From Nepal, we took a night flight to Thailand. It seemed like a good idea at the time, though I admit that the 3 a.m. transfer in Bangkok is only a vague impression in my memory, and we were both a little befuddled wandering around Ubon Ratchathani at 8 a.m., wondering when we could go back and get ourselves a nap!
If you want a taste of Thailand without the sense of city urgency, Ubon Ratchathani is a convenient stop for the traveler. It worked well for us since you can easily catch a bus over to Laos (which was next on our plan!), and it is a bit calmer (I’m told) than Bangkok. The city is known for its long tradition of temple scholarship and for the crafts and rituals surrounding the annual Candle Festival.
The humidity was high, but the traffic was certainly more ordered than what we’d seen in Nepal, and that first morning, we found ourselves a nice airconditioned coffee shop and slurped our way into consciousness. To adjust to the weather, we tended to walk in the mornings and evenings, and nap during the afternoons. And Nissa did her long training run while I went birding, so we managed to fit in several different kinds of adventures across our 48 hours!
The architecture was quite different from that of Nepal – more "hot flame" type curls to the rooflines; more ornament; more gilt. We spent both days wandering around enjoying the parks and the Wats and temples. To my friends and family: yes, it is in fact possible for me to go to a city and not tour a museum. That’s because I was caught up in the joys of exterior architecture!
 |
| Cynthia and Nissa, jaunting around Ubon's many Wats! |
We also lucked out and were in the city for the tail end of the illuminations festival, with decorative lights at a dozen key city destinations. The brilliant colors and gentle shadings enlivened the architecture, and several sound installations provided soothing tempi and a new-age vibe to the destinations.
We actually did a bit of shopping, and had dinner at the night market. My big discovery was watermelon slushies. They might just be my new favorite drink.
 |
| Big C Supercenter |
 |
| The Thung Sri Muang Night Market with all of its abundance. |
One of the most interesting sights was the Hor Trai, or manuscript library, of Wat Thung Si Mueang. It is on stilts in the water to avoid bug invasions, and inside the scrolls are wrapped in bright bits of fabric
And, of course, we saw the markers of sound, but not the sounds themselves.In other words, we saw plenty of temple drums and gongs, but we never happened to be there when they were sounding.
In all, we found Ubon to be both picturesque and relaxing; I wouldn’t mind going back sometime – perhaps when I’ve slept the night before!
RESOURCES
Travel to Thailand is relatively easy as US citizens; instead of a Visa, one applies for a Thailand Digital Arrival Card, which we were able to do on our phones. We also got eSims (from trip.com) so had plenty of data
Details of things to do and navigational guidance are available at https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Ubon_Ratchathani – a very handy tool!
We stayed at Hotel Phadaeng, which is less then ten minutes from 7-minute walk from Thung Si Muang Park. They had a luggage drop-off which let us wander around unencumbered while waiting on a reasonable check-in time.
We ate at the Thung Sri Muang Night Market – and recommend that you do too!
We took an Uber out to the Big C Supercenter to do some shopping (and to arrange for our bus tickets to Pakse, Laos). We ate at the food court there. So many interesting food choices!
