Picture Perfect

Day 96: Nong Khai (T) – Nakhon Ratchasima (T). Low pressure centred around southern China had finally started to move northwards, bringing with it a deluge of biblical proportion and much needed relief against the intense heat of previous days that had seen the mercury soar to over a hundred degree Fahrenheit.

The blistering heat and humidity that we had suffered over the past few days was not only uncomfortable for Karen and me. The extreme temperatures had put paid to our second memory card making us incredibly thankful that we had continued to back up our digital media. With the best part of 3,000 photographic images so far – these were easily the most valuable thing that we possessed and to loose them now would be nothing short of a disaster. (Note to our friends and family: You have precisely one week to come up with some good excuses in response to our “Would you like to pop 'round and have a quick look at the photo's?” invitations!)

The seven hour bus journey down from the Mekong to Nakhon Ratchasima was a pretty uneventful affair. Our destination: A nondescript town in the centre of Isan. Well off the beaten track where Thai life, largely untouched by the country's booming tourist industry, had been allowed to continue in its own uncompromising way – precisely the kind of place that Karen and I had grown to love!

But even here the successful marriage of East and West was evident: An excellent restaurant just down the road from out hotel, offered the best in delicious Thai cuisine – yam plaa, kuaytiam and spicy tom yam promising tastes of the exotic. Teenage girls in mini-skirts, the menu bound in a folder from Tesco and “Barbie Girl” blaring from the sound system providing pointers to the familiar.