Sights in Udon Thani Province
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Udorn Sunshine Nursery
Ever seen a plant dance? Well, you can here. Originally earning notoriety for producing the first perfume made from an orchid, the Udorn Sunshine Nursery, just northwest of town, has since developed a hybrid of Codariocalyx motorius ohashi leguminosae that 'dances' to music. The mature gyrant has long oval leaves, plus smaller ones of a similar shape. If you sing or talk to the plant in a high-pitched voice (saxophone or violin works even better), a few of the smaller leaves will shift back and forth. It's no hype; we've seen it ourselves, although it's much more of a waltz than a jig. The plants are most active from November to February, the cool season, and from 7am to …
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Wat Pa Ban Tad
Luang Ta Maha Bua, a former disciple of Luang Pu Man now in his 90s, is one of Thailand’s most revered monks. Though he earned his reverence as a meditation master, he gained universal celebrity after the 1997 economic crisis by collecting over 10,000kg of gold (people turned in jewellery to be melted down) and US$10 million in baht to help pay the country’s international debts. Over 250 monks and mâa chee (nuns), all taking ascetic vows in addition to the regular 227 precepts, live and meditate at Wat Pa Ban Tad, a humble forest wát 16km south of Udon, including about a dozen Westerners.
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Ban Chiang National Museum
This excellent museum exhibits a wealth of pottery from all Ban Chiang periods, plus myriad metal objects, including spearheads, sickles, fish hooks, ladles and neck rings. The displays (with English labels) offer excellent insight into the region's distant past and how its mysteries were unravelled. Hidden in back is a room showcasing the culture of the Tai Phuan people, who migrated here about 200 years ago and founded the town. One kilometre east at Wat Pho Si Nai is an original burial ground excavation pit , with a cluster of 52 individual burial sites dating to 300 BC. It shows how bodies were laid to rest with (infants placed inside) pottery.
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Phu Phrabat Historical Park
Steeped in mythical intrigue and peppered with bizarre rock formations, Phu Phrabat Historical Park is one of the region’s highlights. The formations are a collection of balanced rocks, spires and whale-sized boulders with several shrines and wáts built in and around them. Prehistoric paintings in several grottoes feature wild animals, humans and cryptic symbols. There are also some small but sophisticated rock carvings of Buddha images dating back to when the Mon and, later, Khmer ruled this area.
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Wat Na Ka Taewee
Take a peek at Wat Na Ka Taewee, which was founded before the village by a wandering monk who found a hole from which bellowed the sound and smoke of a naga. He plugged the hole with a rock and built the small bòht over it. An open-air hall displays pottery, gold Buddhas and human skeletons unearthed during various construction projects at the temple.
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Udon Thani Provincial Museum
Filling a 1920s colonial-style building that used to be a girls' school, this museum has an interesting catch-all collection ranging from geology to handicrafts.
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Sanjao Pu-Ya
This large, brash Chinese temple on the southern shore of Nong Bua attests to the wealth of the local Thai-Chinese merchant class. At its heart, the Pu-Ya Shrine houses small images of the Chinese gods Pu (Grandpa) and Ya (Grandma).
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Wat Pa Lelai
For something completely different, visit this wát 500m north of the burial site, across the little bridge. The awesome childlike murals in the two-story building at the back are both enlightening and entertaining.
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Phuan Thai House
About 300m southwest of the burial site (follow the signs for 'Phuan House which the King and Queen visited in 1972') , this traditional Isan house is also promoted as an attraction, but the still-lived-in houses throughout the village are more interesting.
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Nong Prajak Park
Udon's most popular park starts to rev up as the afternoon winds down, and there's a lot to do here, from feeding the fish to riding a bike. A bike-hire outlet on the northeast shore has one-, two- and three-seaters for 20/40/50B per hour. Much of the action takes place on the sunset-watching side of the lake, along Th Thesa. Dozens of streetside massage artists start doing rubdowns around 2pm and paint-your-own pottery shops open two hours later. Restaurants serve all day.
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Ho Chi Minh Educational & Tourism Historical Site
During 1928 and 1929, Ho Chi Mihn used the jungle around Hong Hang village as one of his bases to train soldiers and rally Isan's sizeable Vietnamese community for his resistance against the French occupation of Vietnam. The proud local Vietnamese community has recently built a replica of his thatched-roof, mud-wall house and a big museum. Both buildings were largely empty when we visited, though we were told displays would be coming soon. Check with the tourism office to see if they have. Bâhn lung hoh (Uncle Ho's House), as locals call it, is 10km from Udon. Take sŏrng·tăa·ou 14 (13B, 20 minutes) running south along Mukkamontri street to the junction and then follo…
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