Bangkok Week 151 May 19, 2011 A weekend in Khon Kaen, Thailand's 4th largest city, for Sup and Ming's wedding. Also, Jakarta Week 18. View fullsize Our A300-600, which came into service in Dec 1990. Check out the sliding bathroom door! View fullsize Modern pink plastic paneling, and doors shut by duct tape. View fullsize This is it for Khon Kaen's airport. It has one jet bridge. View fullsize Our hotel room. Not bad for $15.80 a night. View fullsize Lunch for me and my upset stomach: a basket of Isaan sticky rice! View fullsize An overly-excited rose apple tree leaves its droppings all over the sidewalk. View fullsize And it showed no signs of stopping! View fullsize The skyline of Khon Kaen is defined by its two functioning hotels, and one abandoned hotel. View fullsize Off for an afternoon stroll with Vee, who came up by bus that same day. View fullsize The election is coming, and you can already tell that Abhisit won't fare very well in this part of the country. View fullsize Isaan's version of the X-Games... leaves a bit to be desired. View fullsize A colorful sock shop at the market on the rim of the lake. View fullsize Dinner picnics in the park, set up by the market sellers. View fullsize Release fish for merit -- 3 for 10 baht. View fullsize Instead, Vee decides to buy fish food for the guys already in the lake. View fullsize Unfortunately, there were more pigeons than fish. View fullsize Not sure what to feed, since even the pigeons seem to have plenty. View fullsize Sleepy dogs were piled up in this cool construction mound. View fullsize This bike seemed made for us! Unfortunately, we didn't go back to try it. View fullsize The fitness area of the park. Actually gets lots of use at sundown! View fullsize Just like at the gym... except you lift your own body as a weight! View fullsize Not totally sure what this contraption's for. View fullsize Again... unless there's some resistance, it's hard to imagine the benefits. View fullsize The most famous temple in Khon Kaen features a 9-story Chedi. View fullsize No shortage of golden ornamentation. View fullsize The tiling around the ground floor had all kinds of animals. Here, an elephant (and a young monk). View fullsize Ornate wooden paneling formed the doors on all 4 sides of the Chedi. View fullsize Khon Kaen, like most towns, has a night market with lots of food stalls. View fullsize We stopped for dinner at a made-to-order place. View fullsize This durian seller had a lot of happy customers! His must be especially stinky. View fullsize A! sign in our hotel! room. It's even! funny in! Thai. View fullsize The two roommates showed up for the morning session of their roommie's big day. View fullsize Finally got a chance to wear my Indian sun dress. View fullsize The various offerings that are carried and handed over during the ceremony. View fullsize Finally Sup shows up! He has to negotiate a price to pass through a series of golden chains. View fullsize Both sets of parents, some guest speakers, and the groom all sit on stage before the bride is invited up. View fullsize Captivated audience. View fullsize Then the couple pays respects to their parents. View fullsize And the rings are busted out, just like in the west. View fullsize Family shot! Both of the bride's parents are dentists. Both of Sup's parents are teachers. (His dad at the university, his mom at a local school.) View fullsize And a shot with the crazies who came all the way up from Bangkok for the morning ceremony. View fullsize The fancy garlands that will be put around the bride and groom in the second part of the morning ceremony. View fullsize Now, they're attached at the head by a string, and each person present pours water on their hands in turn. View fullsize After the morning ceremony, a trip to a famous silk shop in town. Khon Kaen and neighboring towns are famous for their silk. View fullsize Eye candy! They're all so beautiful, even if a bit too traditional for my taste. View fullsize Are the guys shopping for new suits for the evening banquet? View fullsize Would you like blue, blue, blue or blue? How about blue? View fullsize Fancy lunch at a mall food court... we got stranded there by a heavy rain storm. We didn't look out of place at all... View fullsize Now, back for the dinner banquet! View fullsize The rest of the Bangkok (Boston / Brown) gang have come up. How sociable they are! View fullsize New outfits for the evening session, where more speeches and toasts are made. View fullsize Cutting the cake, live on TV! View fullsize The Boston / Brown / Bangkok table with the happy couple. And I seem to have picked another pregnant dress. Sheesh. View fullsize Afterward, the crowds congregate outside for more photos before heading home. (Note: the Batik tie!!) View fullsize The Boston / Brown boys. View fullsize Afterward, a classy ride back to our hotel in a tuk tuk. In the rain. View fullsize The next morning, we joined the gang for a road trip up to the uber-exciting Ubon Rat dam. View fullsize That's basically it for the dam. View fullsize Nonetheless, walking across to get a closer view. View fullsize Also some rocks. It's on what seems to be one of the largest lakes in Thailand. View fullsize Stopping for a picnic lunch. View fullsize Lots of spicy Isaan dishes. TRULY SPICY. View fullsize An instructive guide inside the stall at the park's bathroom. View fullsize Temple on a hill overlooking the lake. View fullsize Slowly making progress, although it certainly didn't seem like it at the time. View fullsize Asian guys and their parasols. View fullsize Stopping half-way at a small pagoda, to see Buddha's footprint. (Note: not a bathtub) View fullsize The pagoda that houses the footprint. View fullsize And my reclining Tuesday buddha. View fullsize And then we continue on our way. View fullsize Finally at the top. And so exhausted that we can barely appreciate the view. View fullsize Directly under the mid-day sun. Buddha must be hot. View fullsize At least it affords a nice view and a breeze. View fullsize Looking out over Ubonrat Lake. View fullsize Could not replenish fast enough to make up for what was being sweated out. View fullsize Thirsty ants found something sweet to sip. View fullsize Another view of Buddha from the side, before heading back down. View fullsize In our last afternoon, we revisit the famous temple in-town -- since it's still early enough to climb to the top. View fullsize Notice the pattern in the floor tiles? Yep, it's a brontosaurus! View fullsize Ornate ceilings and wall murals -- another thing for which the temple's famous. View fullsize A colorful door panel. View fullsize Each floor gets smaller as you go up (obviously) but remains plenty colorful. View fullsize Climbing up to the 9th and final floor. Narrow stairs now! View fullsize The view from the top! View fullsize The surrounding area, south of the city-- you can see lots of housing developments in the background. View fullsize Why is this sister trying to throw her brother over the edge? View fullsize Enjoying the breeze. View fullsize Over a hundred monks must reside at this temple! View fullsize Gold, gold everywhere. View fullsize Gold, gold everywhere. View fullsize It's not a backdrop, honest! View fullsize Heading back on Sunday night: these are the 4 check-in counters at Khon Kaen airport. The flight could only board after everyone had checked in, since the THAI staff had to perform double-duties.
