I-See I-San

Vast fields of ripening rice in the most vivid shades of green. Hundreds of water buffalo with nothing better to do than eat and wallow in the mud. The colourful sights, sounds and aromas of bustling markets contrasting with solitary fishermen casting their nets into the mighty Mekong River.

Fishing on the Mekong

The brilliant red and gold of squat Thai temples beside dazzling white, gold encrusted, Khmer-style stupas reaching skywards. The remains of ancient civilisations and richly diverse traditional handcrafts.

The laughing, warmly welcoming faces of a people with a rich cultural heritage. These are the images of Isan.

You won't find Isan on any tourist brochures for Thailand – not yet. But it's worth seeking out this very different, and untouristy, region in the north east. Isan describes an ancient land and people who draw their cultural richness from Lao and Khmer influences.

The name derives from Isanta which described the Mon-Khmer kingdom which dominated the region from the 1st to the 6th centuries. The people are largely rice farmers, cattle herders, silk weavers and artisans.

A Khmer Temple in Isan

Bordered by the Mekong River and Laos in the north and east, by Cambodia in the south, it has a rich past unparalleled elsewhere in Thailand . A combination of semi-arid rocky plateaux and lushly forested mountains, it comprises one third of Thailand 's land mass yet is just being opened up to tourism.

Isan has a very distinct – largely Khmer – history, culture, dialect, cuisine and, of course, landscape. A traditional, rural lifestyle involves some ancient arts and crafts now being resurrected.

Magnificent National Parks contrast with a collection of the finest ancient Khmer temples outside Cambodia . Here in the north east visitors can travel far back in time, even to pre-history.

The mighty Mekong River dominates much of the region, its rapids, riverside villages, festivals and trading posts on the Laos border offer an ever-changing panorama.

Towns such as Udon Thani, Sakon Nakhon and Nakorn Phanom have airports making them very accessible from Bangkok. Roads criss-crossing the north east lead to many checkpoints into Laos and, ultimately to Vietnam giving I-san a new role as the ‘Gateway to Indochina”.

Phra That Phanom, south of Nakorn Phanom, is the country's most sacred shrine. 1500 years old, it is where Buddhism – the country's dominant religion – first arrived in Thailand and where a breastbone of Lord Buddha is supposedly enshrined.

Some of the Khmer temple complexes are richly decorated in marble and gold, as in the south. Others are pure stone featuring thousands of intricate carvings and rivalling – in beauty if not massive size – the famous Cambodian temple complex of Angkor Wat.

Isan is historically important, not the least for Ban Chiang, 50kms east of Udon Thani. This five thousand years old Bronze Age civilisation was uncovered in the 1970s. Older than any in China or Mesopotamia, this area on the Khorat Plateau is touted as a possible ‘cradle of civilisation'.

Ban Chiang Pottery

Numerous excavation pits still contain skeletal remains and very distinctive pottery. A museum here has a very large collection of Ban Chiang artefacts including quite sophisticated bronze tools indicating an industrial capacity unheard of for such an early age.

We visited little villages where – thanks to a program instigated by the Queen – the wonderful Ban Chiang pottery is again made produced, entirely by hand, (no wheels), patterned with little wooden rollers or painted in 5000 year old designs.

Three villages in the region contribute to this money-spinning industry. The pots are made, entirely by hand – no wheels here – at Ban Kam Ou. We visited ‘Grandma Luin' in her straw-roofed workshop and watched her create a beautiful, perfectly symmetrical, pot in no time at all.

The technique is known as ‘Paddle and Anvil' and, after the rough shape is formed, it is refined using a mushroom-shaped tool (the anvil) inside and a flat paddle externally as it is rotated by hand.

Grandma Luin – known as “The Queen of the Black Pottery' – has been doing this for fifiy five years using only black clay. The finished pot is dried for two days then fired – in just thirty minutes – on an open fire surrounded by rice straw.

Others use pale clay to create pots, small, large and enormous, which go on to Ban Pulu for painting. Highly skilled artists decorate the pots using traditional swirling patterns in red.

After lacquering the finished pots go to the shops in Ban Chiang where they sell at ridiculously low prices. Only considerations of weight, space and fragility prevented us going on a shopping spree, settling instead on beautiful little pots for about 50c.Australian.

The Sala Kaew Ku Sculpture Gardens, 60kms north of Udon Thani, were quite amazing despite our fears they might prove to be a tourist trap. Not at all – this is a monument, almost a ‘bible', of Hindu/Buddhist culture consisting of some 209 statues, up to 33 metres high, surrounded by beautiful gardens.

The Sculpture Garden at Sala Kaew Ku

The sculptures were created, in 1975, by Loumg-Pu Bun Lui, a monk who wanted his teachings to live on after his death. With particular emphasis on ‘the circle of life' and the teachings of the Ramayana it was awe-inspiring; unfortunately all the explanatory signs were in Thai only so it was a little hard to follow much of their meaning.

Of the national parks, one of the most dramatic and fascinating is Phu Phra Baat Historical and National Park in the foothills of the Phu Phan Mountains 68kms north west of Udon Thani.

Phu Phra Baat

A rocky plateau – Non Sao Eh – consists of bizarre rock formations, natural rock bridges and shrines, containing Dvaravati-era Buddhas, built around giant boulders. Pre-historic paintings on cliff overhangs in the park are evidence of a very ancient, long-forgotten, culture.

Across the Mae Khong (Mekong) River from Nakorn Phanom is the most spectacular range of mountains running north south through Laos. A 50km boat ride down the river revealed largely jungle wilderness interspersed with occasional villages, each with their own temples – or Catholic Church in Laos – where villagers stopped their net fishing to wave at us.

All of the markets are colourful, clean and fascinating; there's no tourist kitsch here (yet) only villagers doing their local shopping. We were the tourist attraction in most places especially when our group set off to explore Nakorn Phanom in ‘Skylabs', three-wheeled motorbikes with a roof over two seats which just held four big Aussies (or 8 Thais!)

The highlight was probably a visit to the little village of Ban Nong Hoi Yai where we were honoured with the traditional Bai Sii Su Kwan welcome rituals where we saw the formerly-dying art of Mudmee silk and cotton making and weaving, fish trap weaving and more.

Bai Sii Su Kwan Ceremony

The local equivalent of a brass band played for us, dancers in beautiful costumes danced and sang for us and the whole village sat around clapping, laughing and having the time of their lives.

Not only was the welcome a genuinely warm one, they were actually excited about having us there! As someone remarked, it was as if they'd been dying for a big party and we were just the excuse they needed!

A witch doctor performed a ceremony heaping blessings and good fortune on us and every one of the villagers tied a white ‘lucky cord” on each of our wrists and chanted a blessing.

When we finally left they danced, clapped and laughed with us all the way back to the bus. We were very moved by it all but this is typical of the warm welcome visitors can expect in Isan. There's much, much more; we barely scratched the surface of this vast, exciting region.

Traditional Isan Dancing

Exploring off the beaten track in Isan will reward the adventurous traveller. As they say: if you've been everywhere else in the country you still don't know Thailand until you've visited Isan.