“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
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| (The Naga statue by the Mekong River) |
Route: Mukdahan - Nong Khai
Distance: 299 km (4:52)
Hotel: Iyara Hotel, Nong Khai
We had the usual breakfast set of bread and half boiled eggs with hot nescafe. By 8.00 am we checked out, collected our B500 deposit then drove out of Mukdahan and headed towards Udon Thani.
Stopped for comfort and coffee break at PTT Thong Khop. Took the main highways to Udon Thani bypassing Sakhon Nakhon. This time we missed visiting the Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge connecting Nakhon Phanom in Thailand and Thakek in Laos. InsyaAllah, we will visit this border during some other trips.
Arrived in Udon Thani around 1.45 pm and headed direct to a Muslim restaurant located next to Masjid Quattul Islam, the central mosque of Udon Thani. We used to visit this mosque during our biking days. We had Beef and chicken fried rice for lunch.
After solat jamak at the mosque, we continued our journey towards Nong Khai. Arrived at Nong Khai Thailand/Laos border around 4.00 pm. Then headed to Nong Khai Walking Street and to Sadet Indo-China Market located about 4 km from the border. Thr Walking Street only opens on weekends. The market was about to close this time of the day. But the water front was lively with food stalls selling Thai and Laos delicacies. It is a great place to eat and relax by the riverside while watching the sunset.
Visited the Naga Statue by the Mekong River. Nong Khai adopted the naga, a serpent with multiple heads as its symbol. The naga has its orgins in Hindu myth. In India, the heads are usually the same as a cobra's, but in Southeast Asia the heads usually look more like dragons, due to Chinese influences. Depictions of Naga totally dominating the towns street scene of Nong Khai.
Visited Darul Mustakin Mosque of Nong Khai located about 10 km from the city. It was already dark when we arrived at the mosque. The mosque was lighted up but nobody was around. We took some pictures from outside the compound.
By 6.30 pm we checked in Iyara Hotel for RM63/night. It was already dark when we arrived and it was quite difficult to find the hotel as it is located behind a busy shopping mall. We took another route and managed to get to the hotel via a narrow and dark alley.
We had bread and nescafe for dinner in the room.
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