Chris Backe's Blog, page 111

The unexpected: A huge reclining Buddha and a forest of finely groomed trees

After spending some time in Phichit, we headed up the highway towards Phitsanulok to drop off our bike and get a bus home. For better or worse, it’s increasingly rare to find weird places that we didn’t already know about from our research – yet we foundtwo on the same stretch of highway. Completely unexpected – but here we go!

Wat Kok MaiDaeng – go inside a recliningBuddha

You know how you’re driving along the highway and out of the blue ahuge reclining Buddha pops up out of nowhere? Yeah, tha...

Destination: a daytrip to Phichit (north central Thailand)

Phichit isn’t your typical tourist destination – in fact we didn’t see a single tourist while traveling across the town. Most likely founded in the 11th century, it was called Sa Luang during the Sukhothai period (1238-1350). During the Ayutthaya period (1350-1767), it was renamed to Okhaburi – the city in the swamp. Even as the placewhere a king was born and the Thai legend Kraithongwas formed, this province of over half a millionobscure is still rather obscure to us non-Thais.

Bueng Si Fai (...

Destination: Phu Wiang Dinosaur Museum

Khon Kaen isn’t exactly what you would call a destination filled with touristy attractions. Then again, here at One Weird Globe, we’re not particularly interested in touristy attractions – except of course when there are dinosaurs involved.

Officially called the Phuwiang Fossil Research Center and Dinosaur Museum, this is what happens when a rural area makes international news.In 1976, a uranium survey team discovered a fossil, which was later discovered to be the left knee bone of a dinosaur....

Destination: Siriraj Medical Museum – some awesome gruesomeness (NSFW)

Gun shots through the tongue, ruptured livers, busted up skulls – is this a night at the hospital or both? In this case,bothwouldn’t be too far off. Ostensibly used as a fundraiser for the hospital, the museum features some of the more unusual oddities to enter the world of the living.Sometimes called the Museum of Death, what’s called the Siriraj MedicalMuseum is actually the amalgamation of six permanentexhibitions. The exhibitions are organized into several rooms across a single floor, alo...

Destination (VIDEO): the village where elementary schoolers dance with cobras

Warning: this post contains what some may consider animal abuse or cruelty.

Thailand has plenty of animal shows around the country, each varying in how well the animals are treated. The show at Bangkok’s snake farm, for example – very well run by the Bangkok Red Cross. The crocodile show over in Samut Prakan, not so much. And don’t get me started on the various tiger ‘kingdoms’ or ‘shelters’ around the country – we aren’t going there at all. That’s not because we’re against cuddling up to tige...

The Wanderlust Box – get some awesome hand-picked stuff sent to your doorstep

When was the last time you got mail you couldn’t wait to receive?

Think about your usual mail: bills, junk mail, maybe a shipment from Amazon or another online retailer.

Every other month, let’s take a break from that routine. Subscribe to the Wanderlust Box, and enjoy the fruits of travel without ever leaving your home!

A taste of Asia, delivered straight of you!

As I travel, I seesome really interesting items. Locally made souvenirs, traditional clothing, lots of stuffwith a story. No cheap ‘Ma...

(VIDEO) Thailand’s Ghost Festival – Phi Ta Khon (NSFW)

Described as a bawdy rainmaking festival, the Phi Ta Khon (also spelled Pee Ta Kon) is an annual three-day festival in the tiny town of Dan Sai in northern Thailand. While there’s plenty of religious significance to the events, the bewildered tourist will find precious little sign of it on-site itself, so let’s start with some context.

Read the post first, or watch the video! (while there are plenty of kids seen atthe festival, you might want to put your own away if you don’t want them to see...

Review: Tales of Trains – where the journey is the destination

The journey really is the destination when it comes to trains.

Nora Dunn (AKA The Professional Hobo) has me beat on so many levels. Granted, we have very different traveling focuses and interests, but let’s put that aside for now. Her new book, Tales of Trains, is a retrospective of previous train travels in diary format.

While she makes it clear her book is not a “how-to-travel-on-trains” guide, there’s definitely something to be said about setting the expectations of what taking the train is...

Destination: Kumphawapi, the village of monkeys (with VIDEO)

It’s definitely not a common tourist destination, but the village of Kumphawapi has something we haven’t seen since Lopburi – a bunch of monkeys! It’s about a 45 kilometer ride from Udon Thani, however, and it’s essentially the only thing to see in the town. Is it worth the trip? Read on.

When you arrive, be sure to take in some of the roundabouts – the two you see above are (presumably) just a couple of them.

As soon as we arrived, we discovered the monkeys were almostscared of the camera! No...

Should you get offbeat in your travels? Why I travel off the beaten path

“It’s coming up on the left,” my wife said. My navigator, an awesome woman and the love of my life stared at her iPhone, looking to ensure our blue dot turned onto the correct side road. She sat at the back of our rented scooter while I breathed a sigh of relief – getting a signal in some rural Thailand areas is not a guarantee. Losing your 3G connection means your network speed drops to EDGE – slower than a motorcycle rolling uphill.

We were quite literally in the middle of nowhere. And we w...