Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [435]
No transport runs direct to Nong Khai. The quickest way there is via Loei and Udon Thani, but the river route is preferable for the scenery. To do the latter, take a Loei-bound srng·ta·ou south to Ban Tad (20B, 30 minutes) where you can catch the morning bus headed to Nong Khai from Loei. Because things are always changing on this trip, ask at your guesthouse for the latest news.
If you’re heading west and you’ve got your own wheels, consider following the seldom-seen back roads along Mae Nam Heuang; they’ll eventually deposit you in Dan Sai.
PHU REUA NATIONAL PARK
Phu Reua means ‘boat mountain’, a moniker that owes its origins to a cliff jutting out of the peak that’s sort of in the shape of a Chinese junk. At only 121 sq km, Phu Reua National Park (0 4280 1716; admission 200B) isn’t one of Thailand’s most impressive reserves, but it does offer some dreamy views from the summit of the mountain it surrounds. Few visitors do more than make the easy 30-minute hike from the upper visitor centre through pine forest to the summit (1365m), where in December and January temperatures can drop below freezing at night. If you want more solitude, strike out from the lower visitor centre instead. Arguably the park’s most scenic waterfall, 30m-tall Nam Tok Huai Phai, is an easy 2.5km hike from here, or you can take a roundabout route to the summit.
As well as a campsite (per person with own tent 30B, 3-/4-person tent hire 405/540B), there are also some comfortable bungalows (0 2562 0760; www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve; 4-/6-people 2000/3000B). Many resorts around the park offer less scenery, but better value.
There are restaurants at both visitor centres.
The park is about 50km west of Loei on Rte 203. Although buses heading west from the city can drop you in the town of Phu Reua (2nd/1st class 45/60B, 1½ hours), you’ll have to charter a truck for around 500B (including a few hours wait) to the park itself.
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DAN SAI
For 362 days a year, Dan Sai is an innocuous little town, a borderline backwater community where life revolves around a small market and a dusty main street. For the remaining three days, however, it’s the site of one of the country’s liveliest and loudest festivals.
Falling during the fourth lunar month (usually June), Dan Sai’s Phi Ta Khon Festival (also called Bun Phra Wet) combines the Phra Wet Festival, during which recitations of the Mahavessantara Jataka (past-life stories of the Buddha) are supposed to enhance the listener’s chance of being reborn in the lifetime of the next Buddha, with Bun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival). For those wishing to plunge headlong into Isan life, this curious cross between the drunken revelry of Carnivale and the spooky imagery of Halloween is a must see.
The origins of the Phi Ta Khon Festival are shrouded in ambiguity, but some aspects of the festival appear to be related to tribal Thai (possibly Tai Dam) spirit cults. In fact, the dates for the festival are divined by Jao Phaw Kuan, a local spirit medium who channels the information from the town’s guardian deity. On the first day Jao Phaw Kuan performs a sacrifice to invite Phra Upakud (an enlightened monk with supernatural powers who chose to transform himself into a block of white marble to live eternally on the bottom of the Man River) to come to town. Locals then don wild costumes and masks for two days of lôw kw (white whisky)–fuelled dancing that’s full of sexual innuendo, before launching the rockets and heading to the temple to listen to sermons through the night and into the third day.
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Information
The main road through town is Th Kaew Asa. At its north end, inside the têt·sà·bahn (city hall), there’s an information centre (0 4289 1231; www.tessabandansai.com; Th Kaew Asa; 8.30am-4.30pm) with English-speaking staff and free internet. The post office, library (also with free internet