Roi Et Re-visited – 25 Years On (photo report)

[Big Boy]

Part 1

Background

I used to visit Roi Et quite regularly up to about 25 years ago. It was where my step-daughter grew up, hence a regular stopping place when on holiday. Along with the rest of Isaan, I hated the place with a vengeance, and still don’t really understand why I chose it for a zip trip. Actually, I’ve heard many people say how much it has improved, so I wanted to prove them wrong. So, it was agreed that we’d go back for a few days – daughter, wife and me, just to see for ourselves.

If you’ve ever read me reminiscing of the place where I went to bed one day where the head of the bed was under the protruding aircon, Roi Et is that place. Bugs of all shapes and sizes were using the aircon as a launching platform, and landing of my terrified head with incredible accuracy. This horror has remained imprinted firmly in my mind ever since.

The one bright spot of ‘old’ Roi Et was that I spent many hours walking around Bueng Phlan Chai Park, and we often had spring rolls for lunch on one of the piers on the lake. Very fond memories.

Don’t worry guys, the photos will start coming, but not in this appetizer.

Hopefully the next installment will be later today.

To be continued…………………………..

[Big Boy]

Part 2

Day 1

Today was a travelling day. We had arranged for a Bliss (Taxi company) SUV to pick us up at 09:30. I was quite upset when a mini-bus turned up (Bliss always consider a mini-bus an upgrade). We needed a large vehicle because we were taking the wheelchair + baggage.

When I got inside the mini-bus, I was gob smacked. The bus had undergone a massive upgrade, and there were just 4 armchair like seats inside. We were travelling in luxury – it was indeed an upgrade.

It was a fairly routine trip to Don Mueang Airport. Roadworks still the perpetual headache, but I had calculated that into the trip time, so no worries.

When we arrived at the airport, we had to sort the wheelchair, something we’ve never done before. Unbelievable, but Air Asia will carry wheelchairs free of charge if booked in advance. We walked up to the check-in desk (online check-in not permitted), and the guy checking us in was expecting a wheelchair passenger. The bumf had said use our wheelchair to the gate, at which point it would be loaded on to the plane. However, my wife had to transfer to an airport wheelchair at the check-in desk, and our wheelchair went as oversized checked baggage – no problems, it meant we had a little helper assigned to push my wife through security and to the departure gate.

He took her straight to the departure gate, and sat her on a priority seat, next to toilets, and 2 little food outlets, we were sorted, and my wife made sure he didn’t go unrewarded.

The flight itself was just another flight. One amazing thing (to me) though was the number of passengers boarding with boxes of doughnuts. Miserable gits did not share a single doughnut. Seriously, is there a problem with buying doughnuts in Roi Et? Of course, this was a test run to see how my wife’s lungs stood up to the varying pressure changes of a flight – she came through with flying colours.

We somehow arrived at Roi Et airport 15 minutes early. A young girl was waiting at the bottom of the airplane steps with a wheelchair, and my wife was wheeled to baggage claim, where we transferred her back into her own wheelchair.

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Leaving the airport, it was the first airport I could remember where there was no taxi rank. No problem, we sent my daughter on a mission, and she returned with a taxi.

Hotel was very nice – very unusual for me to find somewhere like this.

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I’m usually budget hotel all the way. Of course, we’re in Isaan, so the room was infested with little black ants, but not so many that we couldn’t share. They’re quite harmless, but get everywhere. You don’t even feel them, just see little black dots moving across your hand, or floaters in your coffee cup. Most annoying is when they start walking across your spectacle lenses. I was quickly remembering why I hated Isaan so much. However, it had to be said, ants aside, this was probably the best Isaan hotel I’d ever stayed in – you can get a lot of hotel for your money in Isaan. Fairly wheelchair friendly, apart from getting into the rooms – there is a 3” step into every room.

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I guess that is to prevent flooding, even though we were staying on the 4th floor.

View from the hotel was OK. We could see the main attractions – Roi Et Tower and the big standing Buddha.

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It had been a long day, and we were tired from the travelling. We just wanted to have a bite to eat, and turn in to bed. My daughter was staying with her cousin, so it was just me and the wife for food. We’d been told there were restaurants in either direction out of the hotel. However, when the guard saw me pushing the wheelchair, he tried to direct me to the hotel restaurant. I didn’t really want that, so just turned left past him.

Poorly lit roads and no pavements were ahead of me. I was starting to think wheelchairs should have lights. I was OK into oncoming traffic, but hated it in the other direction. It didn’t help that I was wearing a black T-shirt and shorts.

You could have knocked me over with a feather when we found a steak house. I even asked for an extra portion of chips – sorry, no chips, just jacket potatoes. This was definitely better than the Isaan from 25 years ago. It even tasted very good.

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Next challenge was finding a 7-eleven (little did we know at this stage that if we’d turned right out of the hotel, a huge 7-eleven would have been the first place we got to). We needed to stock up on milk and water for the room. Well, it was about a mile along the main road (yes, I know, having to walk as far as one mile anywhere in Thailand for a 7-eleven is unbelievable) – OK, there was poor streetlighting, but a lot more traffic to battle with the wheelchair. The wheelchair was on the wrong side of the busy road for the 7-11, so I stopped the wheelchair in a little mud clearing on the side of the road and went shopping alone.

Provisions bought, it was battling with the traffic again as we made our way back to the hotel for an early night. Weather would determine what we would do the following day.

To be continued…………………………..

[migrant]

Did your wife do OK with the pressures of the flight?

[Big Boy]

Yes, absolutely no problems whatsoever, thank you.

[pharvey]

All sounding good so far BB

[Big Boy]

Part 3

Day 2 – The Roi Et Tower

The big shock this morning was our room had become very infested with little ants overnight. When I say ‘very’, I mean areas of the room were black with ants. Yesterday, we had a few. This morning there were thousands of the little beasties. We had no option but to request the hotel get the exterminators in.

Breakfast – what can I say? No chilled eggs, no plastic ham or sausages. Real food, including baked beans and real (not frozen) chips. Come on Hua Hin, this is the 2nd time I’ve eaten in Roi Et on this visit – not a frozen chip to be seen. Why can’t Hua Hin’s ‘top’ chefs learn to peel a spud – it isn’t rocket science? Even I can do it. Real chips aside, this has to be one of the best hotel breakfasts I’ve had in 35 years of Thailand.

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We had awoken to pouring rain, but that stopped during breakfast.

My daughter had enlisted a relative to be our guide for the duration of our stay. First stop was out to an old auntie’s house. I was quickly remembering what I really didn’t like about Isaan, and more importantly, why I could never live there. Fortunately, that was just a 15 minute visit, and we were soon back on our tour. I am not casting aspersions on the way many rural Thais live – they’ve lived this way for hundreds of years, but it is just not for me, I am far too squeamish.

Next stop was The Roi Et Tower (you saw me looking at it from my hotel window), a huge 34 floor tower built in the shape of a North Eastern musical instrument, a Wot. The Wot was used to make noise and send a signal to Phi Fa (Thai Ghost) to stop the rain when there was enough rainfall, starting the harvest season. Nowadays the Wot is a musical wind instrument in Northeast of Thailand. It is made of bamboo.
NB: Mr. Google tells me it is called a Wot, however, the locals were calling the instrument a ‘Vote’ sounded more like ‘vode’. I don’t know which is right, but remember they speak Laos here, as opposed to Thai. Another theory I have is the W is being pronounced as a V (with an e at the end because they can – Thailand often add unnecessary letters to words, just because they can, and it proves natural English speakers can’t spell in English. I think it is to prove that their command of the English language is better than native English speakers).

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I personally think the tower was quite ugly, but the locals seem to love it, with miniature versions of the Wot on lampposts, roundabouts, etc.

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A strange feature about the tower is there is a lift, but you have to walk to the 4th floor to catch it (not very wheelchair friendly). I was told there were souvenir shops on the way to the 4th floor. Of course, the wheelchair was never going to make it to the 4th floor. My daughter made a few enquiries, and we received VIP treatment. Not only did my wife not have to pay (50฿ each for the rest of us – Thai and Farang price the same), we were assigned our own personal guide who led us to our own personal lift.

I think he took us to the 31st floor initially, where we had wonderful views of the city, and especially Bueng Phlan Chai Park, which appeared to have improved from a very good park, to something extra special. We would be walking around the park the following day.

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Next, my wife’s guide took her in the lift to the 33rd floor, whilst the rest of us walked up the steps.

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Here the view had bars to stop us falling, as opposed to the glass windows of the 31st floor, so hopefully better photos.

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At the end of the circuit, there was a glass floor. Everybody had to wear special shoes. Unfortunately, they did not have the boxes the special shoes came in. This giant needs size 14UK. The largest they had was size 42(Thai). I wasn’t going to be beaten, I got a size 42 over my toes and ball of my foot, and I walked gingerly to the glass floor.

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I may be a giant of a man, but I literally crapped myself when I got to the glass floor. I was more like a 2 year old. I stood at the edge, and leaned over to take a few photos. There was no way I could bring myself to walk on the glass floor.

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There was a 34th floor, but mere mortals were not allowed up there (not even VIPs like us). The story I was given is there is the body of Phra Phuttha Ming Muang Mongkol, Buddha image of Roi Et Province interned up there. This was confirmed by Mr. Google.

To be continued…………………………..

[KanDoo]

You sure do complain a LOT!

[Bamboo Grove]

Nice views. The photos from the tower prove what I've seen of this part of Isan, it's pretty flat. There are mountains or hills at the border areas of Isan but the center is very much like in the photos.

[Big Boy]

You sure do complain a LOT!

Correct.

[Big Boy]

Nice views. The photos from the tower prove what I've seen of this part of Isan, it's pretty flat. There are mountains or hills at the border areas of Isan but the center is very much like in the photos.

Oh yes, no hills here at all. My wife's home village is Ban Nong Seng, which is about 80 miles, and I don't think there is more than a very slight incline all of the way.

[Big Boy]

Part 4

Day 2 – Wat Sawang Hua Na Kham

After the tower, we went for lunch at a noodle shop - yuk. Most definitely not for me.

After lunch, we drove to Wat Sawang Hua Na Kham, which was actually closer to Khon Kaen than Roi Et. It was another very pretty Thai Temple. I’m not really sure whether it was authentic, or plastic as so many are these days. Very photogenic though.

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Temple done, it was the long drive back to our hotel. We walked into our room, and were met with that familiar ‘the exterminator has been’ smell. Most of the ants were dead. There were a few survivors, but I soon set about exterminating many of them.

It was here that my wife and I parted ways for the evening. Relatives had kindly arranged a party on our behalf, but I know that I would not have enjoyed it, and I most certainly wouldn’t have eaten the food. My wife went to the party, and I just ate at the hotel. I think we both had a good time. For me it was memories of working for MOD, Billy No Mates eating alone at my hotel, with a glass of beer for company. One thing of note with my meal again though was I had ordered a pork hock. It came with real mashed potato. Shame on Hua Hin’s chefs again, the supposedly rural chefs had definitely mastered the art of peeling spuds.

To be continued…………………………..

[Big Boy]

Part 5

Day 3 – Wat Buraphaphiram

The ants were back, and they’d brought reinforcements. My wife was even finding the little beasties in her bed. The hotel clerk wouldn’t believe it, but I think my wife had convinced them to exterminate the ants properly this time. Also, the toilet’s flush system died overnight, so our room is a disaster zone this morning. Lovely hotel, but it has its faults, but things like a busted toilet could happen anywhere in the world.

Breakfast was nowhere near as good this morning as the previous day. We went at the same time as the previous day, but the cupboards were bare. Obviously hungry guests got there before us. Still OK though, and had my beans and ‘real’ chips. It probably helped that I was the only Farang resident, and Thais were disgusted at the thought of baked beans and chips for breakfast.

Weather was still holding fine, which is amazing for this time of year (my phone was continually giving storm warnings, but they weren’t happening). Today’s plan was to visit Bueng Phlan Chai Park for a nostalgic walk around, and then on to the giant standing Buddha (of course, plans change). In the evening our aim was to visit the bars and restaurants alongside the lake at Bueng Phlan Chai Park (if they actually existed), and take a few of the Outlaws along to thank them for looking after us so well. People had told us there was quite a vibrant entertainment community there, so we were hoping to find out.

After breakfast, we returned to our room to get ready for the day ahead. The flush had been fixed, but we were still overrun by ants. I must have killed at least 100 that morning. All Isaan bugs are armour plated, so their destruction was not easy. Even with a size 14 shoe, and my excessive body weight on top of them, they often just walked away.

We went down to wait for our transport, and thanked reception for fixing the toilet, but asked what they were doing about the ant infestation. The clerk sort of smiled, and said you only have one night left, it’ll be OK (after all, ants are common house guests in Isaan). We both told her it wasn’t OK. Very surprised, she asked if we’d like a different room – we both said yes please. She gave us a new key card, and I went straight up to move everything across – an identical room, but minus the house guests.

I went back down, and our transport was waiting. We got into the car and headed straight to Wat Buraphaphiram. It contained Thailand's tallest standing Buddha image at 59.2 Metres high (67.85 Metres including base), known as Phra Phuttha Rattanamongkhon Mahamuni or Luangpho Yai.

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He’s quite an impressive figure, with some sort of monk’s accommodation build at the statue’s rear. We did our thing and moved on.

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Next stop was a quick photo stop at a random Buddha image at Wat Nuea. Quite a big boy as well.

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To be continued…………………………..

[Bamboo Grove]

No photos of the ants?

[Big Boy]

I did take a couple on day 1 before the situation got out of hand - believe me, it got a lot worse than this.

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[Big Boy]

A short video taken at the same time - of course, these were just the scouting party, before the BIG invasion.