siriporn Guesthouse in Tha Uthen. The following photos are a gallery of just some of its lovely offerings.
The bungalow itself was on the rustic side, with resident mosquitoes and tiny ants in the bathroom but it was fine anyway, we liked it there, although the neighbors in the back were sort of noisy yahoos. Tha Uthen was a pleasant town and we decided to stay a day and do some writing. We found wonderful food near the bus station area, or rather, the area full of minibuses and saengthaws going to neighboring towns. There are some towns where nearly everybody you meet is cheerful and engaging, that’s Tha Uthen. We were definitely off the beaten path because we didn’t see one foreigner there and people discussed us everywhere we went in a pleasant and curious fashion. When we asked in the market for cafe bolan there was a lot of pointing and contribution to the directions and folks hollering to each other “they want cafe bolan, har”. They are led to believe we would prefer boutique coffee from the twee coffee shop but no, we want the stuff out of the bag from a cart lined with carnation cans.
The odds that the food in a humble restaurant by the bus station will be good are quite high and in fact we look for just this sort of place. The food appears in a twinkle, it’s superb, and very affordable. Thailand at its best.
Boy, is it hot. We sat at the front part of the homestay and wrote on tables and looked out over the river. From inside the house we would hear occasional baby noises but the family seemed to all be gone or in siesta mode and it just got too hot to sit outside and heat makes me sleepy so siesta it was. The ten-day forecast shows no indication of a letup in these temperatures and it’s starting to piss me off.
For dinner we sought out a pad thai place we had spotted the day before and ate as the little daughter did her homework at a nearby table while also watching a movie on her phone. The pad thai was unusual, all the choices were seafood instead of the usual chicken or pork so we had squid pad thai and it was awesome. You sort of wonder about seafood so far from the sea but we’re still alive so it must have been okay. And by the way, pad thai is eaten in Thailand, for sure, but it’s not as common as you might think and we had always considered it to be amateur Thai food, to be eaten by foreigners who only know that and fried rice. But when it’s made well, it is purely excellent and we love it.
And who am I kidding, we are foreigners and we eat fried rice a lot because it’s always good and it’s made fresh right then so odds are good it is safe and clean.
Gazing out over the Mekong, the mountains near Thakek are really beautiful and intriguing and we spent a fair amount of time admiring them from Thailand. We have been in that area quite a few years ago now and the scenery in those parts is incredible, nonetheless, we are happy to be on this side of the river.
