Udon Thani & Vientiane
I’ve had the privilege of visiting Udon Thani and Vientiane (Thailand & Laos) recently.
It was a 2 to go tour and imagine our surprise when we saw a pretty young guy waiting for us at the airport holding our names out. Turned out, he was our age!! He was twenty five and his birthday was one day after Karen’s. 16th August. How cool was that. And for the whole of the first day, it was just the two of us on the tour. We had our own van and all. Verrry cool. Okie, if you asked me, he was cute at first glance but as the day went by, so did the impression fade away. Lol. Too boyish looking.
Two of the places at Udon Thani that made an impression was the ‘museum like’ park with tons of big and interesting crafted statues (Ban Chiang museum), and the park with a lot of natural and man made stones (Phu Phra Bat Historical Park).
What stuck me was the friendliness of the Thai people.
- The Auntie who sold crickets and worms and humongous like cockroaches, whom I wanted to take a photo of with no intention of buying. She agreed with a smile, and when we passed her stall much much later with many shopping bags in our hands, she smiled at us again
- The guy who sold small little custards and pastries. As I had 7 baht of coins which I wanted to get rid of, it was just nice that he was selling jam pastries for 5 baht and custards for 2 baht each. (can you imagine how cheap it was. Exchange rate was like $1 to 21 baht). We were surprised as to why he was packing 3 custards when I asked him for one. He then started explaining to us and when we finally got his accent, we realised he was telling us the other 2 was ‘free’. The added incentive was, he was cute, and he thanked me with the two hands clasped up to his chin, with eye contact. I cannot stress how much eye contact makes a very important impression on me, more so if it’s the first time I’m meeting someone. Hehe. Another thing, HE was cute. Lol. He was my type of cute, not the Thai guide. Too bad I didn’t take a pic of him. Lol. And the Thai guys have this kind of cuteness – the quite looking, calm, gentleness type of cuteness. Even though he had long hair. Tied in a pony tail. And he was selling pastries and custards of all things. Hehe.
- There was a street drink cart stall that sold drinks that contained ‘flour bubbles’, pretty much like our bubble tea, except that it came in flavours like watermelon, oreo, green apple, banana… and most of this was powder form. They would mix whatever flavours you want in a blender with ice, and thereafter add the bubbles and jellies. For 50 cents (10 baht). Yummy. The guy was nice too, he finished making my drink but I was busy taking a picture of him. He simply left it at the counter and started serving another customer, and when I was done I handed him the amount. Not once did he ask me for the money or show impatience or irritancy at me taking a pic of him. And I did not ask him for permission somemore. oops. That was what stuck me most about him.
- The helper at the Thai buffet place we went to.. whereby it was a buffet spread of Thai food for only 3 bucks! (60 baht). Very near our hotel – Charoensri Grand Royal Hotel. I was so urgent and kept looking at the corner hoping to see a toilet sign. The peeps there could not speak a word of English so I did not want to ask them and hoped that I could tahan instead. Finally we decided to look at him for help and he knew what I wanted – immediately he stood up and pointed his hand to the corner, which I found there was indeed a toilet. How nice of him.
- The stallholders of the night market that we visited, also very near our hotel. We took our time choosing stuff like slippers, and bargaining and stuff. And always, after making payment, they would thank us with a smile, their hand greeting / gesture, and also ask us where we were from.
I believe it was more so than in Bangkok – the friendliness of the people I mean. Maybe coz Bangkok is already so tourissy and commercialised.
Laos – Vientiane was more of visiting of Buddhist temples. Although as soon as we entered Laos I noticed that almost everywhere there were advertisements for Pepsi. A lot of the temples had ancient statues of Budddha plus relics etc. So because of this, one of the temples we visited that stood out was - Wat Phrathat Luang - it was surrounded by galleries or beautiful paintings and pictures done by talented artists. When I have a chance I will upload the pictures so you can see what I mean.
At Laos we had a Laotian guide. And another Singaporean couple joined us. So it was 4 of us, but still it felt pretty exclusive and good. Laotion food was good and unique and had variety. A lot of beef. And young corn, in their dishes.
Laos souvenirs were a lot of beautiful and colourful ‘Russian’ like dolls, whereby one big doll contains many small others, amongst bags and beautiful keychains of dolls in their national costumes. My only regret is that I did not shop much in the Loas morning market, coz we only had 1 hour.
As for Udon Thani, basically it was the usual shoes and clothes from the shopping centre. At the night market I got really unique toys sold by ‘aunties’. They were very cleverly made. One was either a mouse or a bird, made of sponge, that had a cardboard wheel at their bottom, which was connected to a string and stick and joined by rubber bands. So it looks like a puppet. And when you hold it up, the mouse or the bird seems to walk. How genius of them. And it only cost 10 baht (50 cents). I wished I bought more, but there was only so much I could carry, coz of how fragile they were. And of course priority goes to my nephew and nieces.
Then they also had Spiderman keychain souvenirs made with thick yarn/thread.
And at Ban Na Kha Textile Village, there were many beautiful traditional Asian looking type of costumes made of silk, etc. It was there which I picked up 2 different kinds of musical instruments, made of wood. One was a whistle kind that sounds like a bird when you move the stick up and down while blowing. Another was a slightly bigger kind which you blow air into holes and it sounds simply beautiful. Both also very cheap, about 10-15 baht. Here again, I wish I could have had the means to buy more.
Anyway, it was a real holiday. As in, when there, you forget about the worries of the real world and simply be carefree. But of course you spend money.
I thank God for keeping me safe. This time round I had no bad dreams in the hotel. (coz my first stay at Bangkok, I did believe that the hotel was haunted).
I wish I had spent more time with Him praying on my trip. That’s how it is when you go travelling. If it’s not a same religion group you’re going with, you’ve simply got to make time to pray on your own. Coz usually your whole day will be occupied with your companions that if you don’t make time to pray, you will simply forget about it.
And of course, when I was back in SG, yes it was home sweet home. And it was also back to the real world. Responsibilities. Worries. Life callings to think about. Ha ha. I long for the day when I can just pack my bags and go round the world and live round the world.
Yeah. So that’s it! Do visit Udon Thani and Vientiane before it gets too commercialised when you have the chance! And do call me along if you go! There or anywhere round the world! Hehe. Peace out =)
It was a 2 to go tour and imagine our surprise when we saw a pretty young guy waiting for us at the airport holding our names out. Turned out, he was our age!! He was twenty five and his birthday was one day after Karen’s. 16th August. How cool was that. And for the whole of the first day, it was just the two of us on the tour. We had our own van and all. Verrry cool. Okie, if you asked me, he was cute at first glance but as the day went by, so did the impression fade away. Lol. Too boyish looking.
Two of the places at Udon Thani that made an impression was the ‘museum like’ park with tons of big and interesting crafted statues (Ban Chiang museum), and the park with a lot of natural and man made stones (Phu Phra Bat Historical Park).
What stuck me was the friendliness of the Thai people.
- The Auntie who sold crickets and worms and humongous like cockroaches, whom I wanted to take a photo of with no intention of buying. She agreed with a smile, and when we passed her stall much much later with many shopping bags in our hands, she smiled at us again
- The guy who sold small little custards and pastries. As I had 7 baht of coins which I wanted to get rid of, it was just nice that he was selling jam pastries for 5 baht and custards for 2 baht each. (can you imagine how cheap it was. Exchange rate was like $1 to 21 baht). We were surprised as to why he was packing 3 custards when I asked him for one. He then started explaining to us and when we finally got his accent, we realised he was telling us the other 2 was ‘free’. The added incentive was, he was cute, and he thanked me with the two hands clasped up to his chin, with eye contact. I cannot stress how much eye contact makes a very important impression on me, more so if it’s the first time I’m meeting someone. Hehe. Another thing, HE was cute. Lol. He was my type of cute, not the Thai guide. Too bad I didn’t take a pic of him. Lol. And the Thai guys have this kind of cuteness – the quite looking, calm, gentleness type of cuteness. Even though he had long hair. Tied in a pony tail. And he was selling pastries and custards of all things. Hehe.
- There was a street drink cart stall that sold drinks that contained ‘flour bubbles’, pretty much like our bubble tea, except that it came in flavours like watermelon, oreo, green apple, banana… and most of this was powder form. They would mix whatever flavours you want in a blender with ice, and thereafter add the bubbles and jellies. For 50 cents (10 baht). Yummy. The guy was nice too, he finished making my drink but I was busy taking a picture of him. He simply left it at the counter and started serving another customer, and when I was done I handed him the amount. Not once did he ask me for the money or show impatience or irritancy at me taking a pic of him. And I did not ask him for permission somemore. oops. That was what stuck me most about him.
- The helper at the Thai buffet place we went to.. whereby it was a buffet spread of Thai food for only 3 bucks! (60 baht). Very near our hotel – Charoensri Grand Royal Hotel. I was so urgent and kept looking at the corner hoping to see a toilet sign. The peeps there could not speak a word of English so I did not want to ask them and hoped that I could tahan instead. Finally we decided to look at him for help and he knew what I wanted – immediately he stood up and pointed his hand to the corner, which I found there was indeed a toilet. How nice of him.
- The stallholders of the night market that we visited, also very near our hotel. We took our time choosing stuff like slippers, and bargaining and stuff. And always, after making payment, they would thank us with a smile, their hand greeting / gesture, and also ask us where we were from.
I believe it was more so than in Bangkok – the friendliness of the people I mean. Maybe coz Bangkok is already so tourissy and commercialised.
Laos – Vientiane was more of visiting of Buddhist temples. Although as soon as we entered Laos I noticed that almost everywhere there were advertisements for Pepsi. A lot of the temples had ancient statues of Budddha plus relics etc. So because of this, one of the temples we visited that stood out was - Wat Phrathat Luang - it was surrounded by galleries or beautiful paintings and pictures done by talented artists. When I have a chance I will upload the pictures so you can see what I mean.
At Laos we had a Laotian guide. And another Singaporean couple joined us. So it was 4 of us, but still it felt pretty exclusive and good. Laotion food was good and unique and had variety. A lot of beef. And young corn, in their dishes.
Laos souvenirs were a lot of beautiful and colourful ‘Russian’ like dolls, whereby one big doll contains many small others, amongst bags and beautiful keychains of dolls in their national costumes. My only regret is that I did not shop much in the Loas morning market, coz we only had 1 hour.
As for Udon Thani, basically it was the usual shoes and clothes from the shopping centre. At the night market I got really unique toys sold by ‘aunties’. They were very cleverly made. One was either a mouse or a bird, made of sponge, that had a cardboard wheel at their bottom, which was connected to a string and stick and joined by rubber bands. So it looks like a puppet. And when you hold it up, the mouse or the bird seems to walk. How genius of them. And it only cost 10 baht (50 cents). I wished I bought more, but there was only so much I could carry, coz of how fragile they were. And of course priority goes to my nephew and nieces.
Then they also had Spiderman keychain souvenirs made with thick yarn/thread.
And at Ban Na Kha Textile Village, there were many beautiful traditional Asian looking type of costumes made of silk, etc. It was there which I picked up 2 different kinds of musical instruments, made of wood. One was a whistle kind that sounds like a bird when you move the stick up and down while blowing. Another was a slightly bigger kind which you blow air into holes and it sounds simply beautiful. Both also very cheap, about 10-15 baht. Here again, I wish I could have had the means to buy more.
Anyway, it was a real holiday. As in, when there, you forget about the worries of the real world and simply be carefree. But of course you spend money.
I thank God for keeping me safe. This time round I had no bad dreams in the hotel. (coz my first stay at Bangkok, I did believe that the hotel was haunted).
I wish I had spent more time with Him praying on my trip. That’s how it is when you go travelling. If it’s not a same religion group you’re going with, you’ve simply got to make time to pray on your own. Coz usually your whole day will be occupied with your companions that if you don’t make time to pray, you will simply forget about it.
And of course, when I was back in SG, yes it was home sweet home. And it was also back to the real world. Responsibilities. Worries. Life callings to think about. Ha ha. I long for the day when I can just pack my bags and go round the world and live round the world.
Yeah. So that’s it! Do visit Udon Thani and Vientiane before it gets too commercialised when you have the chance! And do call me along if you go! There or anywhere round the world! Hehe. Peace out =)
posted by Marie Therese @ 12:26 pm
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