Saturday Night In Ubon Ratchathani

[SantiSuk]

Good post Ontherig. I'll ask you how to get to your Mun river rafts next time I see you in Enjoy.

PS - be careful - you are publishing more photos of younger sister than you are of your girlfriend

[ontherig]

Good post Ontherig. I'll ask you how to get to your Mun river rafts next time I see you in Enjoy.

PS - be careful - you are publishing more photos of younger sister than you are of your girlfriend

maybe you should ask the bloke who took the photos!

that link isn't my website - its an Oz bloke who lives and teaches in Ubon.

i'm from the UK, i don't teach but live in Ubon.

[transam]

I love Ubon but if I was there as a tourist for 9 days I would take an excursion to southern Laos for 2 or 3 days. Daily international bus from Ubon bus station through the border to Pakse in Laos (2 to 3 hours). Was a bargain at 200 baht a couple of years ago (update and times anyone?). A night in Pakse (walk around, eat French bistro food and drink Beer Lao; visit a Laos disco if you are that way inclined. Baguettes and Laos coffee for breakfast in the morning and then a trip on the Mekong down to Champusak for the ancient Khmer temple (forerunner to Angkor I think). A 3 to 4 day trip would encompass the lovely 4,000 islands in the lower Mekong but that's probably pushing you out of Ubon too long.

If you are exploring the Thai side of Ubon province first you do not need to go back to Ubon - get to the border and walk half a k from the Laos side to the songthaew bus station. Cheap songthaews - get some Kip at the border (laos currency, not an exhortation to rest up), though they probably will take baht.

Agree re parks and Pha Tem. Also get up early and walk around the areas in Ubon with temples 6:30 to 7:30. Poor man's Chiang Mai at that time of day. Dig out the jungle garden coffee bar in Warin Chamrap - nothing like it in Thailand.

[another Ubon hasher]

+1 for Southern Lao - i've just spent a week there. 200 baht bus Ubon to Pakse (+ $35 visa). Pakse is OK for an overnighter but not worth hanging around. Rented a motorbike in Pakse for 7 days ($8 / day) and drove to Champasak (Temples - @2 hours) and then on to Don Det (another 1 1/2 hours). Don Kon / Don Det and all the Si Phan Don (4000 islands) area is a bit special. Hut on the Mekong / Hammock / Beer Lao. Tat Somphamit (Li Phi waterfalls) / Khon Phapheng waterfalls / Dolphins. Just avoid the stoned backpackers and you'll be set. Lao is the real deal. I guess like Thailand 20 years ago - and the people are great. Cheap as chips. But you have to rough it a bit more compared to Thailand.

Out side Ubon city is better - going east i'd take a 2 or 3 days and go to Kong Chiam (theres a big temple there in a cave) also +1 for Pha Taem area and onto Shrintorn Dam (little Pattaya) near Chong Mek and eat big prawns on the lakeside.

If you go North East - Sam Pan Bok is worth checking also.

If you want Thai nightlife in Ubon then goto the Country Club near Big C at the weekend. Lots of Thais listening to Issan music and getting drunk.

An afternoon sitting / drinking on one of the Mun river rafts eating all sorts is worth doing also - like this fellow :

http://isaanstyle.bl...n-thailand.html

Good post Ontherig. I'll ask you how to get to your Mun river rafts next time I see you in Enjoy.

Be sure to go to the loo before you go there or have your Hepatitis jab.

[SantiSuk]

Be sure to go to the loo before you go there or have your Hepatitis jab.

Thailand aint too safe either. We all know about Malaria and Dengue, but I got a liver parasite which can cause cancer if left untreated, probably from eating Isaan som tam palaar (I now only eat the versions of some tam without (uncooked rotten fish) palaar) or from eating larb plaa made with uncooked fish. I was in a UK tropical diseases hospital ward for 4 days getting rid of the fevers and being diagnosed. When I got back here my local doctor told me many Thais get it in Issaan but it helped that Issaan public water supplies are dosed with a trace of the antidote (sounded unlikely somehow). Of course most of us falangs don't drink the local water!

PS - I don't recall having any particular problems with loos in Laos - guest houses and hotels were all fine from memory.

[SantiSuk]

maybe you should ask the bloke who took the photos!

that link isn't my website - its an Oz bloke who lives and teaches in Ubon.

i'm from the UK, i don't teach but live in Ubon.

Perhaps you could tell that bloke in the photograph where your Mun river rafts are then and then I can ask him, since it's him I recognise as being a regular in Enjoy

[songhklasid]

off the beaten track places more for thais? HELLO this IS thailand,why not try khong chiam resort on the mekong river, very relaxing & romantic spot & has a 30 metre pool, good food, although a tad expensive good for 2/3 days.

regards songhklasid.

[bergen]

Just want to remind anyone who's interested about this Saturdays upcoming event:

Ubon HHH next Run (Run 31) Sat 5th February 2011

Meet up at parking area behind Sunee Grand Hotel - near entrance to Supermarket.

As the GM (Grand Master) is not in town, the RA (Religious Adviser) will hare the hash.

The run will start at 1700 hrs sharp, so for those gathering at N'Joy or Wrongway, make sure to be at the starting point in time.........OnOn

More info about Ubon HHH on www.ubonhash.com

[malct]

Will be in town on the 12th feb

[SantiSuk]

To respond myself to a question I raised in a posting above, the Ubon international express bus to Pakse in Southern Laos still costs 200 baht and leaves at 9:30am and 3:30 pm (from the bus station on the northern segment of the ring road).

Courtesy of another thread posted in January 2011, which also had the useful info that you can park a car in Ubon for 50 baht a day at the Phadaeng Mansion Hotel.

[malct]

Update

Hi All Had a good time in Ubon Ratchatani but the sunee Grand was a long way from any kind of nightlife and i only found the Wrong Way Cafe when i got lost while walking on the Sunday afternoon and the bar did not open till 4pm. One think that i was shocked at, that the baht Bus stopped at 7pm at night and it was hard to get from A to B, so stayed local for meals and drink. Did call in for a look around a massage place which looked Really posh on the inside with big chairs for the ladies to sit in, but either all the ladies where busy or the place had just opened LOL and yes i was just looking ;-) the sunee Grand was very good and only paid 1300Baht per night for 2 in a double Room. All in All, It was different for 4 days and it will be nice to explore more towns in Thailand

On a final note, the Hotel had free internet, but you got bitten to hell by the mosquitoes

Malc

[bergen]

Update

Hi All Had a good time in Ubon Ratchatani but the sunee Grand was a long way from any kind of nightlife and i only found the Wrong Way Cafe when i got lost while walking on the Sunday afternoon and the bar did not open till 4pm. One think that i was shocked at, that the baht Bus stopped at 7pm at night and it was hard to get from A to B, so stayed local for meals and drink. Did call in for a look around a massage place which looked Really posh on the inside with big chairs for the ladies to sit in, but either all the ladies where busy or the place had just opened LOL and yes i was just looking ;-) the sunee Grand was very good and only paid 1300Baht per night for 2 in a double Room. All in All, It was different for 4 days and it will be nice to explore more towns in Thailand

On a final note, the Hotel had free internet, but you got bitten to hell by the mosquitoes

Malc

Don't know if you asked for guidance, but will be happy to help you out next time in Ubon, .........there's a lot going on around town!

[MeMock]

The problem is Bergen, he did ask for guidance! This is his thread. A lot of people took the time to answer his questions, provide website links and point him in the right direction. He then comes back and posts how he couldn't find anything around town.

No sympathy here - just wasting our time.

[bergen]

The problem is Bergen, he did ask for guidance! This is his thread. A lot of people took the time to answer his questions, provide website links and point him in the right direction. He then comes back and posts how he couldn't find anything around town.

No sympathy here - just wasting our time.

hmmm yes I was a bit unfocused last evening....

[MeMock]

Wedding Anniversary celebrations were that good huh? Congratulations by the way!

[bergen]

Wedding Anniversary celebrations were that good huh? Congratulations by the way!

Thanks MeMock - I was deep down in a 5L box of red..

[MeMock]

950 baht from South Africa?

[malct]

Sorry if you think that i was wasting your time but i wasnt ! !

i tried my hardest to seek a tourist information map from the hotel. i even called into the wrong way at 3.30pm on the sunday when the girls where putting the shutters up asking for a map when i was totally lost. i do like walking and exploring and found a market in a square on my way to big C. the whole little town looked nice

tuktuk wanted 200baht to run me into town at night!!

[MeMock]

HI Malct,

You have raised a couple of good points in regards to tourists visiting Ubon. The TAT office although friendly should really do more about getting free maps out to all the hotels in the area.

I had a customer last year saying he needed a hobby that might perhaps make a little money as well. I told him to get a map of Ubon onto his computer. Then go out to all the places that most western tourists are likely to want to visit.

I mentioned places like Wrong Way, N Joy, Peppers, Spago, Nana, City Mall bowling/shopping, Nevada complex, SK Mall, TAT office, train and bus ticket outlets, hire car/bikes etc etc. Get these places to pay for a small advert alongside the map with a corresponding number to show where they are on the maps. Also include not for profit places that people might be interested in like parks and temples etc.

Print off 10,000 of them and distribute them all around the city. Each year, redesign, update, resell and redistribute. I use to do this in my home town years ago and it was very popular and made a great deal of money for myself.

A lot of your problems could have been solved if you did a little more research but not everyone is that way inclined hence the need of a good map!

[malct]

Hi MeMock

I am pleased that you understand that i was not wasting anyones time.

I arrived at the airport at 8pm at night and had a meal in the Sunee grand which was good value.

I asked the reception on where i could go in town that night for western people and she did tell me to go to the wrong way cafe, But it was now getting onto 11pm and getting late.

The next day i asked recetion for a street map but they where unable to supply me with one, I qasked at the tourist booth in the hotel and they could not give me a map, only wanted to supply me with a trip.

On my walk into town , I walked into town and i turned right down by the park, i then walked for a few minutes and turned right again, walked a few minutes and turned right again thinking that i would end up on the road leading to the hotel, thats when i found i was lost and looked right and found the wrong way. I did check the map on the wall in the bar which was a good help.

For a town that will have a lot of history, Please get a map out for the tourist's, its ok looking on the web and google earth before setting off on your holidays, but onces in town, things can look totally different.

On the monday, i was taken off to yasothon to meet the GF's family so did not get the chance to get into town, The sunee is a great Hotel but yes, its a bit of a walk from the local bars.

Will take you up on your offer for you to show me the sights next time.

Malc