3 Days in and Around Udon Thani Including Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand

20 Provinces of Isaan Thailand in 20 Days – Day 13

It’s already been 12 days exploring Isaan – North-Eastern Thailand, the least explored region of Thailand. I have been to Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, Mukdahan, Khon Kaen, and other neighboring provinces. I am already in love with a totally different Thailand that I am getting to witness. Their culture, their food, their lifestyle seem to be a lot different from the rest of the Thailand. My curiosity did not end, I still want to explore more, cover all the provinces of the Isaan region. I continued my journey to Udon Thani, and spent 3 days there before moving ahead.

Highlights of the Day

• City Inn Udon Thani
• Zing-Zing Vegetarian Restaurant
• Prince Prajak Monument
• Nong Prajak Park
• City Pillar Shrine
• Thai-Chinese Cultural Center
• Chao Pu-Ya Shrine
• UD Town

From Khon Kaen to Udon Thani

There are many buses connecting Khon Kaen and Udon Thani, which take only 2 h. Trains take the same time. I checked out from the hotel in Khon Kaen, headed to the train station by a songthaew, and got the 9.30 AM train for only ฿25. A ฿20 packet of fruits bought from a local vendor in the train worked well as my breakfast. I reached Udon Thani railway station at around 11.30 AM.

City Inn Udon Thani

The little City Inn hotel is located just 5 min away from the railway station, so I walked till there. One queen-bed room with a private bathroom cost me ฿500. I booked it for the coming 3 nights.

Vegan Restaurant in Udon Thani

There are quite a few vegan/vegetarian restaurants in the Udon Thani. The closest one to my hotel was Zing Zing Jay (“jay” means vegetarian in Thai) – just 650 m away. I enjoyed a good meal for only ฿60.

Prince Prajak Monument

After lunch, I headed south for around 5 min to visit my first destination of Udon Thani – the famous Prince Prajak Monument. Prince Prajak, brother of King Rama V, founded Udon Thani. The monument is located in one of the prime roundabouts in Udon Thani. Locals usually come here to seek spiritual intervention in their life and they promise to repay success by running laps around the monument.

Wat Phothisomphon

I boarded a songthaew for just ฿10 to visit my next destination – Wat Phothisomphon, which is around 2.5 km away. It is known for the famous gold-and-grey chedi built to honor several revered monks. The excellent murals inside the upper floor were praise-worthy. This beautiful temple was built during the reign of King Rama V.

Nong Prajak Park

Within 1 km distance from the temple, you will find Udon’s most popular park – Nong Prajak Park. The lake gets little calmer during the afternoon. But gradually, people jam up there to watch sunset at the lakeside.

City Pillar Shrine

I walked across the park for at least 1 km, and headed to Thung Si Muang Park where I saw the famous City Pillar Shrine of Udon Thani.

Thai-Chinese Cultural Center

Another songthaew ride took me 4 km away across the railway line to visit Thai-Chinese Cultural Center. Walking from City Inn to Thai-Chinese Cultural Center took me just 15 min. I got to know a lot about the history of the Chinese community in Udon Thani from the Moral Museum inside the Cultural Center. The Chinese influence was a crucial force in the development of the province’s outstanding economy. I learnt a lot about Chinese culture, traditions and beliefs, based mostly on Confucianism. A small Chinese orchestra plays on Mondays and Tuesdays from 4 PM to 7 PM.

Chao Pu-Ya Shrine

Just in front of the Thai-Chinese Cultural Center, I visited Chao Pu-Ya Shrine, a large Chinese temple on the southern shore of Nong Bua Lake. It attests to the wealth of the local Thai-Chinese community. Then, I got a songthaew for ฿10 to drop me to Wat Phothisomphon.

UD Town

After the heat of the day has died down, the best way to spend the evening in Udon Thani is to visit the UD Town. There are many interesting food areas and local shopping. I spent a few hours there, and also enjoyed some vegan Thai street food. A big plus is that clean toilets are available.

Finally, I walked back to the hotel. City Inn is just 10 min away from UD Town. I had a great idea of this Thai-Chinese Isaan town, and looking forward for more interesting sites around this place on the following days.

20 Provinces of Isaan Thailand in 20 Days – Day 14

On the second day of my stay in Udon Thani, I planned to visit the most beautiful site of Isaan – Red Lotus Sea, followed by the Ban Chiang, a renowned archaeological site. These are located at a distance from Udon Thani city, and you need to visit the lake in the morning before 10.30 AM to see the flowers blooming fully on the lake. It is advisable to carry fruits to eat whenever you feel hungry. I packed some in my bag while my journey that day. I spent a lovely day exploring such interesting places of Thailand.

Highlights of the Day

• Red Lotus Sea
• Ban Chiang

Red Lotus Sea

The Kumphawapi Lake, locally known as Talay Bae Daeng, which means Red Lotus Sea, is not actually a sea but a huge freshwater lake with a lot of pink tropical water lilies blooming on it. It has become one of the famous spots of the Isaan region. It is located around 40 km south-east of Udon Thani in the village of Ban Diam. Reaching the lake with public transport is not an easy affair. However, I will let you know how I did it.

I walked to the Udon Thani Bus Terminal No. 1, which is close to City Inn, and boarded the orange songthaew to Ban Diam at around 7 AM. The songthaew departs once in every hour from 6 AM to evening. The trip lasts about 1 h for around ฿30. Then I took a tuk-tuk from Ban Diam to reach the nearest pier on on the lake which is only 4 km away. I reached the pier at around 8.30 AM. It is important to visit the lake in the morning time as that’s the only time you can see the flower blooming fully.

The best time to visit the lake is from December to the end of February, just after the rainy season, when the pink flowers bloom. January and February are the peak months when the pink flowers bloom.

Local people run the boats. You can either get an average boat with a roof that can accommodate 8 people or a smaller boat without a roof. It costs ฿500 per big boat or ฿300 per person for a smaller boat for 1.5 h trip.

I headed to Ban Diam bus station and grabbed some local vegan meal. Then, I was wondering if heading Ban Chiang National Museum, my next destination, by public transport will be easier or not. It seemed complicated, hence I bargained with a songthaew to take me there. The driver agreed to take me there for ฿500 round-trip. It took me 40 min to reach there. It was noon.

Ban Chiang National Museum

I was very interested in visiting this museum. The entrance fee cost me ฿150. Ban Chiang re-emerges as one of Southeast Asia’s most significant archaeological sites. It is a prehistoric village and burial site inhabited probably from about 1500 BC until about 300 AD. Excavations at Ban Chiang have revealed hundreds of human burial sites alongside a breathtaking store of ceramics and other artifacts dating as far back as 5,600 years ago. Ban Chiang National Museum sheds light on transition from Neolithic age (no use of metals) into the bronze age and finally into the iron age. Subsequent digs uncovered many more burial sites, and Ban Chiang was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

After visiting this awesome museum, the tuktuk driver dropped me back to Ban Diam from where I boarded the songthaew heading to Udon Thani. I reached Udon Thani at around late afternoon. After such a tiring day, I was looking for was to chill for the rest of the day. I went to the same vegan restaurant I went to on the previous day and had an early dinner.

20 Provinces of Isaan Thailand in 20 Days – Day 15

On the third day of my stay in Udon Thani, I wanted to explore Phu Phra Bat Historical Park – a forested hill with natural rock formations shaped as caves with large rocky overhangs. I also headed to Nong Bua Lamphu province, which is a neighboring province and features a beautiful temple and a 150-Million years-old Stone Shell Museum. As I will be exploring so many places during my day-trip, I kept fruits with me. Later in the evening, I just wanted to head back to Udon Thani to try out some new vegan restaurant for dinner.

Highlights of the Day

• Phu Phra Bat Historical Park
• Wat Tham Klong Pen
• 150 Million Years Stone Shell Museum

Phu Phra Bat Historical Park

Heading to Phu Phra Bat Historical Park by public transport was a bit tricky. I took a songthaew from the hotel at Udon Thani to Rangsina Market and got a minivan heading to Ban Tiu for ฿100 per person. It is available once every hour from Udon Thani from morning 6 AM and the last one returning from Ban Tiu is around 5 PM. Ban Tiu is the village at the base of the hill leading up to the park, from where a motorcycle taxi cost me ฿100 round-trip for the final 5 km climb. The entrance fee of the park is ฿100.

Phu Phra Bat Historical Park is surely one of the highlights of Udon Thani. The park is peppered with bizarre rock formations. They look like a collection of balanced rocks, spires, and whale-sized boulders with several shrines built in and around them.

I was amazed checking out few prehistoric paintings of wild animals, humans and cryptic symbols in several grottoes. There are also some small but sophisticated rock carvings of Buddha images dating back to the Dvaravati era. The hill also contains traces of Khmer presence.

Next, the motorcycle taxi dropped me at Ban Tiu, and then I took a songthaew back to Udon Thani that cost me ฿35. As I reached Udon Thani, I had some vegan Pad Thai (Thai-style noodles) and then took another bus to Nong Bua Lamphu province. It is one of Thailand’s newest provinces, and not so popular like others.

Wat Tham Klong Pen

The bus dropped me at Non Than after an hour of departing from Udon Thani. Then, I managed to convince a motorcycle taxi driver to take me to the two places I am looking forward to visit in Nong Bua Lamphu and then drop me back to Non Than at just ฿100. My first stop in this province was Wat Tham Klong Pen – the most famous forest temple of Nong Bua Lamphu. The temple was built during the Khmer period. The area around the temple is very shady and peaceful. Lush green and rock garden blanket the surroundings. There was no entrance fee.

150 Million Years Stone Shell Museum

Next, with the motorcycle taxi took me to the 150 Million Years Stone Shell Museum, which was just 15 min away from the temple. Here, ancient shell fossils were firstly discovered in 1994 by local residents when they were in a mission for finding forest products around an abandoned mine. They found a large number of beautiful shell-like stones including 150-million-year-old clam fossils and those of the ancestors of T. Rex Dinosaur. Later, this area was developed into the site museum and regarded as the “UNSEEN” tourist destination of the province.

It took me an hour to visit the museum. The motorcycle taxi dropped me to Non Than from where I got a songthaew to Udon Thani bus station, which took another hour to reach. I walked up to the hotel, got fresh, and headed for an early dinner.

Vegan Dinner at Jay Jay Restaurant

Jay Jay is a popular restaurant on Pho Si Road, opposite Aek Udon Hospital. It’s only a couple of minutes’ walk from City Inn.

The restaurant closes soon by 7 PM. During the morning and lunchtime they have the food on display and you just choose what you want. Later in the day, they will cook what you will order. I ordered stir fried vegetables with basil served with brown rice – my Thai-comfort food. It just cost me ฿40.

NET EXPENSE FOR 1 PERSON (IN THB)

Let us have a look at the expenses of Days 13-15 in Thailand – Udon Thani.

• Train from Khon Kaen to Udon Thani: 25
• Stay at City Inn (3 nights): 1500
• Getting Around: 30
• Boat-Trip at Red Lotus Sea: 300
• Entrance Fee of Ban Chiang National Museum: 150
• Round-Trip to Red Lotus Sea and Ban Chiang: 600
• Round-Trip to Phu Phra Bat and Nong Bua Lamphu: 375
• Entrance Fee of Phu Phra Bat Historical Park: 150
• Entrance Fee of 150 Million Years Stone Shell Museum: 20
• Food and miscellaneous: 270

Total expense (roughly): 3,420 THB

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