We took our rented car out of Khonkaen and down to the village of Sabua in Muang Phon. As you can see, it was barely large enough for me to sit in.
But before we left for the village, we stopped by one of the most famous temples in Khonkaen to take a look. There was some kind of a ceremony going on, so we didn’t stick around for very long.
These photos are all geotagged, so clicking on each photo will open it’s Flickr page and you have the option of looking at a map to see where we were when we took the photo.
Puey Noi
On the way we stopped at a very nice archeological site: Puey Noi (often spelled different ways). We’ve been here before. Please see the original article for more information.
Here are the obligatory photos of Hui-chen and I standing in front of the sign. Clicking on any of these photos will take you to Flickr, where you may view the many other photos we took of this site that aren’t shown here. We took way too many to be shown on the blog.
Compare this photo of the sign, with the photo we took 5 years ago (below).
At least you can still read this one. The sign has deteriorated quite a bit in 5 years.
This is another information sign. This one wasn’t there 5 years ago.
And this is the site itself. The main “gopura” or gate.
It’s a beautiful, fascinating site with many interesting features.
This is a shot taken from inside, of the main “parang” and the “dependent parangs” to either side.
Here I am pointing out the detailed wall carving. We were all very impressed with the level of workmanship evidenced in the stone carving.
This is a carving that this site is famous for – The Sleeping Vishnu.
Inside one of the parangs, I found this stone relief. Someone has been making offerings, using this as an altar.
These were stone window bars. After the top stone was placed, it held the bar stones in place because of the fittings below and above, as shown here (lower fitting shown).
The entire site is surrounded by a laterite wall.
Michael Turton snapped this photo of me coming through a doorway.
A final overview shot. Lovely!
Also on the grounds is a new temple.
And across the street is a lovely lake.
This shot was taken from the same place as the previous shot, but using my 200mm Sigma zoom.
Always present in Thailand, these ants were busy doing what ants do.
Muang Phon
After we were finished at Puey Noi, we drove down to Muang Phon, and went to the market in the main town.
Everybody loves a good market, and this one is great!
This market is so well organized, and this is only a small section of it.
We brought fresh vegetables and meat for our evening meal at the resort.
Just look at this fresh produce! You really should click on this photo and view the large size!
Sabua Village, and Sabua Resort
Of course, we had to buy some Isaan style sausages! These are the only food photos we’re going to show you in a regular article, so enjoy them!
Uncle had the grill going and he was taking care of the sausage business for us.
My good friend Ben, the owner of the Sabua Resort, was there to welcome us. We sat down for some drinks together. Here you see Michael Cannon (R) joining us for some Sang Som.
You just would not believe how good these really are.
This is the entire spread: Sang Som Royal Thai rum, grapes and Issan sausage. In the basket was sticky rice.
Auntie butchered a chicken and picked fresh herbs for our dinner. You’ll get to see the meal in another article.
After our snack, we took a walk in the village. Here we saw some of the village women who were weaving silk. This is a hand-powered silk weave loom.
Here, you can see her operating the loom by hand. That complex pattern in the silk material is done entirely by hand, and by memory!
By this time, all the cows were coming home from being in the grazing fields all day.
This herdsman uses a motorcycle to herd his cattle.
Michael Turton and I take a walk down a village road in the setting sun. It was a beautiful time of day.
Here is a shot of Auntie preparing our dinner!
Later we met our good friend Mr. Somkhit, and he took us out for drinks and karaoke in town.
Here he is with his wife. These shots were taken in near darkness, with our optically stabilized lens.
Michael Cannon (L), Hui-chen and Michael Turton, enjoying the singing of the local people.
It was a party atmosphere, to say the least! These girls were singing and dancing through many of the songs.
After even more food and drinks, it was time to call it a day.
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Former field engineer MJ Klein now lives in Taiwan, and writes articles that primarily feature photographs of travels of MJ and wife Hui-chen, plus daily goings on in the bustling island nation of Taiwan, and other places in Asia. Articles feature people, culture, food, situations and sometimes the trials and tribulations of traveling in places such as China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos and of course Taiwan.
