After expressing my unhappiness about being in Khon Kaen in yesterdays blog entry, I started looking for alternatives in the area. Over the course of my trip I have started to love Wikitravel for its detailled tips on many destinations and also for the collection of accomodation for each place. Its Isaan page (Isaan is the name for the eastern region of Thailand) is very good and helped me to figure out where to go next.
Isaan Region Thailand (map by Wikitravel, used under CC license)
I like the map because it is very much reduced to the important places in the area, and in combination with the info on each place, its a great help for making decisions.
The places I considered going to were the following:
- Roi Et
- Nakhon Ratchasima
- Ubon Ratchathani
- Udon Thani
The reason for going to Roi Et today was not that I preferred it over the other places. I plan to visit all four of them. But Roi Et simply is the closest from Khon Kaen, making it the easiest to get to. I got a kind of invitation to Udon Thani (I will go into more details if I decide to take it), but that invitation would be for a date around the 14th, so going there today would have been too early. And Ubon Ratchathani needs to wait as well, as I found out about the annual candle festival, which will take place there around the 22nd. I will go there on the 20th to experience my first traditional festival in Thailand.
So, the decision had been made to go to Roi Et first and getting there could not have been easier. From the air-con busterminal in Khon Kaen buses leave pretty much every 30 minutes for Roi Et. I decided to leave early, around 11AM and the busticket set me back 104 Baht for the two hour ride.
My decision to go there very early did not come by chance. Roi Et was the first destination to which I went without having any idea where I am going to sleep the next night. It was pretty much impossible to find any hotels online, at least if you are on a budget. Even my good friend Wikitravel only lists three places, all of them 600 Baht/night and up.
I decided to call this the Asia Adventure, right? So, let’s be a bit adventurous then.
After arriving in Roi Et, I took a short peek at the city map that was on display at the station, and decided to walk towards city centre, as this seemed to be my best best for finding a place to stay. I walked past a couple of motorbike dealerships, repair shops and restaurants, but no hotels. I decided to ask in a café and they told me that there would be a hotel just behind the café, almost impossible to see from the street (especially as the hotel sign was in Thai only). The hostel looked like a parking ramp with a hotel on top of it and I would have liked to stay there if it wouldnt have been for their price tag. 350 Baht was the cheapest they could offer, definitely too expensive for me. In the past five weeks I stayed in dozens of different places, ranging from messy six bed dorms to high class single hotel rooms and I never had to pay more than 250 Baht anywhere. I did not plan to change that, which is why I declined their offer and continued my search. After asking the café staff again, they gave me directions to another place called “Saitip”.
It was not too far away, nevertheless hard to find. A bit of asking around finally got me there though. Their sign was Thai only as well, which really is something I can’t understand. Isn’t a hotel targeting foreigners usually? Whatever.
Saitip Hotel looked pretty much like a motel with its huge parking lot in front of the boring three story building. The girl at the reception told me the price for a fan room is 240 Baht (perfect) and a few minutes later I was inspecting my room, more than happy with what I saw. This must be the cleanest room I have had during my entire time in Asia. Its not the nicest looking probably, but the tiles and bathroom shined like the crown jewels.
Saitip Hotel in Roi Et
Hotel Room in Saitip Hotel in Roi Et
Bathroom in Saitip Hotel in Roi Et
So, I can’t say too much about Roi Et just yet (the few things I saw looked very nice) but already now I feel that I am a lot more eager to explore it than I was in Khon Kaen and that my motivation and interest is high. I guess the last two days really were a short-time low that I have overcome now.
Yours
Crazy Ivory
Follow my photos, travel route and stories is the Asia Adventure Page.