Southern Isan Shortcut Tour

Day 1 – Maha Sarakham & Roi Et
The tour begins with a visit to a village where most residents make reed mats (suea), which are used across the nation for sitting on the ground. Next we’ll see pottery made using the ancient paddle and anvil method. In Roi Et city we’ll gaze up at a 59.2-meter (194 feet) tall standing Buddha image, one of the world’s largest statues. Outside the city we’ll see a temple with a pair of restored historic buildings, including a wooden Buddhist scripture library (haw-dtrai) built in the middle of a pond to keep termites at bay. Then we will stop in a joss stick making village and also, if it’s not the rainy season, see how salt is extracted from dirt. Finally, we’ll stroll around the ancient Ku Phra Kona Khmer temple ruin, which has been converted into a modern Buddhist shrine and hosts a troop of semi-tame monkeys, before rolling into the little riverside town of Tha Tum.

Overnight in Tha Tum

Day 2 – Elephant Village & Surin
Ban Ta Klang is home to the Kui (aka Suai) people, Thailand’s legendary elephant handlers, and about 150 elephants live side-by-side with them at their homes in the village. We will spend the morning getting up close and personal with elephants by walking with them to the Mun River where we can jump in to help the mahouts bathe them. We’ll then visit the elephant museum and see the elephant cemetery. We will say good bye to our pachyderm friends by feeding them some fresh fruits or vegetables. Surin province is just as renowned for its handicrafts as it is for its elephants and after we bid farewell to the pachyderms, we will visit a workshop to see Khmer-style silver beads and other products being made by hand. The most expensive silk fabric in Thailand, popular with the royal family, of course, is made in Ban Tha Sawang village. The exquisite brocade cloth (called paa yok tawng) made here uses threads coated in gold and silver and is woven on a two-story-tall loom worked by four women simultaneously.

Overnight in Surin

Day 3 – Muang Tam & Phanom Rung
Today we will visit two of Thailand’s biggest and best Khmer ruins: Phanom Rung and Muang Tam. Crowning an extinct volcano with views all the way off to Cambodia and reached by a grand promenade, Phanom Rung is a brilliantly restored temple built mostly in the 12th century. The artistic detail is as beautiful as the entire structure is grand and it will impress you even if you’ve already visited Cambodia’s Angkor Wat. Down below Phanom Rung is Muang Tam, a smaller but also impressive and excellently restored ruin that retains some wonderful carvings. Being on flat ground, it follows a more typical layout (the same as Angkor Wat) and the complex is surrounded by four lotus-filled pools. Near Khorat city, Dan Kwian village has been producing pottery for hundreds of years. The original rough, rust colored products are still made, along with a great variety of vibrant modern designs. We’ll visit a seemingly timeless workshop with its giant wood-fired kilns and hit a few stores to see the finished products.

Overnight in Khorat

Day 4 – Khorat
Nakhon Ratchasima is a bustling modern city, though its moat and city fortifications still stand as evidence of its long history. We’ll start by admiring Wat Pa-Yap, which has a shrine encrusted with stalactites, stalagmites, and other beautiful rocks rescued from a cave that was destroyed during the excavation of a quarry. Then we’ll join the devotees at the very holy Thao Suranari Memorial, built in honor of a woman who, according to legend, devised and led a prisoner rebellion against the invading Lao army (One version says that the women seduced the soldiers and then the men launched a surprise attack.) in 1826, thus saving the city. Performers do a local folk dance throughout the day to thank “Grandma Mo” for wishes people think she has answered. Many of the lovely buildings at nearby Wat Salaloi, supposedly founded by Thao Suranari and her husband, are decorated with Dan Kwian ceramic tiles. In Ban Prasat, on the way back to Khon Kaen, we’ll see the remains of an ancient agrarian culture in three excavated burial sites displaying skeletons and pottery in situ. Then, saving one of the best sites for the end, we’ll visit a silk weaving village and see the process of making silk fabric, from raising the silk worms to spinning and dying the thread to the painstaking hand-weaving. Our last stop is a temple with historic Isan-style murals.

If our itinerary doesn’t fit your exact needs and desires, please let us know. With advance notice we can usually modify things.