Baw Kaw Saw to Phimai >> Travel: Isan, Northeast Thailand 6

Day 4: Night, 7.30 pm, Khorat (hot and sweaty!)

This morning started off great -- the bus to Phimai left only 10 minutes after its scheduled departure time. The flexible-as-unbaked dough that is the local bus schedule seemed less so today. Not that we have anywhere to rush off to, but it is occasionally nice to have a bus leave on time.

Then, as usual, our bus stopped at many places to pick up people. This time, we were joined by many students. They alighted at a vocational school (of technology) some 40 minutes' ride away. The scenery enroute was very pleasant. We were taken on a tour of a few villages: ceiling-high haystacks and giant earthern jars (couldn't see the contents inside) were common sights at these villages.

At Phimai, we saw a Japanese woman sketching in the shade, pencilling the main sanctuary of Prasat Phimai. We spoke to her later and she told us she had been to PNG (Papua New Guinea). She and her friends were touring other ruins in the Northeast as well, having chartered a van for the trip.

We had to wait about an hour for the bus back to Khorat. School was out by then and people were going home from work. Ugh! The bus was so crowded that we took a chance and hopped off before the terminus. We managed to find our way back to our hotel, cleaned up and went off to dinner at a pizza place run by a retired American military man named Sten.

His wife, Noi, was the busy and practical one -- she took orders and ran the kitchen and counter. He went around greeting and talking to customers. Sten gave us his card and said to call him if we ran into trouble. His wife said he had too much beer and should go sleep!

Khorat seems to be the home of many Chinese, their presence evident in the Chinese temples, in shops run by Chinese and in the sale of Chinese funerary items. People here also appear to be more fond of dogs than cats. We see many dogs kept as pets and some families have more than one. Luckily, the dogs (including the street ones) didn't bother us, but a mildly worrying sign in Phimai (outside the museum) warned anyone to go to the hospital immediately if bitten by dogs.

Budget (for two in Baht)
Tuk Tuk from hotel to bus station >> B30
Bus from Khorat to Phimai >> B40
Entry to Phimai ruins >> B80
Lunch >> B115
Entry to Phimau museum >> B60
Bus from Phimai to Khorat >> B52
(Yes, the bus ride back costs more!)
Bottled H20 >> B11
Dinner >> B250

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