My Recent Trip To Udon

[Phronesis]

Well I am just back to my home in Phuket after a three day visit to Udon Thani.

Here is my report:

• The bus trip up was uneventful. I sat VIP (1780THB) but my personal video screen thing was busted. The aircon was also deathly cold the whole trip. It was tantamount to spending 20 hours in a freezer.
• With the advice of another TV member on another thread, I walked from the bus station up past Central and then in to Soi Sampan. I checked in to the Top Mansion (again on the advice of other members).
• The check in staff at Top Mansion were efficient, but very robotic and cold. Tuk Tan speaks good English. I didn't notice any "cute staff" as mentioned on another thread. In fact two of the office staff are now lady boys.
• The bed was comfy in the room, the air conditioner old and noisy and there was a big problem with those tiny little ants. The fridge was not plugged in and was moldy inside. The wifi was a complete disaster and keep dropping out with limited or no connectivity. Each time I would phone reception and the lady boy would restart the modem...hopeless.
• I rented a motorcycle from the young lady boy in the beauty salon across the street from Top Mansion. He asked for 200THB per day but I offered 150THB per day and he quickly accepted. He requested a copy of my pass port and 2KTHB deposit.
• I spent my days going on long extended rides, I rode down to Khon Kaen and then out to Ubol Rattana dam...very impressive and worth the trip alone. If you go make sure you scale the nearby peak that has the big Buddha temple on top. At the back of the temple there are some salas with a panoramic view FOREVER out across the huge dam and up the valley north all the way to Laos.
• After scaling the temple mountain I went to the talad nut in the village below to buy some polamai and an iced coffee. There was a buad pla procession moving past the market and as it drew nearer there was a brief but torrential down pour. The young girls and boys dancing in the procession were drunk and absolutely drenched to the bone...but they were having a wow of a time pulling old ladies out from their market stalls to join in the dance in the street. The monk (to be) riding in the main pick up truck was tossing handfuls of khanom out in to the crowd...A fantastic cultural event that I was lucky enough to witness by chance.
• Oh...I forgot to mention when I was up on the top of the Buddha mountain and also when out on the dam wall I witnessed three or four big rockets shooting up in the endless horizon. They must of worked because that evening back in Udon town it rained like the devil with lots of phar par and phar lap.
• I found two great places to eat. The first is an Iranian guy who runs a little grill stall with his thai wife at the night market. He is located over behind the thai stalls at the northern end. He does a great barbequed pork steak with toasted bread and a nice chilled salad for 60THB. His beef steak is also stellar at 80THB. The second place is a Thai restaurant on the left just as you come into soi sampan on the left...it is called Ban Bokcha or something like that. It is run by Thai chinese and has a small pond and water feature and nice slab timber tables. 30-40THB mains, 10THB sides and great portions....lovely
• The restaurant formerly called Kapow Wings in Soi sampan is now owned by a young Italian guy and his Swiss/Thai loog krueng wife. They are great young people and I wish them all the best for their business. They have just changed the name of the place and a menu change is on the way. They do a lovely american breakfast set including juice and a mug of tea or coffee, with a jug of real milk, for just 85THB. The Italian bloke is great and very happy...I would be too if I were him because his girl is absolutely stunning from head to toe...she also speaks Swiss, English, French, German, Italian and Thai. They also have a new tuk tuk and the italian lad ran me out to the airport for 120K.
• It was refreshing to see so many farangs working in Udon without work permits with no sign of trouble from immigration...quite a contrast from the grab for cash here in Phuket. In fact everyone who saw the Italian guy driving me in his tuk tuk to the airport, including several police laughed and waved. The Iranian guy also happy works away at the night market behind his barbeque hotplate.
• When I went through security at the airport I forgot an old pocket knife in my money belt that I always carry with me when I travel. I routinely put in it my checked baggage but this time around I forgot and it was picked up by the XRay machine. The older head guy on security told me I cannot take it through and so I told him I would go back down to the check in counter and check it. However once downstairs, the Air Asia chap at the counter told me I could not because the baggage had already been sent out to the plane. I then went back up stairs and put the knife back through the xray and spoke with the head security guy. I explained to him, in Thai, that although the knife wasn't very valuable, it was very sentimental. He took the knife and went and talked with the Air Asia staff. He then came back to me and quietly gave me the knife and told me to put it in my carry on laptop bag. I gave him a big wai and thanked him.
• I intended to stay longer in Udon, but, to be frank, the night scene was nothing short of depressing. Hagged...absolutely old and grotesque girls in the bars...and few of them at that. The expat patrons were even more unsavory than the girls. A creepy looking French guy who makes Gollum look handsome. The usually smattering of obese tattooed blokes wearing thongs and a wife beater...and a seedy old Norwegian guy quietly negotiating via a mamasan to barfine an underage girl. The kid turned down his offer by the way...good for her. Utterly horrible bar girls who after they realised you were not a potential fare would tell you to go and cuckwow. Ugly, rude and bitter...
• So in summary, the cheap food, great fresh air and scenery, friendly people and random cultural events still make Udon a great destination. But do not, under any circumstances go there for the beer bar scene at Day and Night, the Sampan strip, or Nutty Park...not unless your enjoy scraping the VERY bottom of the barrel.

[Gweiloman]

Great trip report OP! I've been up that way once before on my bike with my missus but did not spend much time there. Next time, I might take a day or two off to visit some of these places you mentioned.

[rene123]

Thanks for the informative report. I have a English friend who has a Thai wife and lives down there somewhere. I was considering riding my D-tracker down there next winter. The bar scene doesn't interest me.

[BookMan]

Interesting report, thanks for sharing that.

this bit gave me a laugh

I intended to stay longer in Udon, but, to be frank, the night scene was nothing short of depressing. Hagged...absolutely old and grotesque girls in the bars...and few of them at that. The expat patrons were even more unsavory than the girls. A creepy looking French guy who makes Gollum look handsome. The usually smattering of obese tattooed blokes wearing thongs and a wife beater...and a seedy old Norwegian guy quietly negotiating via a mamasan to barfine an underage girl. The kid turned down his offer by the way...good for her. Utterly horrible bar girls who after they realised you were not a potential fare would tell you to go and cuckwow. Ugly, rude and bitte

[kannot]

Good for Air Asia I get fed up with this crap about liquids, pastes, gels bazookas, mortars etc etc, no really its a freakin pain, then you get the rip off 70 baht for water once you pass though security, bloody big scam.

[DLock]

Cool trip report. Thanks for sharing.

[Berkshire]

Amazing that the airport security let you board with a knife. That would never, never happen in the US. I couldn't get a tube of toothpaste through in a US airport once because it was too big. Good on the Thai dudes for employing a little common sense. Of course, some here would probably bust the guy for being too lenient.

[BookMan]

Amazing that the airport security let you board with a knife. That would never, never happen in the US. I couldn't get a tube of toothpaste through in a US airport once because it was too big. Good on the Thai dudes for employing a little common sense. Of course, some here would probably bust the guy for being too lenient.

Or maybe not.

The US Transportation Security Administration will let people carry small pocketknives onto passenger planes for the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks, along with golf clubs, hockey sticks and plastic Wiffle Ball-style bats.

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/us-to-allow-pocketknives-on-planes-20130306-2fk51.html

[Berkshire]

Amazing that the airport security let you board with a knife. That would never, never happen in the US. I couldn't get a tube of toothpaste through in a US airport once because it was too big. Good on the Thai dudes for employing a little common sense. Of course, some here would probably bust the guy for being too lenient.

Or maybe not.

>The US Transportation Security Administration will let people carry small pocketknives onto passenger planes for the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks, along with golf clubs, hockey sticks and plastic Wiffle Ball-style bats.

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/us-to-allow-pocketknives-on-planes-20130306-2fk51.html

Interesting. Did not know that. Great to know that I can now carry on Wiffle ball bats. Now how about standard size toothpaste tubes!

[breadbin]

Good post, we'll be up there in August, won't be going by bus though!

Good luck.

[rubberduck]

Lonely planets call this 'adventure' !

[kannot]

Amazing that the airport security let you board with a knife. That would never, never happen in the US. I couldn't get a tube of toothpaste through in a US airport once because it was too big. Good on the Thai dudes for employing a little common sense. Of course, some here would probably bust the guy for being too lenient.

Or maybe not.

>The US Transportation Security Administration will let people carry small pocketknives onto passenger planes for the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks, along with golf clubs, hockey sticks and plastic Wiffle Ball-style bats.

>

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/us-to-allow-pocketknives-on-planes-20130306-2fk51.html

Interesting. Did not know that. Great to know that I can now carry on Wiffle ball bats. Now how about standard size toothpaste tubes!

In the wrong hand toothpaste can be a lethal weapon, I can see it now. me forcing the hostess to unlock the cabin door holding the toothpaste to her head unless she did what i said, "one false move and you get it bitch"

I;d use menthol for extra terror obviously

[lovelaos]

The OP is absolutely correct about the girls in Udon. Most of them have been on the scene a long time and go back home to Udon as they can't make a good living in places like Phuket and Pattaya. I used spend a bit of time in Udon on my R&R but the expats there really are the bottom of the barrel and it's a depressing place to be after a few days. I wonder if the OP met the farang Scottish monk who seems to hang around town all day smoking and drinking coffee?

[Phronesis]

The OP is absolutely correct about the girls in Udon. Most of them have been on the scene a long time and go back home to Udon as they can't make a good living in places like Phuket and Pattaya. I used spend a bit of time in Udon on my R&R but the expats there really are the bottom of the barrel and it's a depressing place to be after a few days. I wonder if the OP met the farang Scottish monk who seems to hang around town all day smoking and drinking coffee?

No didn't meet him, but saw him and overheard his Scottish accent as he chatted with an obese, tattooed, wife beater wearing, colleague outside the Irish clock. To be honest he didn't stand out much in comparison to the other farang fringe dwellers hanging around. And the bar girls were truly on end of the line. I spent some time during my trip out in some very remote villages on the rented bike. The bulk of the girls in the bars looked just like the sun dried old boilers working out on the farms. The only difference was a 100THB frock and some scruffy pumps.

[Phronesis]

Amazing that the airport security let you board with a knife. That would never, never happen in the US. I couldn't get a tube of toothpaste through in a US airport once because it was too big. Good on the Thai dudes for employing a little common sense. Of course, some here would probably bust the guy for being too lenient.

Or maybe not.

<

blockquote>

>The US Transportation Security Administration will let people carry small pocketknives onto passenger planes for the first time since the September 11 terrorist attacks, along with golf clubs, hockey sticks and plastic Wiffle Ball-style bats.

m>>

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/us-to-allow-pocketknives-on-planes-20130306-2fk51.html

Interesting. Did not know that. Great to know that I can now carry on Wiffle ball bats. Now how about standard size toothpaste tubes!

In the wrong hand toothpaste can be a lethal weapon, I can see it now. me forcing the hostess to unlock the cabin door holding the toothpaste to her head unless she did what i said, "one false move and you get it bitch"

I;d use menthol for extra terror obviously

If your toothpaste was the "whitening" variety, she would ignore your threat completely.

[ALFREDO]

-Phronesis-

Funny "ranting"

With Bus? A torture! Unnecessary to!

Air Asia has, sometimes and also now, Promotions, Phuket - Udon Thani - Phuket, 2.580.- Baht in the moment. RETURN !

I live in Udon Thani province 85 km from the city, but without having family and own kids there and also in Chayaphum province ,

I would not have a reason to live in Isaan, or visit it!

When in the city over night, I to sleep, when possible and not fully booked, in the TOP MANSION,

Its cheap, near, in walking distance of the Market, one of the LOTUS, Mc Donalds, the Central Shopping Center, the "sorry" Bar scene

and opposite of two German speaking community, meeting points, ERWIN-Cafe-Bar and NOBBI Rest. which I as Austrian like to frequent.

You forgot that "Place of interest", 50 m from your Hotel.

"Udon Thani police was notified about a fatal stabbing at “Together Beer-Bar” address 62, Soi Samphan, Udon Thani."

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/553976-german-stabs-udon-thani-girlfriend-17-times-to-death/

Edited May 28, 2013 by ALFREDO

[Eesat]

My plot to take over the plane from Phnom Penh to Bangkok with my nails scissors was foiled by the Cambodian customs officers!

To the OP,so you saw the real Thailand,North Thailand!
The bar scene is depressing but if you hang around the massively re-developed Central Shopping Mall there it's full of smiling young student girls and great bars and retaurants like Black Canyon.Alsothe new shops near to the train station is full of happy,smiling Isaan people drinking and having fun!

Night and Day is just full of complete weirdo Scandinavians now and definitely best avoided,the Irish clock does a fantastic Indian curry but is like the bar from Star Wars also!

Oh well,back to the conveyer belt of tourists,jetski scammers,tuk-tuk mafia and road carnage that is Phuket then!

[David48]

Did your lovely lassie travel with you.

Details of their encounter can enjoyed here ... thank-you-god

If she didn't accompany you ... it must have been hell being separated from her.

How did you do it?

Shall I pop by and console her ...

.

[muythai2013]

wow the bus is only 800bht, how did you manage that price.

was that for 2 people.

[Eesat]

wow the bus is only 800bht, how did you manage that price.

was that for 2 people.

You should read the thread above,he needed another seat for his huge member!

[bergen]

Good and enjoyable read!

[Phronesis]

Did your lovely lassie travel with you.

Details of their encounter can enjoyed here ... thank-you-god

If she didn't accompany you ... it must have been hell being separated from her.

How did you do it?

Shall I pop by and console her ...

.

No I picked her up upon my return and she is sitting on my sofa right now watching a Tom Cruise movie on cable. She was very happy I was back. Very...

[swissie]

Well, the only thing the OP delivered was a trip-description and the circumstances that awaited him upon arrival at the destiny. And furthermore he was looking for some "night-life and entertainment".

As far as I know this is not against the law.

The result was predictable: Old crows hanging around, having missed the "Gravy-Train" to Europe or the US a very long time ago, while they were still working in Pattaya (again:a long time ago.)

Their revenge, so to speak: If a hungry Farang comes my way (against all expectation), I will try for 2500 Bht for short-time.

Thailand is quite nice, but if looking for "Night-Live and Entertainment", the countryside is not the place to look for, unless Djungle and Temples is something you fancy.

But of course, In all of the above: The "Wifey-Factor" is excluded.

Cheers.

[downtown]

Good for Air Asia I get fed up with this crap about liquids, pastes, gels bazookas, mortars etc etc, no really its a freakin pain, then you get the rip off 70 baht for water once you pass though security, bloody big scam.

my dad, on one of his trips to thailand, went through swampy security with his swiss pocket knife in his bumbag, and went through no probs, which is reassuring

[DreamRider]

Night and Day is just full of complete weirdo Scandinavians now and definitely best avoided,the Irish clock does a fantastic Indian curry but is like the bar from Star Wars also!

All except the Welsh guy Ian who has The Scotsman down there; top bloke!

[George Harmony]

Did you visit the internet cafe at soy sampan??

[ALFREDO]

The bar scene is depressing but if you hang around the massively re-developed Central Shopping Mall there it's full of smiling young student girls

So you "Suggest" :, the "smiling young students" instead of the Bar scene? Does it work in that way?

Irish clock does a fantastic Indian curry but is like the bar from Star Wars also!

That is really, FUNNY! Good joke!

Edited May 30, 2013 by ALFREDO

[farangme]

The OP found drunks in a beer bar? Shocking! Maybe the sex service farang beer bar scene is not what most people come to Issan for. Udon is a part of LOS where you go for 'real' Thailand away from the in-your-face p4p scene. Sexpats should stay down south. Enjoy the taxi, jet ski, beer bar druggings and other scams in your home province. Some of us will continue to enjoy the 'normal' life up north.

As for the 20 hour bus ride, kinda says something by itself.

Sent from my PC36100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[MobileContent]

+1

Really liked the report

[George Harmony]

The bar scene is depressing but if you hang around the massively re-developed Central Shopping Mall there it's full of smiling young student girls

So you "Suggest" :, the "smiling young students" instead of the Bar scene? Does it work in that way?

Those smilingUdon students who smile at you desirably at the malls and nightmarkets etc..belong perhaps to the thousands of sex-workers in karaokes etc..etc.. and indeed there are some very attractive.

http://www.thaigers.com/forum/index.php?/topic/7809-7000-student-sex-workers-in-udon-thani/