Nong Khai - Si Chiang Mai

Sala Keo Kou is at the provincial capital

http://tinamue.blogspot.com/2013/02/nongkhai-sala-keo-kou.html

Water is not falling

I went 80+ km to the west of Sala Keo Kou to explore a couple of waterfalls - Tan Tip & Tan Thong or Than Thip & Than Thong depending on how you transliterate their Thai names into English. However, since my visit was during the dry season, there was almost no water, so that was a waste of time.

Mekong at Hin Mak Peng

However, Si Chiang Mai is nearby - roughly 65 km to the west of Nong Khai city. The town is located on the banks of Mekong, just opposite Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR. Its name is derived from Chiang Mai as the Lan Xiang king that founded Si Chiang Mai had a grandmother who was queen of Chiang Mai.

Vientiane at night

That origin of the name is rather irrelevant today, but the location gives for some great nighttime views across the river of Vientiane's lights. So, it is very nice to have dinner at one of the many basic restaurants along the river.

Chedi with the remains of Luangphu Thet

A once famous temple is located bit west of Si Chiang Mai. Wat Hin Mak Peng became the permanent base of Ajarn Thet Thetrangsi from 1977. Before that, he had been a "homeless monk" wandering through the rural areas of Thailand. At that time, Wat Hin Mak Peng was at a very remote location, but Luangphu Thet gained a large following as a master of meditation and teacher in the "forest tradition" (khammatthana) of Theravada Buddhism. He gained such a reputation that he on several occasions were visited by members of the Thai royal family, including by HRH King Bhumibol. Luangphu Thet died in 1994, but the temple is worth a visit. The temple grounds are large and with plenty of trees to provide shade and the temple area is adjacent to the Mekong River.

Wat Hin Mak Peng seen from the river

The Mekong River is in itself an attraction. Nong Khai being so far away from the sea, the river banks serve as beaches and locals also engage in fishing.

In the photo, the guys in blue and orange shirts are holding the two ends of a net they've dragged out into and along the river. They are now about to bring the ends together onshore to collect their catch.

Nong Khai - Sala Keo Kou

This place – just east of Nongkhai city center off the road to Phon Pisai and near the alligator farm – is a large collection of concrete statues. To create these statues was the life aspiration of one man, Luang Pu Bunluea Surirat.

Bunleua Sulilat (1932-1996) was a Thai spiritual cult leader that inspired his followers to build numerous concrete sculptures. While he as a young man studied Buddhism, he grew convinced that the teachings of all regions could and should be mixed together. Therefore, there are Buddha images in different poses, Hindu gods, as well as character figures from the Ramayana epic and from Thai folk legends.

His venture into creating sculptures started in 1958 when he – for reasons I don’t know - ventured into Laos and a “Buddha Park” east of Vientiane. Twenty years later, he commenced work on a new sculpture park, Sala Keo Phou, on the other side of the Mekong River. 

I visited that “Buddha Park” almost 14 years ago and really wondered what purpose such a statue collection located 30 kilometers or so from Vientiane served. 

Now, after my visit to Sala Keo Kou armed with vastly improved proficiency in the local language, I have a better idea about the purpose.

Entrance to the Sala Keo Kou used to be free of charge, but a fee of 20 baht per person must now be paid. It was at first 10 baht (and only for white foreigners), but with such a low fee and with only few farang visitors, no income was generated. The money collected goes to spruce up the park with bushes and flowers and to repair / refurbish the concrete statues and their inscriptions. Weather and age were not kind to the statues, so it had become quite a challenge to read the inscription describing the scene depicted.

Now, things are better and it is recommended that you drop by if you anyway happen to be visiting Nongkhai city.