Regions in Brief

Nakhon Phanom

740km (460 miles) NE of Bangkok; 252km (157 miles) E of Udon Thani; 481km (299 miles) NE of Nakhon Ratchasima

Travelers rarely make it out to these parts of Thailand; apart from a few good riverside hotels catering to Westerners, the place is pretty quiet. That's the allure. Walk riverside streets and look for the old Vietnamese clock tower -- a gift from grateful Vietnamese Catholic refugees escaping Ho Chi Minh's Communists in North Vietnam. South of town is That Phanom, an important pilgrimage site for Thai Buddhists; from there, pass through Sakon Nakhon to return to Udon Thani (with a possible side trip to Ban Chiang) completing the loop. Many travelers follow the Mekong south from Nakhon Phanom all the way to Ubon Ratchathani, where they can catch a train back to Bangkok. Each year, Nakhon Phanom hosts the famed "Lai Rua Fai," or Fire Boat Festival, where barges float downstream, twinkling with small candles in the night (also dragon boat races by day), all to celebrate the end of the rains in October.

Getting There -- PB Air (tel. 02326-8000; www.pbair.com) has daily flights to Bangkok; otherwise, you'll arrive by road from Sakon Nakhon, or via the Mekong from Nong Khai.

What to Do & See -- The city's wats are built in a distinctive style, and the exterior bas-reliefs, attributed to the Laotian Lan Xang kingdom, are said to date back some 300 years. An hour to the south, Wat That Phanom is a temple built around a tall 9th-century stupa that collapsed in 1975 and was rebuilt in 1978. It's an important pilgrimage site for Thai Buddhists and makes for a pleasant trip. The 53m-tall (174 ft.) stupa itself is built in Laos style, with its tapering, curved sides decorated with gold patterns on a white background and topped off with a gold umbrella. There's always a reverential aura around the place, particularly at the annual That Phanom Festival, usually in February, when it is crowded with pilgrims, both Thai and Lao, for 10 days.

Where to Stay --  The Viewkong Hotel (527 Soonthornvijitra Rd.; tel. 04251-3564; www.viewkonghotel.com) has tidy rooms, stacked right over the Mekong, starting at 1,500B.

Southeast Isan

Branching off on the eastern spur of the rail line at Khorat as you head north and east of Bangkok, you trace the edge of the Cambodian border on your way to Laos. First reach Buriram, a town with a few notable hilltop Khmer ruins, and then Surin, an area famous for raising elephants, before reaching Ubon Ratchathani. There are few jaw-dropping sites -- and few Western tourists -- in this city.

Ubon Ratchathani

Tucked away between Thailand's borders with Cambodia and Laos, Ubon Ratchathani is one of Isan's largest urban centers with over 100,000 inhabitants. There is little to detain travelers in the town itself apart from a massive statue of a votive candle in Thung Si Muang Park, though it is a good base for trips to nearby national parks. The statue is a reference to the town's unusual annual Candle Festival, which takes place in July, when huge wax carvings are paraded round the town's streets.

Located a short stroll west of the town center, the Tohsang City Hotel (tel. 04524-5531; www.tohsang.com) provides a stylish spot to rest your head, with rooms starting at around 2,000B. For a more rural experience, go for the Tohsang Khongjiam Resort (tel. 04535-1174; www.tohsang.com), which is situated on the banks of the Khong Chiam River, near the border with Laos, about 75 km/46 miles northeast of Ubon Ratchathani. Rates here are a little higher than at the City Hotel, but the picturesque views along the river make it worth it. Nearby are the national parks of Pha Taem (admission 200B adults, 100B children), which has some ancient rock paintings on a cliff overlooking the Mekong River, and Kaeng Tana (admission 100B adults, 50B children), where the attractions are waterfalls, caves, and unusual rock formations.