Udon Thani

Mam had some work in Udon Thani province which is about four hours by car north of Korat. I tagged along.

My sister gave me the cool valise a few years ago. It's great for short trips.

We stayed in one of these cottages at the Tanita Lagoon Resort in Udon Thai.

The resort is built around a stocked fishing pond.

Meals served in your room so you can dine by the water.

While Mam worked I drove to Wat Tham Kong Pen in neighboring Nong Bua Lamphu province. This is a well known forest temple which is built around existing sandstone formations. The forest area is huge, green and peacful.

The wat was once the home of the famous monk Luang Pu Khao.

The wat takes its name from the Klong Pen, two sided drum.

There are many Buddha images tucked under and around the sandstone.

A nun meditates before a Chinese style Buddha image.

From the temple I drove to the Shell Fossil Museum. This museum houses 150 million year old bivalve fossils discovered in a nearby abandoned quarry.

There is a trail down to the quarry where, from behind a fence, you can see the site where the bivalve fossils were found. There are at least two in this photo.

For lunch we headed to UD Town, a relatively new outdoor shopping mall in Udon.

Lunch at Ramen Champions.

Snacks purchased at the Melt Me Hokkaido chocolate shop.

And finally food gifts from the famous VT Nam Nueng shop. Nam Nueng is a Vietnamese dish sometimes called "meatball wraps". It consists of rice paper wraps, meatballs or sausages, lots of different veggies and a dipping sauce. (This shop spells it "Nueng". It probably should be "Neung".)