Chris Backe's Blog, page 110

Destination: Nakhon Ratchasima and a duo of temples

As a place to spend a weekend, Nakhon Ratchasima has a fair bit to offer the traveler to Isaan. Also commonly called ‘Korat’ from the two middle syllables (Na-KOn RATchasima), the city is in the southwest portion of Isaan and only a 3-4 hour bus ride from Bangkok. I’ll be covering a couple of other destinations in town in separate posts – for now, enjoy two oddball temples that are both well worth the visit.

Wat Phayap – the temple with a cave

Easily found in the northwest corner of Korat’s rec...

Destination: Nakhon Ratchasima Petrified Wood Museum

Beyond the petrified wood, dinosaurs and ancient elephants also await you inside. Also called the Korat Fossil Museum in a couple of places, this place ended up being a bit more confusing than expected. Get your tickets at a desk near the parking lot, and be ready to pay three times the Thai price if you’re a tourist. The first room is a video with English subtitles – one we quickly skipped out on after deciding we wanted toseethe museum and not simply hear about it.

Although it took a long ti...

A tale of two zoos – Khon Kaen Zoo and Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo

I loved zoos as a kid – plenty of animals you’d never see elsewhere in the world. In college, a fewprofessors occasionally called for zoos to close and animals to be released back into the wildlife, for zoos were cruel to animals… As an adult, I look at animals as they come. Some are regardedwith pity (a suffering animal in a dark or small enclosure), some with jealousy (being fed large pieces of meat to just sit around andlook cute), some with softness (yes, I’m still a sucker for a cute cat...

Life as a Nomad: Medellin, Colombia

This contribution to the ‘Life as a Nomad’ comes courtesy of Dani Blanchette over atGoingNomadic.com.

So, tell me about Medellin.

Medellin has been described as the Chiang Mai of South America. It is one of the largest cities in Colombia, has beautiful spring-like weather year-round, and was voted Most Innovative City of the Year by Citi and the Wall Street Journal in 2013. It has an amazing public transportation system (including metro, buses, metrocables and an outdoor escalator) that is also...

Americans: how to impersonate a Canadian in five simple steps

Photo credit: ft.com

I was living in Seoulduring the height of mad cow season in 2008. American beef being shipped to Korea was suspected of containing mad cow disease, and Korea’spresident was accused of kowtowing to the Americans. For 100 days of protesting, openly going to downtown Seoul as an American was not something you wanted to do.

While the situationends up being a little different in other countries, the story is the same: Americans who travel face a reputation created by theirfar aw...

The most psychedelic temple around – Wat Baan Rai

I couldn’t tell you how many temples I’ve been to across Asia. Hundreds, perhaps, across Korea, Thailand, Laos, and Malaysia. I have never seen a temple like this one. Wat Baan Rai (also spelled Wat Ban Rai or Wat Bahn Rai), this extraordinary temple opened on 1 November 2013. It’s the culmination of three years of work, tons of volunteers, and 20,000,000 pieces of ceramic.Welcome to Wat Baan Rai – an extraordinary plethora of colorful ceramic.

Before heading in, however, take in some of the s...

Life as a Nomad: Bangkok, Thailand

Life as aNomad is an occasional series that focuses on the nomadic life.

So, tell me about Bangkok.

You’ve seen it in the Hangover 2 – Bangkok is arguably the gateway to Southeast Asia. Itremains the main destination in Thailand, for better or worse, even as the recent protests have rocked the capital. As I publishthis in August2014, the average tourist and resident is likely to barely notice the military presence. This stands in stark contrast to the protests and shutdowns before that.

Bangkok...

Life as a Nomad: Bangkok

Life as aNomad is an occasional series that focuses on the nomadic life and where we’ve lived it.

So, tell me about Bangkok.

You’ve seen it in the Hangover 2. It’s arguably the gateway to Southeast Asia. Bangkok remains the main destination in Thailand, for better or worse, even as the recent protests have rocked the capital. As I publishthis in August2014, the average tourist and resident is likely to barely notice the military . This stands in stark contrast to the protests and shutdowns befo...

9 Great Travel Podcasts I’m Listening To Right Now (mid-2014 edition)

Beyond reading other people’sblogs, I enjoy listening to podcasts focused around travel. It’s easier to multi-task (yes, I actually can write about a destination while listening to someone talk about another destination!), although I have caught myself typing something they’re talking about! Even in a shorter podcast (e.g. a half-hour show), the host(s) have time to go into more detail than your typical blog post.

A quick pro-tip for anyone looking for more travel podcasts – the ones listed on...

Destination: Wat Pa Non Sawan – a weird hell temple with dinosaurs

My wife and I have kind of a thing for hell temples. We’ve come across several around Thailand, and the list will only get longer as we hear of more. If this is the first one you’ve read about, a hell temple (or hell garden) isbuilt to show what will happen to you in Buddhist hell if you’re bad in this life. Some are far more graphic (and thus carry the NSFW tag for good reason), thanks to more vivid colors or more exposed genitals. That said, this place remains comfortably bizarre, but not o...