Hi, Me and a friend are driving from Khon Kaen to the Ubon area next week and looking for anything interesting to see and do. It's the first time for both of us.

We like temples, mountains, waterfalls, dinasour museums, generally that sort of thing. Any particularly beautiful vistas and so forth.

I'd love to get some suggestions or if you know a good website to get info, that would be great too.

Also any recommendation for a hotel in Ubon, mid price range, quiet, comfortable.

thanks,

bill

Your first source of info is at http://www.weloveubon.com/

you'll find plenty of hotels in Ubon but if your'e not centrally situated in downtown Ubon Ratchathani you may have to

resort to what is called locally a resort type lodging (fancy motel like structure).

in the downtown area; there are several hotels, The Nevada Hotel, Nevada Inn, Tokyo Hotel, and a brand new just built called

the Sunee hotel just along side Tesco-Lotus on Chayang Kung road (all 4 of these hotels are nearby) I believe the lowest rate at the Sunee hotel is quoted at 1200 baht and the best, cleanest, with a nice restaurant. The Nevada Inn (a bit old) is around 700 baht per night.

As I am a resident with family living in Ubon for the past 2 years, I really haven't found much interesting places to go, however, there is a river park (Sam Pan Bok) near Phibun if I remember correctly. You may want to cross over into Lao. The ChongMek border is about 60 kilo from Ubon, and Mukdahan/Suvanakhet border is 160 kilo.

have a great time in Ubon or where ever you decide to go.

Phadaeng Mansion and Pan house are better quality hotels (apart from Sunee) but are cheaper - 400 - 550 baht a night.

A list of things to see and do can be found here.

http://memock.wordpress.com/ubon-ratchatani/

I'm staying at Sunee Grand the week after next and the quote was 1500 per night - reasonable I thought.

Yes it is a nice hotel, just don't spend to much time in the restaurant! Mind you a new tiny little Japanese place has just opened on the ground floor which isn't too bad.

Dunno how long the discounted prices will last so make the most of them!

It is a time of transition in Ubon as far as natural attractions goes. The monsoon season provides us with the amazing waterfalls and the hot season reveals natures's artwork at the waters recede. Most of the waterfalls have little or no water falling now. Sam Pan Bok, mentioned in a post above is an interesting visit but it is still covered in water. Is is well north of Khong Jiam along the Mekhong.

A place to visit is Pha Taem in Khong Jiam district. There is an interesting 3km hike high above the banks of the Mekhong. It offers archeological drawings and a panoramic view. Some of the movie Alexander with Colin Ferrel were filmed on location there. Also in Khong Jiam is where the Mun and Mekhong rivers meet. There are several interesting temples in the area as well. Gaeng Saphue in Phibun Mangsahan though the river is still high is a good place for a relaxing scenic picnic lunch.

In the south east there is the Emerald Triangle but last I heard it was closed to the public due to tensions between Thailand and Cambodia.

In and around Ubon City are several notable temples. Wat Nong Pa Phong, Wat Pa Nana Chat (forest temple mainly for foreigners), Wat Nong Bua has unique and quite distinctive architecture. Wat Sa Prasan Suk is also interesting.

There are several decent hotels in Ubon under 1000 baht per night, Nevada Inn, mentioned above, is clean, comfortable and convenient. A downfall might be it is located on Nevada complex and surrounded by restaurants, pub, disco, shopping, and theater so it might get noisy sometimes. Sri Isan also under 1000 is down by the river and Big Market.

Hope this helps.

Ratchatani Hotel is offering 30% discount.

There is a great view of Ubon City from the View Restaurant on the top of Ubon Hotel.

Try the Ubon TAT for free maps & info.

I've heard there are some nice waterfalls in the Dara turkish bath.