Exploring Ubon

[ubonrthai]

Has anyone ever hiked the river in Dom Pradit here? I can see several places where there are probably some nice waterfalls, but I don't believe it's easy access. Anyone know anything about that area? I like to find random places on Google Earth and then go look for them.

You can see one area of water that's nearly twice the width of the Huai Luang Waterfall if you follow it back a little ways.

Edited January 22, 2011 by ubonrthai

[jamescollister]

Hi there

Unfortunatly can not access you map nets too slow. Anyway I live just north of that area [Hua Kar, Ban Sang Hom] Nice water falls and cascades all around the area in the wet. As for going off into the jungle by your self, I would think twice, we still have some bad boys up there. If you are in the area next wet season drop me a line and I can take you to some places that no or few westeners have seen. Jim PS I am on youtube

[ubonrthai]

I attached a picture of where I'm talking about. There is a river heading straight South in the middle. It's as far South as you can get in Ubon and I can see multiple interesting location and a waterfall possibly around the size of Huai Luang. I tried getting up to the Emerald Triangle last month but the Army checkpoint said we couldn't head up there. They said they would walk up with me sometime though.

What do you mean by "we still have some bad boys up there."

I live in the city of Ubon and would love to visit more of the Southern Ubon area when you have time.

Hi there

Unfortunatly can not access you map nets too slow. Anyway I live just north of that area [Hua Kar, Ban Sang Hom] Nice water falls and cascades all around the area in the wet. As for going off into the jungle by your self, I would think twice, we still have some bad boys up there. If you are in the area next wet season drop me a line and I can take you to some places that no or few westeners have seen. Jim PS I am on youtube

[jamescollister]

I attached a picture of where I'm talking about. There is a river heading straight South in the middle. It's as far South as you can get in Ubon and I can see multiple interesting location and a waterfall possibly around the size of Huai Luang. I tried getting up to the Emerald Triangle last month but the Army checkpoint said we couldn't head up there. They said they would walk up with me sometime though.

What do you mean by "we still have some bad boys up there."

I live in the city of Ubon and would love to visit more of the Southern Ubon area when you have time.

Hi there

Unfortunatly can not access you map nets too slow. Anyway I live just north of that area [Hua Kar, Ban Sang Hom] Nice water falls and cascades all around the area in the wet. As for going off into the jungle by your self, I would think twice, we still have some bad boys up there. If you are in the area next wet season drop me a line and I can take you to some places that no or few westeners have seen. Jim PS I am on youtube

Not that much wiser from your map, but when I get some fast net I will have a look. At the moment we are in OZ for Xmas new year and will not be home till the end of Feb. Do you go to the Wrong Way, if so we can meet for a beer on my return.

Bad boys are guys that move things from Lao into Thailand or steal things and take them to Lao, plus poachers etc. It's the jungle and AKs M14 16 etc are not uncommon.

don't know way the arny turned you back last month, we were up there on the Kings Birthday.Jim

PS PM me or e mail me. The address is in my profile.

[ubonrthai]

Not sure why it was closed. We only got as far as the lake and the road was blocked where they have the little memorial of the skirmishes with Vietnamese. My Thai reading is pretty rough but I'm pretty sure it must be the incident talked about on Wikipedia in '85. I had no idea how many skirmishes the Thai army had with the Vietnamese. I bet there's plenty of mines still out there. Very interesting read.

Edited January 24, 2011 by ubonrthai

[MeMock]

I just had a look at your map link, looks interesting for sure. As the crow flies it is only about 16 kms from my house so always interested in anything interesting that you might find.

Where is your place James? Is there anything interesting at the emerald triangle border as last time I went (years ago) the road was also closed and we only got as far as an army camp which was good for a look around.

[ubonrthai]

I'm working on mapping out all the waterfalls and viewpoints I can find using my GPS and Google Earth. Going to take awhile as I don't have much time right now, but there's a lot more in this province than I thought there was.

always interested in anything interesting that you might find.

Edited January 24, 2011 by ubonrthai

[MeMock]

Good luck with that, I look forward to catching up with you eventually and amongst other things can swap some GPS co ordinates.

[jamescollister]

I just had a look at your map link, looks interesting for sure. As the crow flies it is only about 16 kms from my house so always interested in anything interesting that you might find.

Where is your place James? Is there anything interesting at the emerald triangle border as last time I went (years ago) the road was also closed and we only got as far as an army camp which was good for a look around.

Depends on what you call interesting I quess, but my little patch of jungle is never really been explored, the world sort of passes us by until recently when real roads were put in. Have a look on youtube my channal river picnic I was the first Farang to ever go there.

Our place is off the 2248 you turn towards Lao at Hui Kha on trhe 2254 and head into the jungle. Jim

[MeMock]

We aren't very far away from each other James as I am about 10km north west out of Narchaleui.

[jamescollister]

We aren't very far away from each other James as I am about 10km north west out of Narchaleui.

Often go to the market there,it's about the same distance for us as Buntharik. do you ever go to Tronds place [Nam Huan] Maye be can catch up there for a night on the piss. Jim

[MeMock]

Yes, I have been to Tronds place a number of times and taken various people there. Unfortunately we are not living around there full time anymore but will try and tee something up next time we are visiting.

[ubonrthai]

Looks like there's a nice viewpoint near you guys at Phu Hin Dang. Never noticed that before. If you head straight North as the bird flies to 14°36'8.86"N, 105°29'52.77"E it looks like there's about a 18 meter drop in the river. Huai Luang is 12 meters in comparison if using the Google Earth elevation numbers There's another interesting location at 14°21'9.35"N, 105° 5'4.26"E that looks interesting. Kind of fun to scan over the jungle and look for locations like these.

Higher resolution is coming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoEye-1

http://emap-int.com/blog/?page_id=156

[MeMock]

I copy and pasted those directions in and all I can say is that your google earth is much better then mine as I can hardly see anything!

[jamescollister]

Looks like there's a nice viewpoint near you guys at Phu Hin Dang. Never noticed that before. If you head straight North as the bird flies to 14°36'8.86"N, 105°29'52.77"E it looks like there's about a 18 meter drop in the river. Huai Luang is 12 meters in comparison if using the Google Earth elevation numbers There's another interesting location at 14°21'9.35"N, 105° 5'4.26"E that looks interesting. Kind of fun to scan over the jungle and look for locations like these.

Higher resolution is coming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeoEye-1

http://emap-int.com/blog/?page_id=156

Hi again, are you printing these locations out so as to make a map of the area. I would love to have a copy. As my profile says hobbies drinking beer and hiking in the jungle.This year I was hoping to try a bit of canoeing down some of the rivers, The jungle is too thick to access many places, but the rivers are ways to places that you can not reach on foot. Jim

[ubonrthai]

Here is part of my Google Earth project. Download the file and open it in Google Earth.

I think one of the most interesting spots is a 753m viewpoint on the west side of the "Dom Pradit Jungle" as I have it labeled. Khao Phra Wihan is 635m and Pha Taem is around 225m in comparison. You might be able to reach it if you hike along the ridge from the road to the NW. Anyone been up to that border crossing to the NW?

Another interesting spot is in the middle of the "Dom Pradit Jungle." There is a pretty big ravine that looks like it has a series of waterfalls based on comparing it to other known waterfalls, but I really don't know. Google Earth elevation isn't spot on. Huai Luang is said to be 30m but looking at pictures I think it's more like 20m. On Google Earth it takes about 150m to see a 20m drop in elevation at Huai Luang. In this ravine I highlighted, a 150m has a 40m drop in elevation at the waterfall marker.

If you've been to the army post on the way to the Emerald Triangle, there is a memorial about a clash with Vietnamese forces. I found an old New York Times article about it that's an interesting read. Click here. If there's still 100,000 land mines just in that area, don't think I'll be doing any hiking.

There were a lot of land mines all along the Phanom Dangrek Mountains, but this area south of Dom Pradit seems to be between those mountains and what's considered Chong Bok. Anyone have any links to maps that label these areas? Be curious to read some more.

South Ubon Tiaw.kmz

Edited January 30, 2011 by ubonrthai

[Sandgroper1066]

Interesting stuff. I tried getting to "The Emerald Triangle" last year, but the road was also blocked then.Looks an interesting area.

The article from "The New York Times" was enlightening to me, as my wife told me a story of some "soldiers" from Cambodia raiding a bank in Nam Yuen (her home district) and taking a doctor from the Nam Yuen hospital as hostage in 1985.I always assumed they were remnants of the Khmer Rouge,but maybe they were Vietnamese soldiers.Apparently some Thai soldiers cornered this raiding party in a local temple and killed them all.

There's a lot to learn about this area.

Cheers

[jamescollister]

Hi Ubon Thai

A bit better idea of where you are talking about, but my net is very slow and not very clear. When I get on a good computer with a good printer I will print them out, then I can go and have a wander round the area. Jim

[bergen]

Yes The New York Times article is interesting, and I talked to some Thais from Nam Yuen about it yesterday, and they knew the story.

There are several villages in the Chong Bok area with many people injured by mines. Especially in Ban Non Sung (spelling may not be correct).

Edited February 1, 2011 by bergen

[ubonrthai]

I talked to the staff at Phu Chong Na Yoi and there is a "trail" going all the way to the South end of that Dom Pradit area. If you go into the visitors area before heading down the steps to Huai Luang waterfall, they have a topographical map showing that area. The end is called นำ้ตกปากคาบสามทวน and they say it's a 3 to 4 day hike just to get there. When things calm down with Cambodia anyone can call the park office to arrange a guided trek with a park ranger. The guy I talked to was pretty excited about the prospect of going again.

[ubonrthai]

After reading the article in the BKK Post about land mines today, I will definitely be avoiding this area without a proper trail and guide. Still hope to make it up there someday.

http://www.bangkokpo...border-conflict

Also, here is a small map of the unit responsible for clearing mines in Ubon. http://tmac.rtarf.mi.th/hmau3t.php

Anyone have any more info?

Edited May 17, 2011 by ubonrthai