I Found Paradise in Bueng Kan 🇹🇭 Journey Along The Mekong

I Found Paradise in Bueng Kan 🇹🇭 Journey Along The Mekong

Behind me here is the mighty Mekong. And for more 
than 800 km, it forms the natural border between Thailand and Laos. And for the next few weeks, 
this beautiful stretch of water is going to be our guide as we explore this beautiful and underrated 
part of Southeast Asia. Along the way, I’ll be stopping in small villages, exploring hidden 
corners of different provinces, and discovering stories of culture, history, food, and the 
incredible people who call this part of Thailand their home. So, come and jump on my motorcycle and 
join me on this journey along the Mekong. [Music] Good morning. Welcome back to Nong Khai. 
Welcome back to the Mekong. We are continuing our adventures following the Meong all 
the way from Loei to Ubon and we’re having so much fun. Thank you so much for all 
the love in the previous few episodes. We’re going to begin by exploring a little bit 
of Nong Khai and then we’re going to get on Zelda and head further down. I’m just beginning 
the day here at this beautiful sculpture park. There’s lots of gardens, plants, trees, 
potted plants. There’s also a lake full of fish. You pay 40 B and you get a ticket and 
you get a nice cheeky little loaf of bread. These fish are not small. Big catfish in there. 
Now, obviously, I’m filming these videos, but somebody has to edit them, and that’s 
me. So, what I’m going to do is I’m going to just spend the rest of the day back at my 
hotel just doing some editing. But, we’ll pick things up in the afternoon. As usual guys, every 
location that I go to is in the description. So, if you are in the area, come visit this place. 40 
Bart and you get to feed the fish. What a bargain. Yeah, I’m always fascinated by sculpture. It’s 
actually my favorite type of art. And these figures just tell such interesting stories. 
You could stay here all day and just marvel at the artistry and the quiet ambiencece here 
in the countryside just outside of Nonkai City. But not for me. I’ve got 
some work to do today. So, I’ll catch up with you down by 
the river in the late afternoon. [Music] After my work was done, it was time 
for a stroll down the Mong at sunset. And what better place to do this than Nong 
Kai’s Boulevard along the waterfront. There are few places in Thailand with such a fun 
and laid-back vibe than Nonghai. [Music] It was clear that they were setting up for a big 
party. And as the music got louder and the evening drew in, I could feel the beginning of a 
festival atmosphere brewing around me. And yet, I wasn’t really prepared for just 
how big this party turned out to be. [Music] They love a good sing song. They love their 
traditional music. Tales and songs of working on the farm, chasing your beautiful girl of your 
dreams and drinking whiskey and sailing down to Meong and all these love songs. All these 
songs are songs about the heart and soul of this country, the real soul of the earth type 
of people who live in this area of Thailand. And he can sing like an angel. Anyway, 
let’s go down the prominard and see what we can find. There’s always something 
going on in rural Thailand. [Music] I do want to point out this is not special effects 
or AI. That is the actual moon tonight. It’s huge. [Music] [Music] I’m starting to feel like all of the best night 
markets are here in Isan. The Thai people were celebrating the end of Buddhist Lent. So for 
weeks now, they have been giving up treats and home comforts in support of their beliefs. And 
tonight marks the end of that. And so everybody was ready to let their hair down, relax, and just 
have a good old night. This just keeps on going. stumbled across a beauty contest for lady boys. Okay. What I love the most about living in 
Thailand is this might seem totally strange and totally random. But this is 
just a Tuesday night here in Nankai. Look how many people are here as well. Like 
this is not just a little event in a gay bar. This is on the main strip. 
There’s like a thousand people here. [Laughter] It makes you think that obviously 
Thailand’s famous for lady boys, but it’s not just a part of the culture that’s 
hidden down soy cowboy or Patong Beach, you know, it’s it’s actually ingrained in the society 
and it’s great to see how much it’s woripped here in Isan almost. I mean, it’s a 
beautiful thing if you ask me. [Music] They had music and booze for all 
of the adults and they had a huge fair for the kids. It really was quite incredible. I really love this game at the fair the most. 
You pay for these small nets made out of tissue paper. The nets actually dissolve in a few 
seconds, so you need to be quick and nimble if you want to catch a little fish. All in all, it 
was a fantastic night. I made plenty of friends, had a few drinks, and devoured way too much food. 
But what a fitting way to say goodbye to Nong Kai because tomorrow we’re going to be leaving 
for more adventures along the Mong. [Music] [Laughter] Good morning and welcome back to the Meong. 
I’m going to show you something interesting, but I want you to remember this pagoda. Okay, keep that in your memory cuz I’m going 
to show you something interesting. So several hundred years ago in the 15th century 
there was a very famous stuper right here on the banks of the Mong in Nongai and it housed 
some relics of the body of Buddha and it was extremely important and people came from all 
over Laos Thailand and abroad to come visit and pay respects to Buddha and some of its body parts 
inside the stupa. But over the hundreds of years, the Me Kong changed its direction, changed its 
flow and erosion caused it to fall into the Meong. Funnily enough, in low tide and when the 
water is a lot lower, so not now, unfortunately, because it’s rainy season, you can take a boat 
out and uh pay respect to the fallen stuper. Now, boats are still going out. You can see 
there’s a boat out there right now. And I actually went on a boat trip last time 
I came to Nonkai and I got to see just a tiny fragment of the stuper that peaks up through 
the water in the drier months. And the locals were buying robes and placing the robes on 
the stouper. But at this time of year, the water’s too high and you can’t see it anymore. But 
that doesn’t stop the boats going out. In fact, yesterday when I was going for my little run along 
the prominard here, I saw the boats going out and they just kind of loop around where the stouper 
is. And I think people can make a little prayer, maybe drop some flowers. They can’t actually see 
or touch the stuper, but it’s just interesting that at this time of year, they’re still 
going out on the boats, even though you can’t see or touch the stuper. But they did build 
a replica of the stouper to show how it looked. And what you see behind me, this is the stuper. 
The Thai authorities and the locals in this area crowdfunded some money and they built what 
they think is how it looked almost to the tea, especially it’s definitely the same shape and 
it’s quite beautiful inside. They’ve got lots of beautiful artwork and sculptures, but it’s 
very very beautiful inside and it’s right on the main road here in Nonkai. So, if you come 
in the dry months, make sure to go on a little boat trip. You can get it from just outside 
of the stuper here. And if you’re in Nongai, come and check it out and just uh imagine what 
it must have looked like all those hundreds of years ago. Okay, Zelda, it’s time to keep 
on moving down the Make. Let’s go. [Music] As much as I love getting to know these towns, 
two nights here or one night there, for me, the journey along the Mong riding along on the roads 
here in rural Thailand is always the highlight. Isn’t this a pretty little bridge? Just 
driving along and I was thinking, “Oh, I didn’t didn’t realize they grew rice out 
here.” Obviously, the main crops I’ve been seeing are dragon fruit, durian. But it’s good to 
see the good old staple of Thailand being grown all the way out here as opposed. They’re 
not short of water with the mong nearby. These bridges, they’re typically made 
of bamboo, but this one’s quite sturdy, and they normally just link a temple to the 
to the village. Sometimes the temple might be on a little island surrounded by the 
rice fields. Not much else to see, just rice fields. But it’s just a nice little break 
for my ass as we continue our journey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] What is that? Seems to be a lotus flower. The 
river seems to be really beautiful today. I think it’s cuz of all these storm clouds. The 
sky is sometimes bright blue and sometimes kind of gray and scary. I’ve driven through, as you can 
see, I’m kind of soaked. I’ve driven through a few little storms. Anyway, just enjoying driving along 
the Mong as usual. So, let’s continue. Where will we end up next? Somewhere probably beautiful 
and random just like this thing behind me. [Music] [Music] Just want to pop in with a quick 
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Let’s continue our adventures along the [Laughter] Okay, we’re really getting into it 
now. Now, obviously the Meong is the border between Laos and Thailand, but uh I think this 
is one of the most magnificent views I’ve seen. Not just because of the magnificent mountains, 
but because of the rain, the storms on the peaks and in every direction as well. And this little 
village that I’ve just driven through. It’s one of those villages where, you know, all the grandmas 
are outside resting on those like wooden beds. cab and just kids driving around on bicycles just 
having a day off from school just enjoying village life. Very slow pace of life out here. 
Very peaceful and what an incredible backdrop these people have. Just wanted to share this 
little village in the middle of nowhere here. I think we’re actually in Bernan 
now, the province itself. But, uh, still got quite a ways to go. I’m 
aiming to get to the three whale rock, which is a very beautiful, famous monument in this 
province, but it’s still another hour or so away. I’m not sure what’s going on with the weather 
today. It’s so mixed. One minute it’s sunny, next minute it’s moody and it’s pissing down with 
rain. So, we’ll just see what the weather brings for the rest of the day. Maybe we’ll do the whale 
rock in the afternoon for sunset. But if it turns on us, then we might save it for the next day and 
do it in sunrise. Who knows? I’m not quite sure what the situation is. Anyway, me and Zelda just 
having the time of our life, aren’t we, darling? Honestly, this is the life. The good 
thing about the rainy season is you can see it coming. And sometimes you 
know when it’s going to be unavoidable. Ready? [Music] [Music] [Music] Okay. I wonder if I can stay here. It’s very 
conveniently located very close to the Three Whale Rock Monument. It looks like they’ve got little 
individual bungalows if you want to call them that. And then in the distance there, that big 
rock, that’s the geological formation where three whale rock and a few other beautiful landmarks 
are. This whole area has got loads of things to see. Okay, all sorted. Me and Zelda are here. 
We’re going to spend a night in this little blue house. 400 Bart, air con, shower. Looks pretty 
comfortable. So, I’m just going to wait out a few hours. See if it gets a little bit better this 
afternoon. Hopefully, it will be beautiful because sometimes these storms can create a dramatic 
sunset. But, I’ve noticed some damage to Zelda. During the festival in Nong Kai in the morning, 
the hotel staff told me that someone drunkenly bumped into my bike and it fell over. So, there 
is a dent on the uh exhaust. I’m not going to touch it because obviously it’s boiling hot, but 
yeah, there’s a dent on that, but that’s not the issue. That’s fine. I can get that changed. that 
that’s not really a big problem. But my kind of uh you know reserve fuel that normally is on here. 
You can see it’s snapped. It’s snapped off here. I don’t know how that happened. I didn’t feel or 
hear that happen, but I feel like it must have happened today. It was a bit bumpy for a bit, but 
I don’t I think it’s just failed. This is quite a heavy thing and it’s it’s it’s latched onto these 
little now it’s hanging on by a thread. There’s one little nut right here. So, I’m going to have 
to sort of take that off. We’re starting to get wet. We’re starting to get battered and bruised. 
Just like any good road trip, things go wrong. I’m thinking that even though the weather is 
shocking, I think I still might go do the three whale rock because the rain is creating this mist 
that’s coming out of this rainforest. And I think the worst of the weather’s gone and I just think 
it’s going to create a lot of drama and it could be just absolutely epic. And I haven’t seen Three 
Whale Rock just after it’s rained. The last time I went, well, the first and only time I’ve been, 
it was dry. It was beautiful. So, maybe it will be a nice experience to experience this jungle, 
this rocky mountain in a muddy, misty, moody scenario. Okay, that was easy. That’s the ticket 
office behind me. It’s quite expensive. Okay, so it’s 100 Bart for the ticket. That’s not the 
expensive part. The expensive part is the truck. So, this truck is 500 Bart. So, it’s 600 all in. 
Of course, if you were with some other people, you could share the truck and then it would only be 
100 bar per person, but you do need a truck. Um, you can drive your own, but I can’t drive and I 
don’t have a truck. So you rent a truck for 500 B. I’m remembering right now that I did share the 
truck with a bunch of Thai people last time, but I think the weather scared most people off. 
This could be a really unique way to experience this beautiful place because the weather 
might just add to the experience. Let’s see. It could completely make it terrible, but 
hopefully, fingers crossed, it all pans out. Okay, it’s all coming back to me now. So, 
the truck drops you off at four or five different locations, a few viewpoints, a few 
beautiful rock formations, and then you finish, if I remember rightly, with the highlight, which 
is three whale rock, which is just, wait till you see it. It’s unbelievable. And so the first 
stop is just to admire this uh nice statue of the seated Buddha. All of these beautiful red 
rocks which the three whales are made from is very special to this region of Thailand. You don’t 
see this in the south because it’s all limestone, but this is a different type of rock. Not quite 
sure which one, but uh I’m sure I’ll find out in time for the voice over. So yeah, I’ve done 
some research and it’s quite interesting. These are ancient red sandstone rocks believed to be 75 
million years old, dating back to the Cretaceous period. They’re actually some of the oldest 
exposed rocks in the entire country. And this deep red hue comes from the iron oxide within the 
sandstone. That’s what gives them this Martianlike look. And with the erosion, these beautiful 
smooth edges, which as you’ll see in a minute, create these beautiful whaleshaped rocks. Just 
getting from place to place is an adventure in its own. It’s like Jurassic Park or something. 
Just thankfully minus the Tyrannosaurus Rex. You get your money’s worth with the trucks. By 
the way, the distances between the attractions up on this mountain is quite far. That was 20 
minutes. 20 minutes. And I was like, “Bloody hell. This we’re going high. We’re going into the Misty 
Mountains in the clouds. Is there going to be any views? I’m not quite sure. We’ve just stopped at 
this little viewpoint here. Let’s find out. Wow. Wow. Check out the health and safety of 
Thailand. Dotted yellow line. If you go that way, you slip and fall, you’re dead. This is so cool. What a brilliant view. 
It’s a shame because in the distance is the Meong. You can’t quite see it because of 
this low pressure cloud and the mist and the fog which you would expect after a big storm 
or this humidity just coming straight out of the forest. All that rain just quickly 
evaporates in into another storm cloud. This is definitely one of the most striking, 
recognizable, and famous monuments in all of Thailand. But because it’s so far and 
deep into Isan, away from any big airport, away from any big city, few people make it 
up here, which I think makes it more special. There’s a big group of ties here as well. And 
someone’s flying a drone. I have got my drone, but I wasn’t going to fly it because it 
seems the weather’s not really the best, but we’ll see. Maybe it’ll clear. Actually, 
I think that’s the middle whale since there’s quite a lot of people. Let’s go through one of 
the other little whales. Basically, there’s three whales swimming next to each other. Mommy and 
daddy and baby whale. And since they’re there taking pictures, seems to be a bit of an Instagram 
opportunity. Let’s go to a different whale. See, look. Oh god, it’s so slippy, guys. Just bear 
with me one second. So, there you go. There’s three whales. Super unique part of Thailand. This 
really cool. I’m so glad to be back. So, there’s a huge whale to my right. This must be the middle 
whale. And then there’s the the drone operator. It looks like it might just clear as well. Like we 
might just get a view of Ean and the Meong. This is one of the most unique places. Look at this. 
Look at the shape of the rock. It’s so slippy. I’m going nowhere near the edge because 
it’s slippy as hell just after the rain. As you can imagine, it really looks like a 
whale, doesn’t it? The front of a humpback whale. Oh my goodness. I’d forgotten how epic 
this is. And with all this mists to it, doesn’t it? Oh, we’re getting a bit close. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Epic. Absolutely epic. Ah, yes. I can remember now. You 
can get quite close to the front. Look at this. Wow. Wow. Wow. That’s as far as I’m going to go today. Look at 
this. I think I can get the drone up just so I can get a little bit of a perspective for you. 
Because these whales come alive from the sky. [Music] Heat up here. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Truly epic, huh? Truly epic. Every couple of 
minutes we just get completely engulfed in cloud and we can’t see a thing and then it clears 
and you can see a lot more. It’s really stunning and I’m so glad I came up here this afternoon. 
I still might come again tomorrow morning. I haven’t decided. I might do. But just coming and 
seeing the whales in this environment so unique, so special. Bernan, put this on your list 
if you’re doing the Me Kong and come see the three whales. Aren’t they beautiful? I hope 
you enjoyed today’s episode. Leaving Non Kai, having a great time there, by the way. 
Oh my god, what a place. And then just having a lovely drive all the way through the 
countryside, through the rain, through the sun, through all the weather, and finishing here at the 
beautiful Three Whale Rock. In the next episode, we’re going to continue our adventures in Buncan. 
There’s loads of really special places that I really want to visit that I haven’t yet. So, 
we’ll check out some beautiful places in the next episode. And then we’ll follow the Meong even more 
down to Nacon Panom, one of my favorite cities, and that will kind of uh mark the halfway 
point of our little Meong adventure. So, if you’ve enjoyed today, as always, please just 
like the video. Super simple. So, super easy to do and it really helps the video get shown 
to more people. And if you’re new, subscribe. We got loads of adventures coming. And if you 
can’t wait for the next episode, don’t worry, okay? Relax, cuz you can watch it right here. Just 
click on that or tap it now and go enjoy. Cheers.

This week we continue our journey along The Mekong – Head to https://www.squarespace.com/paddydoyle to get 10% off your first website or domain with Squarespace.

Join me as I leave Nong Khai and head east towards the wonderful 3 Whale Rock in Bueng Kan Thailand.

Along the way I’ll share local festivals – foods – sculpture parks – sunken temples and magnificent views along the Mekong.

🗺️ – Locations Featured:
📍 Sala Keo Kou Sculpture Park – https://maps.app.goo.gl/XYpR31ydMDLdTwAK9
📍 Naga Statue – https://maps.app.goo.gl/KKY4HpxkwyCFphrF7
📍 Phra That Klang Nam – https://maps.app.goo.gl/mkNi5Dbgjs756QtK8
📍 Homestay Close Three Whale Rock – https://maps.app.goo.gl/4HYt4SQzneNT9dKh6
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Chapters:
0:00 – The Mekong
0:53 – Gorgeous Sculpture Park
2:43 – Amazing Festival
7:34 – Sunken Temple
10:25 – Countryside Riding
16:30 – Rainy Guesthouse
18:39 – 3 Whale Rock

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