Die dunkle Frische von warmen Kaffir-Zitronenblättern verdreht mir im Vorbeigehen den Kopf. Auf dem Campingkocher am Straßenrand köchelt eine gigantische Suppe. Galgant, Knoblauch und scharf angebratenes Chilli kreieren die typische Duftmarke Bangkoks. Die Straßen atmen Curry. Ein Spaziergang mit der Nase.

If you happen to be born in the Year of the Monkey you want to go to Wat Phra That Phanom in Nakhon Phanom, North-East Thailand, at least once in your life to earn merit and good luck. It is most auspicious when done in the Zodiac year of your birth. (Go check here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac#Years) The Thai Zodiac is very closely related to the 12 well-known Chinese star signs. Just that the dragon is replaced by a large snake and in Northern Thailand an elephant may be used in place of the Chinese sign for the pig. (The Vietnamese by the way exchange the rabbit for a cat. Just so you know.)…

Of course I didn’t read the manual. I was busy planning to get to this faraway place. Everything else usually reveals itself in time. Right. It’s only on level 6 out of 7 that I vaguely remember having heard about the ascent to the top of the temple mountain being kind of an upward spiral. Climbing one level on excessively steep wooden ladders, walking around on ultra exposed wooden walkways, and repeat. In a bout of energy I had gone straight up to level 6. Direct approach, no messing around with unnecessary detours. Why? It was possible and obvious. Now there is another of these arduous ladders to…

The wondrous stone formations of Phu Phrabat invite the curious and fanciful visitor on a journey into history and mystery of the Isan people. The invitation is to look beyond the sheer rock figures and dive into a plenitude of stories about what must have been a sacred land for many centuries if not millennia. To start with there is the tale of Nang Usa – as a baby girl happily adopted by a childless king, as a teenager kept safe from the men’s world in a remote forest hermitage, nonetheless found and loved as a young woman by the prince of a neighbouring land. A story which…

Nong Khai seems to have a history of losing important spiritual landmarks and artefacts. There is a sunken chedi in the Mekong, of which only a corner can be seen during low tide and a precious Buddha image that is swallowed forever by the waves of the big river. Another important one is only lost for the Lao, but most prominently displayed on the Thai side of the Mekong: It is a rare statue made of bronze and gold and history knows that it was specifically made upon request by the daughters of a Lao king many a century ago. Three of the special Buddha images were created…