Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [427]
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Bird’s Eye View Terrace (0 4242 0033; Hwy 212; dishes 70-260B; dinner) You can sample Isan food and see nearly the whole city from the Nong Khai Grand hotel’s open-air rooftop restaurant.
Drinking
Gaia (0 4246 0717; below Mut Mee Garden Guesthouse; 7pm-late Wed-Mon) Much of the Mut Mee crowd and many resident fa·ràng fill this laid-back lounge on the Mekong. There’s a great drinks list, a dreamy vibe and sometimes live music. It often hosts fundraisers for various charitable projects.
Warm Up (08 1965 7565; 476/4 Th Rimkhong; 7pm-2am) This little place rises above, both figuratively and literally, the other bars on this end of Th Rimkhong. It looks out over the river, has a free pool table and is popular with both Thais and travellers.
For something a little more Thai, follow the Mekong-hugging Th Rimkhong east past Tha Sadet Market to find a bevy of neon-lit restaurants and bars churning out dinner and drinks to an all-ages Thai crowd.
Shopping
Tha Sadet Market (Th Rimkhong) This huge market runs for most of the day and offers the usual mix of dried food, electronic items, souvenirs and assorted bric-a-brac, most of it imported from Laos and China.
Village Weaver Handicrafts (0 4242 2652; 1020 Th Prajak; 8am-6pm) This place sells high-quality, hand-woven fabrics and clothing (ready-made or made-to-order) to fund development projects around Nong Khai. The mát·mèe cotton is particularly good here.
Village Weaver workshop (0 4241 1236; 1151 Soi Jittapanya; 8am-5pm Mon-Sat) This workshop, where some of the nearby Village Weaver Handicrafts’ products are produced, has a somewhat different inventory, with many more Lao designs.
Village Vocational Training Center (0 4299 0613; 8am-5pm Mon-Sat) Though separate from Village Weaver, this school 7km south of town (take Hwy 2 and follow the sign east) has similar goals. It’s a great place to see the mát·mèe process from start to finish, and it also has a pottery workshop and mushroom farm.
Getting There & Away
AIR
The nearest airport is 55km south in Udon Thani, from where there are regular flights to Bangkok and a couple to Luang Prabang, Laos. See Click here for details.
Udon Kaew Tour (0 4241 1530; Th Pranang Cholpratan; 8.30am-5.30pm) travel agency runs vans (150B per person) to/from the airport. Coming into town they’ll drop you at your hotel or the bridge; going back you need to get yourself to their office. It’s best to buy a ticket in advance. A private driver to the airport can be hired for 700B from most travel agencies around town.
BUS
Nong Khai’s bus terminal (0 4241 1612) is located just off Th Prajak, about 1.5km from the main pack of riverside guesthouses.
Udon Thani (ordinary/1st class 25/47B, one hour, every 45 minutes) is the most frequent destination. There are also buses for Khon Kaen (2nd/1st class 120/157B, 3½ hours, hourly) and Nakhon Phanom (ordinary/2nd class 175/220B, six hours, six daily). For Chiang Mai, you have to change at Udon’s new bus terminal.
For those travelling west along the Mekong, there are usually five buses to Pak Chom, which can drop you in Sangkhom (55B, three hours, until 3pm) or anywhere else along the way. Normally only the 7.30am service travels all the way to Loei (130B, seven hours), but if there are enough passengers later departures may go too.
Bangkok (2nd/1st class 350/450B, 11 hours) buses are frequent in the late afternoon and early evening, but less so during the day. Roongprasert Tour (0 4241 1447; 7.45pm) and 999 VIP (0 4241 2679; 7.30pm & 8pm), with offices on opposite sides of the bus terminal, offer daily 24-seat VIP (700B, 10 hours) services to Bangkok. There’s also one bus direct