497
z Festivals
Rocket Festivals (Bun Bâng Fai) are held across Isan in May and June to tell Phaya Thaen, a pre-Buddhist rain god, that it’s time for him to send rain; but no place celebrates as fervently as Yasothon, where the largest rockets, are 3m long and, according to the rocket-makers we talked to, packed with 500kg of gunpowder. The three-day event, held on the second weekend of May, features traditional local dances, parades, rocket contests and a lot of bawdry, drunken revelry.
4 Sleeping
Green Park HOTEL $$ (%0 4571 4700; Th Wariratchadet; r incl breakfast 600-800B, f 1500-2500B; aiWs) Though it
lacks the panache of JP Emerald, we consider this much newer place the best lodging in Yasothon. You can use the adjacent health club for free. It’s 1km east of the centre on the way to Mukdahan. Baan Singha Tha Homestay HOMESTAY $ (%08 2482 6084; r per person 300B) Five fami-
lies in the historic Ban Singha Tha neighbourhood now offer rooms in their homes. JP Emerald Hotel HOTEL $$ (%0 4572 4848; www.jpemeraldhotel.com; Th Prapa; r 450B, incl breakfast 600-1650B; aiW)
Yasothon’s only full-service three-star hotel.
The rooms won’t excite you, but they do keep up on maintenance pretty well here. Night-time diversions include snooker, coyote dancers and a disco. It’s at the Roi Et end of town. In Town Hotel HOTEL $ (no Roman-script sign; %0 4571 3007; 614 Th Jangsanit; r 220-380B; aW) This place, on
the main road, is far enough south that it almost loses the rights to its name, but for Yasothon it’s far better than the budget average. The Warotohn Hotel next door is even cheaper. Yasothon Orchid Garden HOTEL $ (no Roman-script sign; %0 4572 1000; www. orchid-garden-hotel.com; Th Prachasamphan; r 400-450B; aiW) In the city centre, this
is a plain but reasonable budget option with big rooms.
5 Eating
Rim Chi Riverside THAI $ (no Roman-script sign; dishes 30-250B; hlunch & dinner) Enjoy superb Isan and Thai food and
bucolic Chi River views from either the treefilled terrace or your own thatched-roof raft. This is an English-free zone, but you can’t go wrong ordering sôm·đam or Ъlah chôrn lui sŏo·an (fried striped snake-head fish ‘run through the garden’). It’s 900m west of Krung Thai Bank. Night Market THAI $ (Th Wariratchadet; h4pm-midnight) East of
Wat Mahathat, this is as good a place as any to sample Yasothon’s famous dessert, kà·nom wăhn lôrt chôrng (rice noodles made with pandan served in coconut milk).
8 Getting There & Away Yasothon’s bus terminal (% 0 4571 4500) is north of the city on the bypass road. A motorcycle taxi to the centre costs 50B. The main destinations are Ubon Ratchathani (66B to 85B, 1½ hours, every half-hour), Khorat (158B to 205B, four hours, every half-hour) and Khon Kaen (113B to 146B, 3½ hours, every half-hour) via Roi Et (48B to 61B, one hour). Vans are the best way to Mukdahan (76B, two hours, every half-hour). Bangkok (320B to 385B, eight to nine hours) buses leave about hourly during the day but most depart from 7pm to 10pm. There are 999 VIP buses (% 0 4571 2965) to Bangkok (VIP 599B, 8.30pm), which stop at its downtown office by the clock tower.
NORTHE ASTERN THAIL AND YA H OL N F E S TOT I VA S & ROI ET PROVINCES
The heart of the Ban Singha Tha neighbourhood, 300m off the main road, west of Kasikornbank, is a treasure trove of classic French Indochinese shophouses, many with lovely artistic flourishes that are evidence of Yasothon’s former wealth. They were built for Chinese merchants by Vietnamese labourers almost a century ago at what was then Yasothon’s port, and with their historic value recently recognised, restoration work has begun. The centrepiece of Wat Mahathat (Th Wariratchadet; hdaylight hours) is a highly venerated Lao-style chedi said to date from AD 695 and to enshrine holy relics of Phra Anan (Ananda), the Buddha’s personal attendant monk. Much more interesting, however, is the gorgeous little hŏr đrai (a building for storing the Tripitaka Buddhist scriptures), dating to the 1830s and restored in 2008, which sits on stilts in a pond to protect the sacred scripts from termites. If you ask a monk, he’ll get the keys and let you look inside.