1 or 2 Nights in... Buriram, Sisaket or Surin... ?

[DILLIGAD]

So Henrik2000 the OP, where did you end up going and how was it?

Edited January 3, 2016 by DILLIGAD

[henrik2000]

So Henrik2000 the OP, where did you end up going and how was it?

Dilligad, thanks. In the end i spent every single night in a small-town lodge, not in a provincial capital, because i enjoy being in the countryside a lot especially very early morning and around sunset with a bicycle + satellite picture GPS. I had asked my question here just in case i *might* get hungry for city nights or that all country lodges might be all fully booked around New Year.

From one country lodge i went to Surin two times for a night out, because it was by far the closest of the big cities, and spent time in the entertainment area and on the night food market, mainly in the Tawan Daeng. From what i saw at night i wasn't impressed at all, but maybe you can't expect that from an Isaan capital. It would certainly not be a reason to spend a hotel night in Surin for me personally. I also didn't manage to find out if there is a nice park where people go for sunset and exercise (as there clearly is in Khon Kaen or Udon or the riverside in NKP or the lakeside in 101).

I have many thoughts about the Tawan Daeng in Surin, as i love Thai live music places and have seen many in the past. I might even start a different thread about it asking your comparative thoughs. Certainly i can say now that on my around five orders in the Tawan Daeng Surin they tried to cheat me at least three times and succeeded at least one time. As usual, the damage to my happiness was bigger than to my wallet (btw i was not blocking a whole table, i was sitting at the bar; i do speak well-tested Thai for ordering food etc.; i never felt cheated in other Tawan Daengs in BKK, KK etc. etc.). Also it seemed to me that customers in Surin partied especially hard and enthusiastically compared to other places (both visits just around New Year, but not on 31st). While in other cities even TAT officials told me with some justification "Morlam is dead", this certainly couldn't be said of Surin.

I might go back to bigger Isaan cities if they have a promising live music place for a night out, but don't plan to spend nights there except when really necessary travel-wise. Buriram intrigues me because it is completely ignored by several guide books i use, even though that should'nt be a reason to go there and quite likely i won't.

Edited January 3, 2016 by henrik2000

[henrik2000]

To my last comment about Surin i want to add that it was from a purely touristical point of view. If i was an expat in Isaan, i might see things very differently.

[Bredbury Blue]

Sounds like you had a good trip (read your post on Khao Phra Viharn).

Any small-town lodge worthy of mentioning/recommending from your trip?

Likewise, any particular place/sight you'd recommend for others to visit?

[henrik2000]

Sounds like you had a good trip (read your post on Khao Phra Viharn).

Any small-town lodge worthy of mentioning/recommending from your trip?

Likewise, any particular place/sight you'd recommend for others to visit?

Bredbury, about country side i had started a thread earlier which has many good tips:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/878680-is-there-a-center-of-thai-khmer-ness/

The lodges i staid are mentioned there. Most rent bicycles and motorcycles and even terrible quads, but they might be booked out when you arrive. For me personally i would say: take only lodges with bicycle rental, use GPS with satellite pics, and landscape-wise the far south of Sisaket and Ubon provinces seems to be the nicest. I often got up with alarm clock to be out before sunrise.

For several reasons i quite liked the Rerawadi Lodge in Khun Han (first seen in above mentioned thread), one of them is that it is on the border between small town and rice fields: You can reach evening market, nice friendly independant restaurants (i don't like to be forced to eat in my lodging) and real coffee shops within 2 kms AND you can be on dusty rice field tracks in one minute. There's also a live music place 2 kms away, which was most terrible on my visit. Other lodges are very isolated, feel prison-like and some serve food only until 7 p.m. while the next noodle stall is 8 kms away. Also Rerawadi seems to draw a crowd slightly different from some other small-town lodges. While i do miss a few small things in Rerawadi, overall i feel very good + free there and have a good mix between independance and company + assistance when i want/need them. The owners are very approachable and eager to help, which can't be said of every place i've been to.

There's also this lodge on road 2248 25 kms east of Khao Phra Wiharn where i had only lunch, a good Thom Ka Gai. There i felt like in a "curated jungle" under huge trees, very nice, but also very very isolated and i think they don't rent bicycles. I had a look at the rooms and they seemed a tad more simple than in other lodges. The next small town seems to be Ban Nam Yuen about 1,5 kms away. I believe that lodge is marked in Thai on the Google Map. They have a dog called Khao Niao.

Kantharalak and Prasart already felt too large for me, even though Kantharalak has a cosy, almost sophisticated entertainment strip just east of Tesco (didn't see it in full swing though) and Prasart has nice suburban noodle shacks some blocks away from the main roads and a cute aircon coffee shop where coffee and mango cheesecake didn't taste like much unfortunately (the coffee shop in Khun Han is also cute and has better coffee, but no cake, only waffles). I could do without some of the expat watching that happened to me, though not in the coffee shops.

Edited January 4, 2016 by henrik2000