Khon Kaen City Tour: Saturday, August 26th, 2012

We got onto a song-teow and drove off to a city tour of Khon Kaen. I got the best seat in the house (or vehicle, rather), which is basically a metal seat extension. You can see everything, get a really nice breeze and let your hair fly in the wind. It could actually get pretty dangerous-- a girl was sitting on one of these and after a big bump in the road, the metal rod fell off! Luckily she was holding on and everything was OK!

Very similar signs as in America-- they even have English writing.

Here are the other song-teows that our group took!

View of the city from the best seat on the song-teow.

The Pullman Hotel-- apparently it has the best pool, dance-club and international food! I can't wait to get some Italian and American food here sometime during the semester. 

We all got our own maps to keep in case we ever got lost!

One of the stops we made on the tour. There are so many beautiful shrines all over the city.

Central Plaza! It is the largest mall in Khon Kaen-- it has six floors (including the ground floor), eight cinemas, numerous restaurants and  a variety of stores.

After three weeks of eating only Thai food, I am sad to say that I broke down and ate McDonalds at central plaza. It tasted exactly like in America... so it was a step closer to being at home.

Also, the prices in the mall are just like in America, so I avoid shopping there and instead go to night markets and bargain for all the purchases that I make! I don't know how I will ever be able to buy anything in America anymore that costs more than $5!

Look at all those stairs-- 1149 to be exact! On top of the hill, a beautiful statue of Buddha awaits.

There was a shrine and a couple of Buddhist statues half-way through the long venture up those stairs!

This was a very interesting Buddhist statue. It had a really large hole as it's belly button and you had to take a coin, make a wish and then try to throw it into  his belly. If you are successful, your wish will come true. I unfortunately did not make it in.

View from the top of the hill.

I made it up all those stairs! So, how can I not ring the bell after the feat of climbing 1149 stairs? I am sure there is another meaning to ringing the bell, but I was too proud of my accomplishment.

Alright, alright, I am kidding. I definitely went through an intrinsic self-reflection before ringing the bell three times.

Another beautiful decoration.

There was also a temple below the Buddhist statue on top of the hill, where people can pray, speak with monks and even foretell their futures. I did all of those, except for speaking with the monk because my Thai speaking skills are poor.

So, in order to tell your future, I took a cup with all of these numbered sticks inside. I had to shake the cups really hard until only a single stick fell out. As I was shaking the cups, I was making a wish. Then, once a single stick came out, I read the stick's fortune. 

I think that mine was numbered 26. It said that no happiness can come without struggle. I will need to encounter hardship in order to find success later in life. I truly hope that I will not encounter struggles while abroad!.

Then, it said that whatever wish I had, it will come true.

View of the landscape on the other side of the hill. It was honestly so peaceful and so beautiful. I wish that I would have had more time to spend there and just reflect on everything that I have experienced in the two weeks that I have been there. This will definitely be a place that I will be coming back to visit sometime during the semester because it was absolutely amazing and because it is so close to our University.

We said goodbye to the Buddhist statue and traveled to our next destination.

This is the Ubonrat Dam in Khon Kaen. We were able to walk across the lake and see the beautiful landscape. It was honestly gorgeous.

Khon Kaen City Tour: Magnificent. In just a single day, look at how much I got to experience! It is truly unbelievable. I truly enjoy how the CIEE program incorporates these city tours and takes us to these beautiful landscapes! I truly had no idea how close our university is to these miraculous places. I can't wait to explore what other places are within our vicinity.