Part 2
Day 1 – The Longest Day
We were up at 3am to prepare for our taxi, which was booked for 5am. Bliss taxis always turn up 30 minutes before the departure time, and my dear wife always sees that as meaning we have to be ready for a 4:30am departure.
First problem of the day, about once every 6 months I suffer the most excruciating back pain for no reason whatsoever. It lasts about 3 or 4 days, and then just goes again. Drying myself after showering, my back decided today was the day. Natures way of telling me that I don’t really want to travel to Isaan. My body was disabled – I was walking with a 30 degree tilt. My wife can’t carry much with her lungs, and I had to get our luggage downstairs (I wasn’t sure I could manage myself down the 9 steps in to the car port, let alone carry luggage). We had to wake my son, which went down like a lead balloon. Yes, he certainly needs his beauty sleep. I’ve heard many say what a good looking chap he is, but you need to try looking at him at 4:30am, when woken from a deep sleep.
We actually departed at 4:45am. The journey to the airport was quite uneventful. Our driver was quite fast, but road conditions were quite light, so why not? Only one observation, I was actually amazed at the number of pick up trucks on the Bangkok Expressways with passengers in the rear bucket – I always thought that was a big no. TIT (This Is Thailand), I guess.
As the driver approached the airport, he asked which terminal, and I told him terminal 2. At this point you have to understand he was carrying 2 invalids – my wife with genuine underlying medical problems, and me with a body that was telling me not to go travel Isaan. He dropped us at what seemed to be the tradesman’s entrance. No luggage trollies (my plan was to get the luggage on the trolley, and use the trolley to support me). We were also on the wrong level – departures were upstairs. We had to get upstairs with all of our luggage. Fortunately, my back had eased a little during the journey to the airport, and I somehow got everything to the 3rd floor, departures check in, including my wife.
Now, the driver had driven so fast, and the expected roadworks delay did not happen. We had to wait 1 hour before we could check in. Fortunately, there were seats, but we found the airport extremely uncomfortable – it was so cold.
Check in was fine, and my wife was allocated a wheelchair and little helper, who took us to the departure lounge, which was quite a jaunt. Time for a coffee and a cake to help us endure the long wait.
Flight was just another flight – nothing spectacular. A little assistant with a wheelchair was waiting to transport my wife from the plane to the arrivals lounge when we arrived at Roi Et.
Hire car pickup was really smooth, and the hire car was actually a very new Honda City – sorted. So easy to drive after a pick-up truck. I had to leave a 3,000฿ deposit, but these things happen.
Next was the journey to Ban Non Sombun. How remote was the journey? We went through several villages with wooden houses on stilts – we knew we were in remotest Isaan. However, the roads were pretty good, and as always in Isaan, traffic was very light. Passing other vehicles on small roads was a doddle. Google Maps was faultless – took us straight there. Many members of the extended family were there to meet us. Quite a few had practiced their ‘Hello’ (in English), which was a lot more effort than I’d made to give a reciprocal greeting in either Thai or Lao.
I’d actually forgotten that my wife’s sister was a baby machine (meant in the nicest of ways), and had loads of kids. The plot of land where they lived was massive, and as well as her sister and brother-in-law, there were many of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren living there. This wasn’t a family home, it was a full-blown commune. Not all of the offspring lived there, but a good spread of them. Even with my facial recognition problems, I actually recognized some of them. Of course, the later generations were all new, but being greeted in English, was above and beyond for Isaan. It was a nice reunion.
Then memories of Isaan came flooding back. I needed to pee. There was no easy to find bush to pee into, so I had to use the family loo. OMG, I hadn’t been into an Isaan loo for many years. Dark, a height not suitable for a 6’5 Farang (bumped my head 3 times), millions of bugs waiting on the roof to fall into your hair when you bumped your head (lucky I don’t have much hair these days) and a squat toilet. The stuff nightmares are made of. I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here has nothing on an Isaan toilet.
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Before we got there, I’d already stated that I didn’t want to be too late driving to Mukdahan. I would be driving on strange roads, and didn’t want to do it in the dark. We got away at 5pm. In reality, the drive to Mukdahan was quite straightforward, apart from a couple of areas of roadworks. We arrived just after dark.
Hotel
What a fantastic hotel, the Vieng Khong Hotel in Mukdahan was. It truly had a wow factor, and was quite cheap at about 900฿/night (£20), including breakfast. It felt a bit like an old colonial building, but was very clean. Our room was fantastic. Fittings were basic, but in excellent condition.
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As well as being on the large side, it was on the top floor, and had a huge balcony, overlooking the Mekong River.
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Between us and the river was a beautiful lawn – as lawns go in Thailand, I think this was the best I’d ever seen. It was on a par with the playing surface at Ratchaburi Football Stadium.
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Our view was fantastic, with our neighbours in Laos almost just a touch away (actually, I’ve read this is where the Mekong is at its widest). The Friendship Bridge was as far as we could see upstream.
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Little fishing boats going about their business throughout both day and night,
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and one amazing sight was a fisherman get out of his boat mid-river (I guess he knew it was shallow there), and he just stood there, setting his nets.
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I can’t confirm this, but there seemed to be a hidden border in the river. Boats with Thai flags on one side, and boats with Laos flags on the other side. During our visit, I did not see a Laos flag on our side of the river (boat owners probably carry 2 flags, and fly the correct flag to coincide with where they are fishing).
Breakfast was outside on the terrace, overlooking the lawn and river. I sort of fell in love with this hotel. A great idea, but they had outside air conditioning keeping the outside temperature down.
Inside there was the most fantastic grand wooden spiral staircase, although we always used the lift. I just love grand staircases in hotels.
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I can honestly say, this is the first hotel I’ve booked in Isaan that hasn’t been infested with ants. I didn’t see a single ant during my entire stay. However, there was a very visible termite trap on the hotel lobby roof (3 floors up).
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Evening
It had been a very long day, during which thankfully my back seemed to fix itself. We just walked to a local restaurant. The Savan Samran Restaurant. We were quite late, and were the only customers. We ordered 2 main courses, 1 sweet, 2 large bottles of Heineken and a bottle of water. The bill came to 420฿ (less than £10) – the best bit about Isaan, is the real Thai prices. No tourist hiking of prices.
One strange thing about this restaurant that I had never encountered before was my beer glass had a piece of banana leaf wrapped around and tied to it. It was supposed to enhance flavour, but I’m not sure how.
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It had been an extremely long day. We went back to the hotel, and I think we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.
To be continued…………………………………….
