{"id":2082,"date":"2012-03-03T21:32:24","date_gmt":"2012-03-03T14:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/?p=2082"},"modified":"2012-03-03T22:03:22","modified_gmt":"2012-03-03T15:03:22","slug":"gods-of-thunder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/2012\/03\/03\/gods-of-thunder\/","title":{"rendered":"Gods Of Thunder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happy Robyn Hitchcock\u2019s birthday<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Got my lazy ass up at 6:00 in the AM, for the half-hour walk up to the bus station. The worst part was having to put on shoes and walk around in them, which of course aggravated my toe. I figured it would be an issue, and it was.<\/p>\n

I read somewhere that one should look \u201cpresentable\u201d when passing through customs, just in case the officials might want to give a second- or third-degree pranging. In practice, entering Thailand is the very definition of \u201crubber stamp\u201d. But I nonetheless shaved and showered, put on long pants and clean shirt. And, ugh, laced up the shoes which sit at the bottom of my pack waiting, patiently waiting, for the one day per month when I try to look \u201cpresentable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Actually arrived just early enough to head up the line at the ticket counter. That was somewhat cool. As such, I was assigned to seat A1, right behind the driver.<\/p>\n

The exit point is about a half-hour\u2019s ride south of Vientiane. Get off, get stamped out of Laos, get back on, cross the bridge, get back off, get stamped into Thailand, get back on, ride five or ten minutes to the bus station, and you\u2019re there. Lines weren\u2019t too bad at all — although added to the bus fare was a 2,000 Kip \u201covertime\u201d fee for its being on a weekend; as well as a 9,000 Kip \u201covertime\u201d fee for the right to cross the bridge.<\/p>\n

Had e-mailed ahead to reserve a room at Mut Mee<\/a>, a quite famous guest house here in Nong Khai, with rates ranging from 150 Baht all the way up to 1200 Baht. The response was that they\u2019d received a number of requests for Saturday, and that I should show up and they\u2019d see what they could do. (Depends upon the number of people who\u2019d be checking out on\u00a0 the given day.)<\/p>\n

I figured that with my secret weapon \u2013 arriving to town by 9:30 in the AM, I\u2019d be in, no problemo. But, it turns out, I\u2019ve landed here right on the cusp of the town\u2019s most important festival, which begins on Monday and runs for ten days. It has to do with the anniversary of the repelling of a Chinese invasion. Great luck!<\/p>\n

But also, good luck<\/em> trying to find a place to stay! The town fills up, mostly with Thais. The helpful gentleman at reception explained that once all the check-outs had been determined, by 11:00 in the AM, they begin filling the rooms in the order they\u2019d received booking requests \u2013 some people had booked up to a year in advance!<\/p>\n

So I went walking down along the river to see what else might be available. Inexpensive rooms were slim pickings indeed. The best lead was that a lady might have a room, again at 11:00 in the AM, for 300 Baht (that\u2019s then bucks). Otherwise, it was looking like it might run up to 400 Baht or more for the night.<\/p>\n

But on the way back to Mut Mee to take my chances there, I noticed a non-descript little place right across from the river. Had somehow missed it when walking this road in the other direction. A little sign said that their Singles were 160 Baht, Doubles 240. I figured no way in Hell would there be vacancies. But I asked, and there were.<\/p>\n

And the place is awesome<\/em>! It\u2019s got a frickin\u2019 payphone <\/em>out the front.<\/p>\n

\"payphone\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The room is small, but\u2019s got everything you need: comfortable bed, table and chair, fan, a comfy-chair, even some artwork on the walls. Shared bathrooms, of course. And the Internet connection is the best I\u2019ve yet encountered \u2013 better even that the hostel in Bangkok.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a wonderful little courtyard in which to relax (no smoking allowed in the courtyard!!), and the River Walk is right across the street. Incroyable! Still wanna see what Mut Mee is all about; but, who knows, may just end up staying right here throughout the festival.<\/p>\n

The place wasn\u2019t even listed in Wikitravel\u2019s Nong Khai entry<\/a>. So I took it upon myself to create a listing for it; my first Wikitravel contribution to-date.<\/p>\n

And if you’d like a travel tip, I’ve got one. If you’ve no reservation, arrive in the town early to get the best selection in lodgings. Simple, yet effective. It means arising<\/em> early to catch the day’s first bus. But it’s worth it.<\/p>\n

The River Walk is quite nice, though I did not traverse its entire length, as I had to head inland to find some grub. While doing, visited a temple or three. Found some Naga that are really playing for keeps. They look like Satan\u2019s own, don\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

\"naga\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside\u2026a white<\/em> Buddha? I give up.<\/p>\n

\"whitebuddha\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was hotter than Hell\u2026but then it began clouding up, and even seemed it might rain down. After having had lunch by the river, and back on the River Walk. The Walk has shelters along its way, presumably they receive much use during the rainy season. I guess you can see \u2018em there, on the left. (That\u2019s the \u201cFriendship Bridge\u201d in the background.)<\/p>\n

\"shelter\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Felt some drops along the way, but ended up back at the guest house just in time for a lovely <\/em>thunderstorm, taken both in the courtyard and also in a shelter right across the street. Some terrifically loud thundercracks, I can tell you!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a shot across the courtyard (much of which is covered, for good reason!).<\/p>\n

\"rain\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The storm lasted an hour or so, after which it began drying out. But as evening fell, the afternoon drencher turned out to\u2019ve been only midday snack; for now, the real enchilada got underway. Torrential rain, gusting winds, flashes I\u2019ve lightning killing up the sky. I didn\u2019t see any bolts; but I did see one green<\/em> flash. That was pretty interesting. Seemed like the thunder wasn\u2019t quite keeping up with the lightning \u2013 but it nevertheless put in a very good show.<\/p>\n

That ended. Now it was dark, and I went out to assess the damage. The River Walk was pretty deserted, although the restaurants were open. I did see one Caucasian jogging by.<\/p>\n

This was fun, walking around, the lightning still going mad in the distance, a slight breeze up, but the perfect temperature. The Laos side of the river had lost power, so the only lights from over there were the cars driving along the river.<\/p>\n

But then, without warning, another<\/em> wave began. And for the second day running, I did scurry. Gimpy toe even yet, but got no choice! The next few hours saw the storm wax and wane \u2013 the waxings often bone-shakingly violent.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Nong Khai!<\/p>\n

Right now, it\u2019s quiet. But for how long?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Robyn Hitchcock\u2019s birthday! Got my lazy ass up at 6:00 in the AM, for the half-hour walk up to the bus station. The worst part was having to put on shoes and walk around in them, which of course … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-grandeur"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/durianapocalypse.net\/travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}