Surin to Udon Ratchathani

14 February 2018

First stop today was the service station to pick up some fuel before continuing our adventure. You have to love Thailand, full service service stations. These are usually run by the women. After a quick coffee from Amazon and some goodies from 7-11 it was time to head north. It was not long until our first stop at our first temple for the day Wat Phra Phutthabat. One thing unique about this temple was that it had a temple built of bottles. They used bottles instead of bricks. Recycling at its most basic! It was her we were asked to meet the head monk who had a terrible cold. We all enjoyed a short meet and greet!

Our next find for the day was a temple in the middle of a lake named Bung Plan Chai in Roi Et. The lawns around this temple were immaculate. As we walked around the city, it was obvious the thais love valentines days with masses of flowers and teddy bears for sale on many street corners. We also visited the Wat Sa Thong.

Our last temple for the day was the Wat Burapapiram. This temples main centre piece is a 60m tall gold Buddha. We also had another wonderful experience today when we came across a Chinese temple with a couple of dragon heads. The locals encouraged Neil to put the giant head piece on and show us his dance skills.

15 February 2018

We headed off north east from Rio Et this morning with our first stop a need as a pin temple named Wat Pa Mahasan. This temple was in excellent condition and looked like it was brand new. From here we continued north east and stopped at what is one of my most favourite temples in Thailand, the Phra Maha Chedi Chai Mongkhol. This temple is huge chedi is 101 meters long, 101 meters wide and 101 meters high and was built on a plot measuring 101 Rai, which is about 40 acres. The number 101 comes from the name of the province it is located in, namely Roi Et, which means 101 in Thai.

Last stop for the day was Mukdahan where we found a room at Koenig Piman Hotel. It is a lovely walk from here to Mekong River which is the Border with Laos. We watched the sun set as we walked towards the river and then took our time strolling through the night market.

16 February 2018

The first stop for today was the Wat Roi Phra. This giant Buddha is still half constructed, but with how the thais get on with a job, I am sure in a short period of time, it will be finished.  From here we headed south along the Mekong. Our finial stop for the day being Ubon Ratchathani.

17 February 2018

Today we explored around Ubon Ratchathani which included the Wat Phrathat Nog Bua, Wat Ban Tam  and Wat Ban Na Mueang. This last temple was the first we had seen where the temple was made to look as if it was on a large boat in a pond. Truly amazing. Our last stop for the day was Central Plaza shops.