50 something on her travels

With no Grab taxis here, we had to negotiate our way with the Tuk Tuk mafia. I sent George in to do battle as I only have my frosty go away face when I see them.  Today we took a ride to Wat Roi Phutthabat Phu Manorom.  The white Buddha is around 84 metres high and you can take a lift to the top to see the Mekong and Laos.  There is also a Naga statue that raises its head towards the Mekong. It's very much a developing tourist attraction and a bit of a construction site. 

After going to bed wearing my UK arrival clothing (thermal underwear and woolly hat), I woke with a spring in my step. I was glad to have purged the cold in two days.💪  It took George over a week to get rid of his.  Colds aside, it was time for another bus journey on 19th January - to Mukdahan. The bus journey was around three hours in a brand new coach. At a cost of £3 each, it was a bargain. But there were no snacks provided for a change!  Mukdahan is a small town on the east Thai/Laos border.  The countries are separated by the Mekong River. Or as the locals say - 'Mykong'. Foreigners use this destination as a typical visa run between the two countries. The crossing is made by road over the Friendship Bridge 2. The first bridge is north Thailand to Vientiane and done by train. That crossing I made on a few occasions when working in the capital in Laos.  There really arent many foreigner tourist here at all.  So much that one Brit driving alo...

Unfortunately it's difficult when travelling on public transport to avoid the lurgy. It is also 'winter'. George has had it for a week, and this morning I came down with it.  Luckily with my Girl Guide skills I'd already packed a medical pouch for most ailments.  Yesterday we moved on from Udon Thani to Salon Nakhon by bus.  On arrival at Udon station, the local bus staff were very excited to see the only foreigners. They even took a photo of us before we boarded the bus.  Sakon Nakhon is a spread out city that is more traditional and less trodden than other tourists routes.  So there's not really a lot to do. Lucky for me as the one day we are here, I've spent in bed. I'm dosing up so I'm hopefully better when we move on tomorrow.  We stayed in a nice little hotel just pride of the city for £25 B&B. When we arrived last night we excitedly jumped in a Grab to go to the local weekend market. ...

I love the street markets in Asia. It's a central place for locals and tourists to catch up. There is so much to eat, and also so much you don't want to eat. 🤣  I like to hear a fired up wok and a bit of activity with customers before I sit down.  I still say no to chicken feet and blood broth. 🤢

 

After a lovely morning breakfast today, we said goodbye to our guesthouse hosts and headed north to Udon Thani.  We took the train from Khon Kaen station, which puts our stations to shame with space and cleanliness.  We took a local commuter train which only has third class carriages. They were surprisingly ok, and only cost us £1.20 total for the two hour journey.  Udon Thani is very close to the Laos border. When I worked in Laos I would come across the border to stay in Udon for the weekend. With the prime objective to stock up on western products and eat a jacket potato with cheese. 🤣 I did stumble upon the bar and previous accommodation this evening, realising it is in the centre of the red light district. 🔴 Due to a lack of quality guesthouses, we changed from our usual B&B preference to a bit of a faceless hotel. But on the plus side it has a pool, which is a welcome break fro...