My Egg Noodles

The Good Mook Cafe serves really good food and the best coffee in Mukdahan. Plus, they sell beer lao

Thai green curry – one of my faves!

Spicy papaya salad with crispy pork.

Pad Thai with prawns.

Prawn spring rolls.

This was all washed down with a nice ice cold bottle of beer Lao’s finest.

This afternoon I decided to take a break from the keyboard, get some sun on my back and go out to take some pictures. I ended up going down to the Mekong river, along the Indochine Market and finally meeting up with some friends for a spot of lunch.

This represents everything what Mukdahan is about to me. There are many Lao immigrants here, as well as Vietnamese who came over during the Vietnam war. Their presence, culture and food is everywhere, which I really like. (A special thanks to the Vietnamese lady who makes traditional Hue style crispy pankcakes at the market! I love you!)

Although the Indochine Market is marketed as a good antiques market, it’s actually no different from the thousands of other markets nationwide. Food, clothes, household items and a few hamlets, are the norm here.

A sam-lor, which means 3 wheels in Thai. This is the local version of the taxi. They can be loud, and very slow.

The ribbons around the tree are there for good luck and fortune.

I don’t know what Thailand would do without pick-up trucks. From carrying up to 20 people in the back, to converting the back into a Coffee Shop as seen here, is just normal practice in Thailand.

Since news years, I’ve rarely set food outside my tiny apartment due to working my arse of trying to get my profit numbers up. Felling a little depressed with the gorgeous weather outside, I decided today was a good day to take a few hours away from the notebook and do what I love to do most; explore somewhere new! I ventured down a road that runs parallel to the Mekong River and stumbled upon this fish farm.

After taking some pictures I ordered some fish that was BBQ’d in Salt and served with 2 sweet and spicy dipping sauces. The fish was so fresh and had a lovely natural sweetness to it… simply yum!

The mighty Mekong River runs from Tibet to China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.

I’m guessing this is where the fisherman hangs out when the days work has been done.

This line went down to the fishing area.

Sticky Rice (which unfortunately come first, hence little left!), Mekong Sea Bass and 2 spicy dipping sauces.

I’ve spent the last week in bed with a nasty cold and sore throat, so it came as a big relief this morning that my body didn’t feel drained and I could actually breath normally again.

This meant a celebration was in order. A celebration that I could now drink cold beverages! I jumped on the motorbike and headed 5 minutes down the road to buy some traditional Thai Coffee, and ended up picking up some freshly fried bananas on the way back! Shiiiit, there goes my diet I started yesterday! Arr well, it’s a celebration right?

No high-tech coffee machine here!

The coffee is sieved through a cloth with water stored in this steel barrel.

And then put into a plastic bag!

The fried bananas I picked up on the way back. Crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside.

Such a simple outing as getting some coffee of a friendly talkative local, I take for granted. I’ve done this hundreds of times, although for those that haven’t visited Thailand, you may find this interesting. Especially the thought of drinking coffee out of a plastic bag!

The coffee and bananas cost a grand total of 20฿ (40p / $0.60)

What did you have for breakfast this morning?

The last 3 weeks I’ve been touring around the North East of Thailand on a little mo-ped and bwoy, it has been so much fun! I know it won’t be long before I’m back out on the open road mingling with the friendly locals again.

The image above is the route that I took. I’m not sure how many miles I did, but it felt like I did a lot! I started in Ubon Ratchathani where they have great temples and the best xpat community I have ever seen. Then it was up to Mukdahan where life along the Mekong River runs extremely slow and you have the Mukdahan National Park with the weird rock formations. Then it was up to That Phanom where I witnessed a huge ceremony consisting of thousands of monks at the impressive That Phanom temple.

Monks at Wat That Phanom

My fav Isaan dish – BBQ’d Fish – Normally eaten with sticky rice and a very spicy dipping sauce.

I kept going north to Nakhon Phanom before banking left to the sleepy province of Sakhon Nakhon – where I witnessed a Chinese Dragon performance. I kept heading west until I reached Udon Thani, one of the biggest provinces in this part of the Kingdom. Many bars, both aimed at Thai’s and foreigners alike meant for some good nights out.

Chinese dragon performance in Nakhon Phanom

A typical sleepy street outside the main towns

After 2 nights in Udon Thani I was back on the bike heading to Loei – easily the most beautiful out of all the provinces I visited. While on-ruote to Loei I passed through Nong Beau lamphu provice, which is where I spent the best part of a year living in a rural Thai village – I still think Nong Beau lamphu province has the most friendly locals, not only in North East Thailand, but out of all the countries I’ve ever visited.

One of many lakes we passed and stopped of at.

Tree’s and lakes lined both sides of the roads for most of the time while in Loei. After a night in Loei, I headed onto Phukradueng National Park where temperatures dropped to 5c in the early hours of the morning. But the bright stars, waterfalls and the young Thai tourists made it one great adventure that the average tourist misses out on.

Tamarind is in season. Yum!

I then went South to Khon Kaen, easily my fav province due to the excellent (and cheap) accommodations options, bars and the newly opened Central Shopping Mall that hosts a 7 screen cinema – the only cinema in Isaan that shows movies with English language.

Impressive mountain in Loei province

Outside the main towns, most of the smaller roads are similar to this one.

For the last leg of the trip, I headed north east up to Mukdahan where I traveled through rice paddies, fields and more traditional Thai villages. I then got the opportunity to watch some famous musicians before shooting a gun for the first time, with the local Police.

Me at the shooting range in Mukdahan. This is the first time I’ve ever used a gun.

An annual concert that draws in big crowds in Mukdahan.

All in all, it’s been a great trip and I would highly recommend you come and explore this unique part of Thailand before it changes. Local transport is very good, and extremely cheap. Or you could simply hire yourself a motorbike in either Khon Kaen or Ubon for 200b a day and experience adventure travel that 99% of Thailand’s tourists miss out on.

If you have any Q’s about traveling in this region, feel free to ask in the comments and I’ll try my best to answer them!