Esan - Spring Break 2005!

By Molly Angstman

For this spring break, my good friend Ulfie (Bangladesh) and our friend and neighbor Moritz (German, speaks really good Thai) decided to explore the northeastern portion of Thailand, Esan. It is famous for its food, handicrafts, Khmer ruins, and unfortunately, poverty. 

We decided to focus on Highway 2, a road that goes from Korat in the west until Ubon Rachatani in the east, which almost touches the Cambodian border. It is the main transportation route of southern Esan. We only had one week so we decided that efficiency was the most important element in our planning. Turns out this didn’t really work out and we did more of a double circle rather than a straight shot up and down Highway 2. We had a great time though, even though we are all exhausted.

Molly at the ruins at Prasat Phanom Rung

March 6 Sunday - Korat

From Hua Hin it was 3 hours north to Bangkok’s train station, and then to platform 10 to board with our 2nd class no AC tickets to Korat. The train was dirty but comfortable. I don’t know why they always clean the outside of the train but never the inside. 

I delight in watching the Thai countryside. I see all sorts of things that just make me think or giggle. 

- a monk out for a stroll, hands folded behind him 
- the temples of Ayuttaya in the distance
- mass aerobics in public squares (the whole village takes part!)

I like Esan so far. People have been low key and quiet, things are extremely cheap after Hua Hin and Bangkok. Its also kind of cool here, a nice breeze and low humidity. Just ask my hair! 

We are staying in another haunted-orphanage style hotel. The management parks their cars in the lobby. It’s not the cleanest place I’ve been to but it is so cheap we could not refuse. Perhaps next time we will splurge and get a room with a western-style commode. My main complaint about Esan is the population of cockroaches. There was one in our bathroom the size of a rat. 

March 7 Monday - Korat

Korat might be the 2nd biggest city in Thailand, but it doesn’t have much. By 3:30 we had covered, on foot, all of the wats. We saw one that looked like a theme park (very random decoration), a falling-down one, and one in the middle of a lake. My favorite temple was in a tiny cave with big fish, Buddha statues, a guest book, and a Thai family watching TV. 

We recovered sufficiently enough to go do some damage at the night market. Shopping in Korat sounds like shopping in Oklahoma or something. You don’t expect it to be the fashion capital of Thailand. People have good taste out here in the middle of nowhere. 
March 8 Tuesday - Piimai

Tonight we are in Piimai after a very long full day. We got up after another night of living in a parking lot (no seriously, last night they played with their motorcycles in the lobby instead of their cars) at 9 and got sumtum breakfast before going to the bus station. The bus was the orange kind, which means it gets really crowded and kinda sweaty. 

Piimai is tiny and quiet. The town is built surrounding the huge Ankor ruin park. We took the wrong way to the entrance gate and ended up walking an extra 2 miles at least. The best part of Piimai is our hotel, which is wildlife free, has AC, hot water, windows, towels, soap, and A TV WITH OCCASIONAL ENGLISH! The minute we saw the place we wanted to stay 2 nights but we talked ourselves out of it. 

The ruins are big and pretty. They seem more well-kept than the Ankor Wat I saw in Cambodia. After we went to the ruins we took motorbikes to the big banyan tree, the biggest one in Thailand. It was a nice break from the heat. I could live under the tree and become a hermit.

A stone in the wall of Blarney Castle in Ireland. According to an Irish legend, those who kiss the Blarney Stone receive a gift of eloquence that enables them to obtain, through persuasion, anything they want.

March 9 Wednesday - Buriram

There was a little girl outside the restaurant tonight with her head on the table, banging her open hands on the wall. Ulfie points at her and says, “The little baby just realized how boring Buriram is.” Its true, and we are in Buriram’s even less exciting suburb. The night market was almost closed when we got there at 7:30, and it was almost impossible to find a place to eat. We have reasoned that people work from very early in the morning and thus go to bed early, and funds are generally too tight to eat out like southerners do. So its 10 PM and we are all snug in our rooms, listening to the karaoke birthday party downstairs.

Today we had a very early start that was not our happiest of times. We all got on the bus cranky because we had to leave our lush Piimai palace. We switched busses at some tiny wild west town and sat for another 2 hours to Buriram. 

The ruins were indeed pretty and exceptionally well preserved, but it was again so hot all I wanted to do was to sit under a tree somewhere and pass out. The other problem I have been struggling with is that I am completely immune to temples of this type of incredible architecture. I perhaps have seen too many, as well as the best to be seen (Ankor). So I am a little bored with the temples so far. The second temple of the day was very nice and pin-drop quiet, like they forgot to advertise it or something. It was a nice serene, climb-less way to end the day. 

March 10 Thursday – Tiny little border town

We have changed our plans about 8 times today. It’s mostly because the remoteness of our destinations and incomplete information in the Lonely Planet. So we are in Kantarnalak awaiting a visit to the Prasat here, a big ruin complex famously traded back and forth between good friends (heavy sarcasm) Cambodia and Thailand. 

This little town is sooo close to the Cambodian border it feels like another country. I kept saying, “oh this looks like Cambodia,” when I looked out the window all week. I finally looked at the map today and we are only about 20 miles away. 

March 11 Friday - Ubon Rachatani

Today has been a day of shattered plans as well. The ruins in the morning went as planned. The complex was impressive but I think we all felt we had already seen much the same elsewhere. The Cambodian quirks made it the most interesting of the places we have been. The landmine signs just add so much atmosphere… It was very early and quite an expensive ordeal, however. You have to pay Cambodia, Thailand, and your taxi to get in to the complex. 

I honestly have had enough of the road. Looking around my room, I am almost positive I will get lice. Ulfie has opted to sleep in her jeans and jacket to protect her self. This is definitely the most dingy place we have found this trip. It looks like the inside of the train.

Molly, Linh, and Ulfie pose by a Buddha statue held in place by tree roots at Wat Mahatat Ayuttaya

March 12 Saturday - Cha-am, home

I can only think of a handful of occasions where I might have been dirtier than yesterday. When you ride in 2nd class van seats on the Thai trains, the windows are open. In the heat of the day you also sweat, so the dirt sticks to you. After 12 hours on the train, you feel like you have an entire rice paddy on your face. I was a different color. Even my lice are dirty.

I have not much to say about today. I think the schedule speaks for itself. We woke up at 5:50 am, got on the train at 7:15 am, train left late at 7:45 am, train arrived in Bangkok at 7:45 PM, got on the van to Hua Hin at 8:30, this time again with an old lady sitting on me. Why does that always happen? Arrived at VIP at 11:15 pm. 

I can’t wait to see Northern Esan next trip!

Molly Angstman is a Communications student at an American university in Thailand. You can reach her at angstmam@webster.ac.th.