Got out of the hotel at 9:50 am. I have my first complaint about a Hop Inn. This one had no water heater for the shower. It’s central. No hot water in the morning! It was warm-ish. I will survive though, remembering that in Canada no hot water is far more unpleasant!
Went to Big Ubon Breakfasts first thing. One of the owners is English and a friend of his came in and they started chatting. It was interesting listening to them but distracting too when I am trying to write! Haha! Ended up chatting with Andy, one of the owners, for quite a while so I got out of the city later than planned. That’s okay though! It’s nice to speak English for a while when I get the chance.
Breakfast was really good, and the next time I am in Ubon Ratchathani, I will stop there again. Although my time in the city was short, it seems like an interesting area, and I know there are many places out east of it towards Laos that I would like to see.
While I am checking off provinces as I go, I fully realize I am not seeing all the interesting parts of each province. This is a bit like a scouting trip where I am getting a sense of each province but not a really detailed picture. I figured that would be the case. That’s okay though. I have some places in mind that I already want to visit again.
I added three new provinces to my list: Amnat Charoen, Yasothon and Roi Et.
First stop: Amnat Charoen
I stopped in Amnat Charoen to see the City Pillar Shrine (San Lak Mueang). The architecture was interesting, and I flew my drone around it. It was nice to stop and relax in the park for a while. I found Malila Cafe and Restaurant, and had some beef pad krapao. It was really good! I don’t know if I have ever had it with beef.
Next stop: Yasothon
My next destination was Yasothon. Having checked out the route before I left I had a sense of where I was going. Along the way, Google Maps wanted to make a strange detour. I stopped, had a look, and wondered WTF that was for. I decided to continue on the path I was on, and within a couple minutes reached the point where my detour would have come back to the main route. If I had followed that route, I had a feeling I’d be checking out the rice paddies again!
The generous helping of rice I had for lunch was making me sleepy, so when I arrived at Wiman Phaya Tan, I had a 15 minute nap. I could have used 45 minutes!
Instead I decided to get out and have a look around. The walk woke me up, and I ran across some Thai celebrities, I found out later. I asked on Twitter and discovered who they are, and that they have 3+ million subscribers! They had a whole crew with them, so I figured they were probably a big deal.
I was wandering through a crowd of statues when I heard the commotion and discovered the Thai celebs doing a bit there. Who knows, I may even end up in the background of their video. I discovered that the name of their group is Khot Kool โคตรคูล.
It was a bit late to go inside the buildings there, and I needed to get back on the road. I would like to come back and do some bird watching along the river. It looked like there were quite a few large raptors; maybe eagles of some sort?
The spot where I had parked wasn’t an official spot, but the guy whose hut was there insisted on some form of payment. I emptied my wallet of a whole 2 Baht. I was out of cash! When I came back, I thought he might come back, so I grabbed some change from the car and gave him another 10 Baht.
You occasionally run into this here, but he was good natured, and I don’t mind handing over some change. He looked like he could use the help too. I do that in my neighbourhood occasionally when I see the occasional person begging. Thailand does not have the social safety net like back home!
Last stop: Roi Et
Soon I was off to Roi Et, and at a Hop Inn again. After a bit of rest, I headed to Bombay Indian Cuisine Roi-Et in the center of Roi Et. It turned out to be a really nice area, with good walking paths around the lake.
I could see Roi Et Tower not far away. The area is really popular for walking and jogging, and people generally hanging out. There is a whole string of restaurants and bars lining the part of the lake I was at.
My meal was really good, but I was really full after. Most Indian restaurants seem to do a la carte orders, but I’d like to see combination plates so I can get a sampling of a few different dishes without doing full orders of each item! I ordered butter chicken, aloo tiki, and vegetable samosas, and a side of basmati rice. It was going to be necessary to walk this meal off right away!
I drove over to Roi Et Tower, and found some convenient parking right in front. I took some photos, and made a loop around the tower. Back where I started, a group of a Thai ladies were doing some dance routines. The leader of the group waved me over and started chatting with me. She told me about her YouTube channel, so I had a look, and she has 15+ million views! I’m seeing YouTube celebrities all over! Not me though! I need to get posting on there!
I took some photos and videos of their dance routine and headed off to another part of the park. So far, I like what I have seen in Roi Et. If I were to live in this city, I can see coming to this park a lot. It’s a really nice area!
Not sure, but I may take a slow day and stay an extra night. Got some work to do and I had planned a long stretch of driving I will need an early start on.
So far I kind of like the cities in Isaan. The air has been nice and clean in all of them, they’re not too busy, and there has been a lot of green space. I haven’t seen a lot of tourists so far, which is sort of nice, it is kind of sad too. I’d like to explore the area more, and get out to see the rivers, waterfalls, and other natural areas as well.
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