Ubon and The 'Grand Canyon of Siam'

Barely a week after we returned to school from our summer holidays, we were lucky enough to have a long weekend off and a chance to explore another part of Thailand. Whilst most of my colleagues decided to rest in Korat, I travelled east and visited Ubon Ratchathani to see my friend Tae. Ubon is one of the four main cities of the Isaan province (with Korat also being one). Before now, Korat was the furthest east I had travelled, so I was excited to see yet another side to Thailand.

My first time heading East.

Although I now regret not leaving on Saturday, I had to utilise the 24 hours I had to explore so I decided to take the train to Ubon as it was the quickest way to get there. I'd heard such negative reviews of the railway system in Thailand with the trains NEVER leaving on time (no exception with me unfortunately) and the conditions of the trains being dire (however, that wasn't the case with my train). The journey was supposed to take around four hours, but with delays it was closer to five; still two hours faster than if I was to take the bus so I couldn't complain too much.

Tae picked me up from the station and took me back to his house to freshen up. I was introduced to his Father, Sister, petrified cat, and overprotective, farang-hating (not really..) dogs; they were pretty intimidating and with past experience of vicious dogs, I was in no mood to stay outside with them very long haha. Our first stop on the trip was to visit one of Ubon's biggest temples, the Maha Wanaram Temple (Wat Pa Yai). The reason why we had this three day weekend was because of Visakha Puja Day (aka Buddha Day/Buddha's Birthday), which commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Gautama Buddha (which happened all in one day I might add), so it was imperative that I go visit a temple on this weekend and pay respect. The temple itself wasn't as extravagant as other temple's I had seen in Thailand, but it was already being visited by so many people who would light two candles, put a wreath of flowers in water, and light two incenses all as part of Buddhist tradition to pay their respects.

Temple at Central Park. Ubon Ratchathani.

After that, we visited some other landmarks in the city which included Central Park (Thung Si Muang), and Supat Temple where we also fed some fish on the Moon river (yes, that's actually its name). I enjoyed Ubon because it seemed less crowded than Korat but still was surrounded by traditional Thai charm. It was so nice having Tae be my personal Tour guide as he was able to explain the history behind all the different landmarks we visited and clarify the reasonings behind Buddhist practices which I've sometimes found hard to wrap my head around. (Thanks man!)

Exploring Sam Phan Bok.

The next day started with an early rise and a 2 hour trip towards the Laotian border to a place called Sam Phan Bok (which translates to English as '3000 holes'). This place has been labelled in some travel blogs as the 'Grand Canyon of Siam' and truly is a hidden wonder. Formed because of water erosion, thanks to the Mekong River (home of the famous mythical creature, the Naga), the place is full of holes within the rocks forming a really cool and interesting landscape. We arrived there around 8am and it was already scorching hot. I had heard that going there around sunset is stunning, but due to time restraints, my friend, his family and I decided to roam the deserted scenery before the touristy rush came. Like I just mentioned, the Mekong River that runs through Sam Phan Bok is believed to be home to a mythical serpent-like creative called the Naga (pronounced Nah-gah). When I have visited temples in the past, I had seen statues of this creature that sometimes possessed 5 or 6 heads. But this creature is only known to have one and is thought to have been spotted on numerous occasions in this river (by unconfirmed sources) and acts as a guardian over the river and the Thai and Laotian people (as this river was very close to Laos). I had looked at some pics before on Google Images but couldn't quite capture the beauty of the place myself on my iPhone camera. Nonetheless, it was really cool to visit and I will most definitely visit again.

Exploring what Ubon Ratchathani has to offer. Thanks for showing me around, guys!

Before we headed back, we made one more to stop to another temple called Tham Khuha Sawan Temple which was a beautiful white temple that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. What was great about was the scenery that surrounded it; we were miles from the Laotian border and Mekong River again and the views were lovely. As we made our way to the station to send me off, we saw where the two main rivers in that region, the Mun and Mekong, met. It was known as the 'Two Colour River' due to you actually being able to map out where the two rivers actually met.

For me, this was the first real time I had felt I had been able to more a more rural side to Thailand; before its just been cities or beaches mostly. It was just a shame that I was only there for just over 24 hours. But big thanks to Tae and his family for hosting me! I had a wonderful time and will most definitely be back, with my film camera in hand so I can take some really great shots of the beautiful landscape in and around Ubon.