Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [429]
There are cheaper places in town, away from the river, but the Mekong-facing Maenam Hotel (0 4249 1051; www.maenammhotel.com; 107/1 Th Chansin; r 350-400B; ), offer-ing spotless rooms with lots of little extras, is the best located place in Beung Kan. Just about all the restaurants on Th Chansin serve inside or riverside (which can be buggy).
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Buses to Nong Khai (ordinary/2nd class 80/110B, three hours, hourly until 3.30pm) park in front of the ‘Thai Beauty’ shop near the old clock tower.
Although it’s very rarely done, you can cross the border here to/from Pakson, Laos, but only if you already have your visa. The boat trips cost 400B.
Wat Phu Tok
Accessed via a network of rickety staircases built in, on and around a giant sandstone outcrop, Wat Phu Tok (Isolated Mountain Temple; daylight hr, closed 10-16 April) is one of the region’s true wonders. Six levels of steps lead past shrines and gù·ì that are scattered around the mountain, in caves and on cliffs. A 7th-level scramble up roots and rocks takes you to the forest at the summit, with fabulous views over the surrounding countryside and a truly soporific atmosphere. It’s the cool and quiet isolation of this wát that entices monks and mâa chee from all over Thailand to come and meditate here; many of them do so on the summit, so be quiet and respectful up there. The route up the mountain symbolises that the path to virtue requires personal effort.
This wát used to be the domain of the famous meditation master Luang Pu Juan, a disciple of Luang Pu Man (see Click here). Luang Pu Juan died in a plane crash in 1980 along with several other highly revered forest monks who were flying to Bangkok for Queen Sirikit’s birthday celebration. A marble chedi containing Luang Pu Juan’s belongings and some bone relics sits below the mountain.
Visitors who impress the monks by acting and dressing respectfully are permitted to stay the night in single-sex dorms.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Túk-túk can be hired to go to Wat Phu Tok from Beung Kan; drivers will ask for 600B for the return journey plus a two-hour wait at the wát itself. Better still, you could take bus 225 from Beung Kan’s old clock tower southward to Ban Siwilai (20B, 45 minutes) where túk-túk drivers ask for 200B to go to the wát. If you catch an early bus to Beung Kan, Wat Phu Tok can be visited as a day trip from Nong Khai. If you are driving or pedalling, a more direct route is to continue southeast along Rte 212 from Beung Kan for 27km until you reach Chaiyapon, then turn right at Rte 3024, the road signed for Chet Si, and Tham Phra waterfalls. The water-falls are in the Phu Wua Wildlife Reserve and make worthy detours, as much for the weird rock formations as the cascades. After 17.5km make a right and continue 4km more.
Ban Kham Pia
Isan is flush with village homestay programs, and while they all let you delve deep into rural life, most are aimed at Thai tour groups. But, thanks to the help of Open Mind Projects ( Click here) and English-speaking Khun Bunleud, Kham Pia (0 4241 3578, 08 7861 0601; www.thailandwildelephanttrekking.com; per person 200B, meals 50-90B) really knows how to welcome fa·ràng.
The village is within walking distance of 186-sq-km Phu Wua Wildlife Reserve, so you can add some superb treks to the usual cultural activities in the village – another thing that helps make this one of Thailand’s best homestay programs. The forest is flush with waterfalls and home to two dozen elephants, who are sometimes encountered during day walks (March and April are the best months) and often seen during overnight stays in the treehouse (not for the faint-hearted).
Kham Pia is 190km east of Nong Khai, just 3km off Hwy 212. Buses between Nong Khai (180B, 3½ hours) and Nakhon Phanom (160B, 2½ hours) will drop you at Ban Don Chik, 3km away.
WEST OF NONG KHAI
The people living west of Nong Khai are obsessed with topiary, and along Rte 211 you’ll