Foreign Pie News

 After a pie-deprived 11 days, we hit the jackpot here in Nong Khian, courtesy of the once weekly night market.

Or did we???

Sweetcorn Pie: 

Shaped like a small pasty, the pastry was tough and heavy on the lard content. It hadn't been improved by deep-frying. Filling-wise, it was, well, as described, sweetcorn. 

A deep-fried pseudo pastry receptacle for tinned sweetcorn. 

Disappointing.

Purple Sweet Potato Pie:

Pastry as above. Filling appeared to be a slice of potato, not sweet, but a violent violet colour.

Again, disappointing. 

Green Bean Pie:

Pastry as above. Filling was a yellow paste which tasted vaguely of peas. Had it not been for the deep-fried lard fest encasing it, it might almost have been nice.

Mystery Pie:

A bit of a gamble, this one. The label was only in Thai, and the pie-lady spoke no English. However, an unknown pie is a challenge worth accepting.

Obviously, the pastry was lard-laced (and fried) and as for the filling.....

Orange and fibrous, it's difficult to be certain, but I think it was mango chutney.  An unconventional and not very successful choice for a filling. 

Desperately poor.

Statues, trees and cash

Today we hired a tuk-tuk (and driver) and visited Salakaewkoo (obscurely, it also forms part of the opening line in the song 'Bibbidy bobbidy boo' which as I'm sure you know is from Disney's Cinderella....)

Ahem......moving on.....

The sculpture park is the creation of one Luang Poo (!) ,  a shaman from Laos who had to flee that country once he'd put forward his ideas on sculpture.

We were most definitely in for a treat......

Strap yourselves in, blogmates, and cover the budgies cage......

Some of these sculptures are 7 stories high.... 

There's a central warehouse type place filled with statues waiting for a home. (Could be a long wait)

The 3rd floor houses more statuary and, unexpectedly, the mummified body of the sculptor himself!

His final resting place resembles a giant cheese dome covered in flashing green lights.

Luckily, photography was forbidden.

We lurched back to our driver and paid a quick trip to Wat Pho Chai.

Home to a ruby encrusted Buddha credited with several miracles , it was listed as a 'must see'.

Most miraculous of all, blogmates, I found the Magic Money Tree!!

That's right. The fabled tree  oft-quoted by politicians was right there, in front of me!

Sadly, I'd missed the harvest. I did spot several devout Buddhists sorting through the bounty though....

It seems there's more to this monking business than I thought....... 

Nong khai

 To paraphrase Dr Johnson, "When a person is tired of Udon Thani, they get the heck out of there".

And so we hot-footed it to the railway station, where we boarded local train 415 (3rd class) bound for Nong Khai.

After a surprisingly comfortable journey of around an hour, and exceptional value at a mere 25p per ticket, (Take note Northern Rail) we arrived in Nong Khai.

It's a pretty place (in places) cosying up to the bank of the now legendary Mighty Mekong.

Once unpacked, we set off for a stroll along the promenade (all 5k of it.......)

Still, there was a chedi at the end so that made it worth it, eh? ( it's not even the original one. That one was washed into the Mekong during a flood.....)

No matter, I took pics along the way and now, as is customary, you have to see them too.

Sorry......

Park Life

 Today we visited Nong Prajak park.

It has a large lake at its centre, (described unjustly by one guidebook as a swamp), a couple of suspension bridges, a few  playgrounds and a running/cycling track.

It's also got ducks.  Lots of them. Scattered throughout the park.

I mean , I like duck as much if not more than the next person (my duck a l'orange is legend among those who appreciate fine dining), but I've never felt compelled to use them ornamentally.

Anyway, here's a few:

The park's gardens were lovely and we whiled away a couple of hours there.

As we prepared to leave, I spotted a sign for the park's closest guarded secret:  Dinoland!

That's right blogmates, with more than a passing nod to Jurassic Park, these wily Thai lads have installed their very own dinosaur kingdom!

To say we were stunned doesn't do it justice, nor do these pics, but it's the best I can do.....

Incredible, I think you'll agree.

We weren't done yet. 

We've been to a temple and a museum too, but as I fear you're already traumatised, I'll save most of the pics for another day.....

Oh go on then, just the one...

Up North

 And so to Udon Thani.

In the Isaan region of Thailand, it's a destination we've often considered, but until now, never visited. 

So, first impressions:

 Well. 

Following the giddy hedonism of Bangkok, we were a little bemused initially. 

For starters, the hotel manager pretended not to be able to find the hotel.

ON HIS OWN TOWN MAP! 🙈🙈 

Then, on leaving the hotel, we were immediately confronted by a woman out walking her PIG!!!!

I mean, it's a charming pig and no mistake, but all the same, well.....

Anyhow.........

Somewhat shaken (obviously) we headed into town.

Passing quite a few bars that seemed to cater solely for single women in skimpy black frocks, we eventually arrived at the hub of the town's action : UD Town. (Their choice of name, not mine)

Pleasant enough, and with more than a nod toward the festivities ahead, we were happy to spend a few Baht and join in the merry making. 

It probably goes without saying that we've already researched the times of trains out of here on Thursday. 

Multi-modal travel

 Day 4 in the plague hotel.....still no lemsip.....

We resolved to take our minds off our troubles with a multi-modal transport trip.

We began with a river boat crossing to Central Station.

From there, we boarded the Sky-train, bound for the much vaunted  Erawan shrine.

The shrine itself has a slightly dodgy provenance, having been built solely to counteract the inauspicious vibes caused by the massive hotel next door....

It was shiny and floral, as you might expect, and for a few extra Baht, you can pose with the ''Shrine Dancers'.

Or you can just snap a shot for nothing.....

Somewhat disappointed, but not yet completely disheartened, we took a taxi to Chinatown.

On arrival, we were completely underwhelmed by the fish-ball stalls (and there were many...) , and rightly repulsed by the sharks fin restaurants .

The day's extravaganza ended with a restorative trip to the local park.

Tomorrow: Udon Thani!!

Down but not quite out.....

 Frost-bitten, beer deficient, sleep deprived, and coming down with suspected man flu, we stumbled into Bangkok.

A city renowned for its vibrant night life.

Sadly we were in no state to partake of it, seeking only a comfy bed and possibly a lemsip......

By the next morning/late afternoon, we were able to take stock, and confirm that, yes, it's man flu (or possibly gender-fluid flu).

Given the lack of lemsips in this town (an opening there for someone surely) we were forced into a bar where they were at least selling beer.

The rest of the day was spent in a rather lovely park by the river, followed by more beer (hydration is KEY)

Night flight to Bangkok

 Resolving to put our beer catastrophe behind us, we boarded our flight.

After a thrilling couple of hours waiting on the runway for the plane to be sprayed with de-icer, we took off.

The flight was  unremarkable,  apart from the fact that we appeared to have been seated amongst a nursery outing for distressed babies........

To quote the incomparable D:Ream, Things Can Only Get Better..........

Once more unto the breach...

A very warm welcome back blogmates! (And if you're new here, you'll soon get the hang of things, just don't expect too much.....)

You join us in Munich, home of the Oktoberfest, Bayern Munich and, well, people who live in Munich.

We're changing planes here en route to Bangkok (yes, AGAIN)  and were looking forward to sampling the sausage, sauerkraut and beer facilities on offer. 

Sadly, despite arriving at the extremely acceptable time of 21.10, to our dismay (and disgust) all of the watering holes were very firmly closed.

At least the robber barons of Dubai Airport kept the beer flowing.....