After a long day on the road that included passing through some villages with minor flooding, we checked into our cabin at the TaNiTa (Lagoon) Resort. Since we were traveling by car and only making a quick 1-night stop, the location near a main road outside of the center of town made for a speedy departure the next morning.

Accommodations there are bungalows set around the perimeter of a lake. This isn’t a fancy hotel but the bedroom was very clean and the bathroom was modern and newly refurbished. Breakfast was delivered to the room by golf cart and we enjoyed it at lakeside table under the attached carport. This place is not for those seeking a luxury hotel but is a reasonable option for the price.

The next morning we headed out to the Phu Phra Bat Historical Park . The park contains huge rock formations created by natural erosion but that look like some giants have been playing with stone toys.

From the Historical Park we drove back to Route 2 and made a stop about 9 miles north of Udon Thani at the Baan Na Kha Weaving Village. We found our way to the weaving co-operative and were impressed not only by the quality of the weavings but also by the ladies doing the work. All were extremely friendly, stylishly dressed and took great pride in the textiles they were producing. We found some of the cotton weavings there to be among the best quality we have seen anywhere in Southeast Asia.

After picking up a few pieces of fabric there, we continued our drive north to Nong Khai to visit the Tha Sadet Market. This is a large market also known as The Indochina Market as it is very close to the borders with Vietnam and Lao and carries products from every country across the region including China.

Nong Khai is located on the Mekong River and as you look across the water from the market you can see Vientiane, the capital of Laos; a city we had visited just about a year before. We decided to make a little side trip and and drove to the “Friendship Bridge” that was built by the Australian government connecting the 2-sides of the river. During that earlier visit to Vientiane, (beginning from the Lao side) we walked halfway across this same bridge to the border but didn’t cross it completely. It was an interesting perspective to see it from the other side of the river.

From Nong Khai we headed back south towards Udon before turning east. It was getting to be lunch time and Nook asked if we wanted to try one of the local specialties of this area, grilled jumbo river prawns.  The answer was YES!  About 15 minutes out from Baan NaKa Village, Ed pulled off the highway and pulled up to an unpretentious roadside restaurant situated near a small body of water.

Nook and Ed had two different names for this place.  She said we were at KungPao Restaurant while Ed later told me it was known as Banna Restaurant. 

Whatever you call it, I can tell you that to this day it was one of the great meals of our lives; I would say top 5 all time!. Not only were the grilled prawns to die for, we had a terrific version of Gang Som, a mixed seafood spicy & sour soup with a red chili paste broth chock full of mushrooms, tomatoes, herbs and every type of freshwater seafood one could imagine. Since that meal we’ve ordered Gang Som in many restaurants and never had one that came close to that day.

We had enough food for 2-3 more people and the whole bill for our group of four was $15. I asked Ed if he had eaten at this restaurant before and he said that he had not. I asked how he found it and he said that he saw a lot of local cars there and figured it would be good.

Before the meal I made a visit to the WC to clean up and as I was returning to our table, I was passing by an older man leaning against the wall outside the open door to the kitchen and he asked if I was American. He told me he learned English from Americans when he worked at an American air base in the area during the Vietnam war in the early 70’s.

We spoke for several minutes and he told me the base (located in northern Thailand) was used during the clandestine bombing runs of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. We had visited one such area on our first trip to Lao near Phonsavan & Plain of Jars. It turned out to be an interesting and enlightening conversation.

Our last stop of the day was in the village of Ban Chiang to see the archaeological dig that has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the site visitors can see the distinctive red and black pottery famous in this area as well as multiple skeletons of an ancient people. This is also the location of some of the earliest Bronze Age relics discovered in Southeast Asia. Unfortunately, the museum was already closed when we arrived but just getting a chance to see the dig was enough to warrant a visit to Ban Chiang,

From Ban Chiang, we proceeded on to Nakhon Panom, our destination for the day and arrived with great anticipation of attending the annual Long Boat Races there the next morning.

Below is a video covering this day’s events including some shots of the Historical Park and our wonderful lunch. The video also includes scenes from the annual Long Boat Races held on the Mekong in Nakhon Panom on the next day. At the end are a few cuts from a visit just up the road at famous Wat Phra That in Renu Nakhon.