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Into Isan

We are now travelling through Isan, which is North East Thailand that borders Laos. It is considered to be the least touristy area of the country, and a great opportunity to experience the real Thailand. It is also the poorest part of the country, and the first time I've seen homeless Thai people sleeping on the streets. 

I think I mentioned before that we'd forgotten to get an International Driving Permit before leaving the UK. This would have allowed us to hire a car to visit areas not reached by bus or train. 

But all is not lost. Instead we are taking public transport to stop at some of the cities and towns, which we may return to in the future. 

First stop for three nights was Nakhon Ratchasima, or Korat for short.  These cities, like many around the world, are not the prettiest if places. However I managed to find a nice little hotel hidden in a local neighbourhood, away from the madness of the city. It was around £20 per night. 
It was the best place for a good family restaurant and coffee. 

It was also a good opportunity to catch up on washing, in a high sophisticated operation that started the washing and drying cycle from a vending machine. 🤓

George had holes in his short pockets so we were on the hunt for a sewing kit. Luckily there was a seamstress right across the road who did them both in less than two minutes for £1. You can just see her sewing machine in the door way, otherwise without a sign you'd have no clue what the business was! 
We encountered our first snake on our walk around the block one morning. It came out of a drain chasing a lizard.  We froze and so did the lizard. With an oncoming car the snake scuttled back into the drain so we could continue our journey. 

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