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  1. #26
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    Anyway it was back to work today in Bangkok. What’s a Monday without a traffic jam … but I guess that’s what I get for stopping off at my favourite Surin style restaurant for a snack on the way home.


    ^Monday evening traffic in Bangkok - not too far from Rama 9 road

    After that I really needed a drink. Mrs. Kerr had also had a big afternoon swimming with Wayne Jnr and was up for a drink too. We usually have a few big glasses of scotch on the rocks before dinner. Unfortunately we don’t have any nice glasses at home - here we are knocking down a spot of Laphroaig out of 100 pipers glasses.


    ^Happy hour at Chateau de Kerr

    Anyway the whiskey got us talking about the trip. We pretty much did the drive from Uthai Thani to Loei in a day, stopping off to see relatives in Pitsanoluk for lunch. The roads in that part of the world are great, and there is not much traffic on a weekday.

    Once you get to P-Lok you just chuck a right and drive east towards Khon Kaen on Highway 12, then turn left towards Lom Sak on Route 2011 then just follow your nose to Loei (this Route 2011 looks like a northern extension of the road that runs between Saraburi and Petchabun.)

    The stretch of road from Lom Sak to Loei is friggin awesome, and one of the best drives I have done in my life. Very mountainous so you go through hundreds of twists and turns where you can go very, very fast if you want. The area reminds me of somewhere like the mountains between Italy and France, but every now and then you come across the terraced rice fields which remind you that you are very much in Asia. The roads are also very smooth, but some of the corners have tricky cambers which will keep you on your toes (or your two hands in the 10 to 2 position). Mrs. Kerr tried taking some pics out the window but because I was really getting into the driving like I was Jack Brabham or someone they are all really blurred. Anyway, if you like your motoring, this is one place I can really recommend .

  2. #27
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    One Night in Downtown Loei

    We got to downtown Loei just after dark and it was bloody cold, Wayne Jnr was blowing smoke when he exhaled. We were knackered and looking for a good pub to stay - Mrs. Kerr wanted a spa and massage, and I was keen to get sloshed in the bar.

    One of the Thais at work recommended the Loei Palace Hotel. Easy enough to find, but they bloody wanted 3300 baht a night. Yep, 3300 baht (three thousand and three hundred baht) for a friggin hotel in friggin Loei.

    That’s nearly US$100 with the crappy exchange rate these days. Shit, three weeks ago I stayed in a friggin awesome hotel on Hainan Island in China for US$38 a night. I’ve probably stayed in 20 hotels in Asia over the past year and have not once had to pay more than say $60 or $70.

    I had to ask them if they were quoting the price of the penthouse suite, which got a smug smile and an even smugger repeat of the 3300 a night. Little dipstick the receptionist was.

    [So, to the Loei Palace Hotel – here’s a big fuck off and I’ve since added you to the “Dodgy Hotel” list on the main bulletin board at work you wankers]

    Anyway plenty more fish in the sea. The Phu Luang Hotel in the centre of town tickled our fancy, big parking area up one side, and as soon as we pulled up in the car, the barman who was outside having a smoke on his break ran over to open the door for my missus. The staff were friendly and the bloke carrying the bags wouldn’t accept a 100 baht tip (he did take a 20 baht tip later though when he delivered a few perfectly chilled beers to the room).

    A room in the Phu Luang (hot water but no air con) was 300 baht a night. Big comfy bed, good mosquito screens on the windows, and a proper dunny, what more do you bloody need, and at less than a tenth of the price of the flashy pub down the road we were laughing. Plenty of good street side restaurants nearby - a good dinner in a street side restaurant, and about 5 big beers set us back 280 baht (for my friends and family in Aus reading this, that’s 5 King Browns and a feed for $10). Sorry no photos of this – took all the pics in this story using my phone which had a flat a battery at this stage.

    I spent a bit of time that night looking at Propagators thread on Loei and a few other Loei info sites. Bloody dill I was to drive past the Phu Rua National Park on the way into downtown Loei, the climb up the top of the mountain didn’t seem that bad after all, and they’ve even got a winery out there - next time hey .

    Anyway the next morning we found a good noodle shop, Chinese temple, and a park. Wayne Jnr liked the lion at the Chinese temple. He is still talking about it for some reason. But Mrs. Kerr and I quickly decided that Loei was not place for youngsters when we came across some weird signs in the park – clearly some weird shit going on there – so we decided to piss off up north to Chiang Khan sooner rather than later.


    ^Wayne Jnr doing his lion impersonation in Loei - I reckon he is doing a pretty good job, but I'm a bit biased and all that


    ^A bloody weird sign in the Loei Park (with my crappy Thai reading ability, I think this means "Position Number 3" - shit this is a public park for fecks sake, I was starting to get worried that this pervert stuff was gunna be everywhere in Isaan)

  3. #28
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    ^ lol

    I believe that a local sports club use the park for fitness/circuit training and this is where they are supposed to do the press ups on the circuit. out there myself in just over three weeks and will try and get the other positions !!!! Shall hope to add a lot more to my thread.

  4. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Propagator
    out there myself in just over three weeks and will try and get the other positions !!!! Shall hope to add a lot more to my thread.
    Look forward to it Prop.

    Anyway, back to the road ...

    Chiang Khan

    I’d read a few things on TD about Chiang Khan. Big bit of the Mekong runs right along the front of town and we pulled up and I looked left …


    ^Looking west up the Mekong (Laos is the other side of the river)

    Then I looked right …


    ^Looking east down the Mekong

    And Wayne Jnr just wanted to go north …


    ^Wayne Jnr jumping the fence

    There seemed to be no-one else there, except for this boat going past – looked liked the perfect place for cold beers watching the sun set by the Mekong river.


    ^Laotian boat cruising east down the Mekong

    We sussed a few guest houses, most are 400-500 baht a night. My advice would be to avoid Sams Guest House and the Chiang Khan Guest House like the plague, seems to be plenty of good things said about them on the net, but too many Thai mini-van drivers (with friggin coloured hair and big gold amulets) drinking whiskey out the front of them for my liking – mini van drivers with too much money can only mean one thing – ripped off tourists.

    Mrs. Kerr and I walked west up the river 200 metres and found a lovely place called Suk Somboon (Suk as in happy). Beautiful polished teak place, they only wanted 380 baht a night for a great room looking over the river - room had great hot showers, air con, and cold beer in the fridge. If you ever go check it out:

    243/2 Chai Khong, Chiang Khan
    Tel: 04 282 1004

    Anyway that first beer at the Suk Somboon turned into about 10 so I put the camera away

  5. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Kerr
    the barman who was outside having a smoke on his break ran over to open the door for my missus.
    I would have done the same if the bird pictured next to your laptop was sat in the car, great assets!
    I wonder how you manage to post...

  6. #31
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    Kaeng Khut Khu Rapids

    We then went for a drive around town and then to the Kaeng Khut Khu rapids which are only about 5 minutes away from the centre of town. The rapids must be one of the best “outdoors ” places I’ve visited in Southeast Asia. Plenty about the place in Props Loei thread but my family and friends back in Aus are keen to see the place so I’ve chucked them in here anyway.


    ^Wayne Jnr playing sill buggers next to some flowers


    ^Wayne Jnr playing sill buggers in front of a sign which says inter alia Amphur Chiang Khan, Loei Province


    ^Welcome sign at the Kaeng Khut Khu rapids


    ^View from down on the river looking southeast into Thailand


    ^View from down on the river looking south-southeast into Thailand


    ^ I could see where the rapids would be from down on the water, so I rushed back up to a lookout to checkout the rocks that must cause some big rapids when the river has more water in it or flooding, I’ll go back in August just to see this [check the people on the sand spit, the rocks out in the middle are friggin huge)


    ^The rapids area with some cows on the river bank


    ^ Some locals getting into a bit of fishing


    ^ These boats are used to run tours in the river


    ^ Wayne Jnr and I dead on the border between Thailand and Laos, well at least that is what the skipper said


    ^This is the skipper, looks a pretty nice bloke


    ^ Picture of a boat in front of the big mountain (this was taken by Wayne Jnr on his camera )
    Last edited by Wayne Kerr; 09-01-2007 at 10:35 PM.

  7. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by stroller
    I would have done the same if the bird pictured next to your laptop was sat in the car, great assets! I wonder how you manage to post...
    Strollers' post count = 5761, Wayne Kerr's post count = 124, shit mate I won't mention the join dates
    Last edited by Wayne Kerr; 09-01-2007 at 10:31 PM.

  8. #33
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    Being back in Bangkok isn’t all traffic jams and lurking around travel forums. Today the boss and I had a great lunch in the office, some cheese hand delivered from France by one of the guys who went there for New Years, along with some bread, salami, French pate (terrine) and water cracker biscuits from Villa supermarket, oh and a nice bottle of Penfolds to wash it all down of course – it isn’t all beer and skittles over here in merry old Siam you know !


    ^ Wednesday lunch in the office


    ^ We only got this far through it - we’ll probably finish it tomorrow but we’ll need another bottle of wine or two


    ^ A shot of King Rama 5’s Palace late this afternoon after visiting a mates office – this Palace will probably open up to the public this Saturday for Children’s Day.

  9. #34
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    Anyway back to the road …

    Chiang Khan Nightlife

    We hit the Suk Somboon Hotel after the Khut Khu rapids for a few more drinks and an early start at dinner watching the sun set. A few doors east of the Somboon we found a great restautant called the “Rim Nam” - joint was empty but the cook was cooking away frantically. Stuck our nose in and asked why she was cooking so much if she had no customers, turns out she cooks for the guest houses that actually don’t have cooks and I thought well why walk any bloody further and she had us out the back drinking beer and watching the sunset in no time. She wanted us to choose and put the music on ourselves and her great collection of “Caravan” got a good workout !

    Food was magnificent and since Wayne Jnr was rooted after a long day, he and the missus went back to sleep early. Mrs. Kerr gave me a leave permit and I slowly got sloshed with the owner’s cat. The owner/cook joined me later and we got talking over a few drinks. She runs the place by herself with the help of her 14 yr old son and provides the meals for most of the tourist places in town – she explained how one of the dishes that she’d charged us 20 baht for is sold for about 60 baht down at Sams Guest House and the Chiang Khan Guest House – of course she still only gets the 20 baht .

    The place is her family home - her father was a jet pilot in the Thai air force. All his photos are up on the wall - some real beauties of him “pushing the envelope” (sorry ) amongst them. Anyway later on she offered to take me for a cruise around town on her motorbike – she asked me to tell the young Pom sheila that had come in for fried rice that she’d be back later and to just leave the money on the counter if she was finished by the time we came back – I loved that. Of course the Pom backpacker sheila responded with the “my boyfriend this” and “my boyfriend that” – I felt like saying "don’t worry darling I have very little interest in shagging a pimply arsed mole like you so don’t worry".

    The owner/cook and I had good fun looking around Chiang Khan on the bike and she dropped me off about 30 minutes later at her cousin’s small coffee/beer shop – I will admit that things are a bit hazy from here on in, but bugger me dead Chiang Khan can be real good fun once the drinks kick in ‘round 10.00pm. Anyway please say g’day to the bird in the Rim Nam restaurant for me if you're ever in Chiang Khan.


    ^ Sunset in Chiang Khan


    ^ Out the back of the Rimnam Restaurant – cop the serenity


    ^ My drinking buddy for a while


    ^ Blurry picture of the Rimnam restaurant


    ^ Front of the Rimnam restaurant taken from on the motorbike when we left

  10. #35
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    Coffee and Eggs in Chiang Khan

    The fresh air in Chiang Khan sorted my hangover out quick smart but I felt a bad spot of post inebriated anxiety (PIE) coming on – I was in serious need of a fry-up and some strong black coffee, preferably with a nip or two of OP Bundy rum in it.

    Luckily we found the perfect spot on the main road, its called the Café de Loei and does great poached eggs and toast, and they've got about 20 different types of coffee to choose from – owners must be in their late 60s or early 70s and according to Mrs. Kerr they didn’t speak Thai, Isaan, or Lao very well. Anyway their eggs and coffee were awesome, and they even have a lovely green tea for the kiddies.


    ^ Wayne Jnr enjoying his morning tea – when in Bangkok he drinks Vietnamese green tea with breakfast most days.

    The coffee didn't help the PIE much and was worried that another night in Chiang Khan would be the end of me - some of the best fun I've had in Thailand. So next leg was Chiang Khan - Sri Chiang Mai - Nong Khai . We were told that Nong Khai was real Isaan country - this is where things start getting really interesting.

  11. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Kerr View Post

    ^ Wednesday lunch in the office


    ^ We only got this far through it - we’ll probably finish it tomorrow but we’ll need another bottle of wine or two
    Some guys have all the luck in the world, first the bird by the laptop, and now this fabulous cheese&wine lunch!
    Bastad.

  12. #37
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    Wayne, Echo yr comments Re Loei Palace Hotel, I couldn't believe the price they were quoting me.
    Strange that Loie has the best value hotel in the kingdom i.e The Kings hotel about 400 Bht (worth double that) and the worst, Loei Palace, in the same city.

  13. #38
    Have you got any cheese Thetyim's Avatar
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    ^ Seconded. I stayed at the Kings. Did you eyeball the VIP rooms ?

  14. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by stroller
    Some guys have all the luck in the world, first the bird by the laptop, and now this fabulous cheese&wine lunch! Bastad.
    Like I said, it ain’t all beer and skittles – sometimes we have wine instead.

    Got home tonight about 10pm, bloody had a meeting at a local university, we were meant to start at 4.30pm but by the time all the “Ajarns” rolled in it was past 6 o’clock. My boss makes any one in my office who causes a delay in a meeting of more than 2 minutes calculate the cost of that delay in terms of salaries and stuff – he obviously isn’t Thai. Anyway I just gritted my teeth and was thankful I swallowed a few blood pressure pills before going out there – arrived home to a good dinner of dried squid with Wayne Jnr, the stinkier the better according to him.



    Anyway I mentioned a recent trip to China a few posts above and my mates back home want to see any pics. I’ll put a few up in my next post but would like to apologise first to anyone who clicks on here and finds stuff from China and not Isaan.

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    Hainan Island a few weeks back - just some photos …


    ^Suckling pig in downtown Haikou, China (reckon the bamboo method'd be easier than this )


    ^ A big cheap fish in the Haikou local market (Aussies used to use the long fish for fertilser, great for apple trees)


    ^ All sorts of fish from the islands of southern China


    ^ All sorts of other seafood in the local mark, China


    ^ Some nice big barramundi for the Aussies, China


    ^ A small cobia, China


    ^ Some dried fish – this is great for breakfast


    ^ Some nice mollusks in the market, China


    ^ Bags of dried seahorse for sale – Southeast Asian “Vitamin V”


    ^ No they ain’t juvenile southern bluefin tuna – (to Benno that has been dropping by – check out them decent net marks - reminds me of the work in the freezing Southern Ocean waters about a decade ago )


    ^ My mate “Sunny” from Guangzhou getting the low down from the local fishermen for me


    ^ Some dried sea snakes for sale


    ^ Bloody Abalone is everywhere, as are the “beche de mer” (or dried sea cucumbers), no excuse for the "Fosters Flop" these Asian blokes

    Anyway I have pics of all manner of things that I’m sure no one here can tell what they are. I’d be happy to post 3 of them and donate some money to TD should any member be able to tell the board what they are. Maybe we could even give the donation to the boss here "Dirty Dog" to do “research” for a thread or two – anyway I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on this.

  16. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Kerr
    Maybe we could even give the donation to the boss here "Dirty Dog" to do “research” for a thread or two
    He's too busy working these days, but I am sure we can find someone to take the burden of conducting all-paid-for researches off him.

  17. #42
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    Alright then here they are – 3 mystery photos. If any member can successfully identify the items in the pics I’ll make a donation to TeakDoor that the boss (or his alternate) can use to do “research” for the thread of his choice. Each of the items are animals (or parts of) and are eaten in China .


    ^ Mystery Item 1 - The brown things in the basket (no they aren’t Chinaman’s dicks )


    ^ Mystery Item 2 - The critters in the water


    ^ Mystery Item 3 - The animal part in the red boxes

  18. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thetyim View Post
    ^ Seconded. I stayed at the Kings. Did you eyeball the VIP rooms ?
    I eyeballed the girls in the massage parlour, rather they were eyeballing me, but they were only for the desparate really.

  19. #44

    R.I.P.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne Kerr
    Each of the items are animals (or parts of) and are eaten in China .
    Chinese eat these, hmmmmm, got to be penises from differant animals then, do fish have penises? are sharks ones that small?

  20. #45
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    Deef fried dingo doodles.

  21. #46
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    #2 pic, them squirty clam things at low water mark.

    #3 pic are definitelty flat tits in black bras, prolly SE Asian origin,.global delicacy.

  22. #47
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    Ps Wayne,

    Where's the pics of Jnr attacking dem poor temple pigeons wid his catty, da liddle pig-killa?!!
    Or should I call him Jaws?

  23. #48
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    I have no idea! Don't know if I really want to know.

  24. #49
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    ETN is close enough for the #2 pic and DD is on the right track with the penis bit - the things in the red boxes in #3 pic are dicks of an animal (not fish or sharks, but another animal in the sea). Keep up the good work fellas.

    Here are some other critters, pretty obvious what most of them are and the Chinamen like to eat these or put them in their grog - apparently it helps them get it up. Whatever it takes I guess .


    ^ Chinese style Vitamin V

  25. #50
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    Anyway, back to the road …

    Chiang Khan – Nong Khai

    After coffee and eggs in Chiang Khan we decided to try and get to Vientiane, Laos within the day to see in the New Year in another country. A quick check of the map below and we were off.


    ^ Route 2186 from Chiang Khan – Nong Khai

    Route 2186 snakes along next to the Mekong River going through Pak Chom, Sang Khom, and Sri Chiang Mai. Great roads, views, and very scenic but I got hit with an acute case of the squits half way along the road. Tried to push on but somewhere between Pak Chom and Sang Khom I had to pull an emergency stop which led to one of my more embarrassing Thai moments. Wasn’t so camera happy at this stage but managed to get a few.


    ^ Somewhere near Pak Chom – looks like this all the way from Chiang Khan to Sang Khom


    ^ The spot Wayne Kerr got hit with the squits

    Turns out each of the little embayments on the right were places where the fishermen would clean their nets and stuff, thought I found a pretty private spot but got caught in the Asiatic Squat position by two boats coming in and out of the reeds. The fishermen had a pretty good laugh at the big farang crapping on the rocks – I guess they don’t see that every day .


    ^ Wayne Jnr sitting by the Mekong - I was bloody shaky at this stage and couldn't manage to get the camera angle right

    I decided I needed a beer or two after this to settle my stomach so we jumped back in the car to find a small restaurant for a cold beer. First 200m up the road we lucked upon a little restaurant, I had started getting the cold sweats again by this time so we pulled up. Turns out they saw my whole little episode down on the rocks and were surprised to see me order a beer – who needs Imodium when you have Beer Chang hey .


    ^ A view of the Mekong River from the road side near Sang Khom - feeling a little better by this stage


    ^ A small road-side stop near Sang Khom

    Anyway after seeing Laos on the other side of the river for the whole drive, we cut straight to Laos Immigration as soon as we got to Nong Khai. Very easy. Just parked the car in the parking area near the Thai-Laos friendship bridge (they charge 100 baht a night), walked down the road a few hundred yards to Thai immigration and checked out of Thailand, jumped on a bus for 20 baht each that takes you across the bridge and drops you off at Laos immigration, just filled in the forms and handed over about 1400 baht and I had a visa on arrival and we were on our way for a few drinks in Vientiane .


    ^Visa on arrival box
    Last edited by Wayne Kerr; 13-01-2007 at 04:44 PM.

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