Northeastern Thailand Travel Guide

We left at 7 in the morning for a 2 hour drive to village of Kham Pia. We picked up a guide here (Bunlerd) and then drove for another hour to Phu Wua. In Phu Wua we picked up another guide and left for the Jungle. During the day we went to one side of the mountain to see if we could find the elephants there but it wasn’t.

About 3 p.m. in the afternoon we arrived at the other side of the mountain where we had to climb into a tree where we had to stay the whole night. The platform I was on was really small and not reliable. Luckily after half an hour a few monks came and they wanted to stay in our tree so we had to move to the other one which was a little bit higher, more difficult to climb into but the platform was a bit more stabile.

We stayed on this platform with 6 people, not enough space of course but that doesn’t matter. When we were on this platform, only 15 minutes later the first elephant arrived. We had to be very quiet otherwise it would run away. This elephant stayed here for almost 2 hours and then he left for a few seconds and came back with the other elephants. This first one just had to check out if everything was clear so the others could come to. In the mean while it was getting really dark so we couldn’t take any pictures anymore because we would scare all the elephants away. At least we could see the elephants very good! We counted 19 elephants and 4 of them were little elephants, really amazing. The whole group stayed for almost 3 hours around the tree we where sitting in.

At 12.30 at night, almost everybody was sleeping except for me. Suddenly I saw a few elephants coming back to our tree; they stayed there for half an hour and then quietly left. Suddenly I saw a tiger (at least that’s what I think it was) at the bottom of our tree. I saw him running into the jungle really fast and then he started screaming, Sanne and Tim also heard it and they also said it was a tiger.

After this all the elephants left. Sometimes at night a few of them came back but not for a long time.

In the morning, the guide dropped us of at the road where we had to take the bus back. We waited for 1 an half hour and there still was no bus coming. So we started hitch hiking. The first car immediately stopped and took us only 5 km further on the road. Then we stopped a truck and he was driving really fast. The driver catch up with the early bus so he dropped us of there and we took the bus back to Nong Khai

Mut Wee guesthouse was just fantastic for couple of nights. It is listed as #1 choice in Lonely Planet, so it can be difficult to find availability during high season or if you come later in the day... you always have a possibility to extend your stay even if previously you booked one or two nights.. That's why even if ppl with reservations have priority over walk ins, you are never 100% sure you will get a room. Anyway by 11.30 am that day everyone knows if you will get in or not. That's why it is better to come early. I was lucky and wasn't disappointed at all. The staff ( I remember one Canadian and a Dutch guy) was excellent and very helpful. When I went to the Sala Kaew Ku Sculpture Park, I was the only one with a map of this park and all explanations of the life circle sculptures, so people were coming to me asking where did I get it:)) it appeared that only Mut Wee guesthouse is handing out all this good stuff:))) Mut Wee has a very relaxing garden as well where you can meet other people staying there, talk and share your travel experiences.

The local name for Nakhon Ratchasima is Korat. That means city of cows. I can't say anything objective about this place as I found the love of my life here, y'see. It is much larger as mentioned in the common travel books, but not famous for anything in particular. There's a United States airbase nearby (locals tell me it was an important station during Vietnam war when the US air forces bombed the ho chi minh trail and thus making Laos the most bombarded country in the world by the way) and so twice a year the city is visited by them soldiers. And hookers form Bangkok as well. So my advise is, when travelling there, don't chose these periods. People are friendly, but still looking at farangs (western people) as weirdos from another planet. Two big malls where you find any food. Korat is the door to Isan, the highly populated region in Thailand's north-east. So every National holiday or Buddha day, all the workers from Bangkok go back visiting their families, producing traffic jam and making the city a bit unpleasant.