Two hours down the road from Lao PDR, Loei rests in a fertile valley. Few Thai towns are less spoilt than Loei: the kind of destination that guidebooks call a ‘hidden gem’. Hardly any farang (foreigners) have locked onto it yet.
Water features
One attraction of Loei is its bracing marigold-scented air that reflects its remote rural surroundings. Loei, which means 'beyond', lies amid a sea of mountains. So many surround it that you could almost be in the Carpathians or the Alps.
Hike a few of them and you will discover scores of waterfalls, not least the deafening Tat Hong, which soars 40 meters. Other attractions beyond the outskirts of town but firmly planted in Loei province include the winery that conjures up Chateau de Loei and a Kunming-style rock garden. Then there is the boating reservoir where thatched dining areas convert into rafts that boatmen tow into the middle of the lake for a few hundred baht (price negotiable).
Pagan parties
Loei has several festivals: a rocket festival, a cotton flower festival and the incomparable 'Pi-Ta-Khon' – a June outdoor masked ball intertwined with Buddhism and ancestral spirits. The partying rarely stops. Seemingly every other day, musical marchers of some description skip through the streets, jauntily belting out a plinky guitar riff and clowning around in accordance with the dictates of the unofficial national religion: sanook (fun).
Drab stab
The reason that so few farangs join the throng may be that Loei is not exactly a gourmet’s paradise. Loei just has a few fancy cafes and upmarket eateries, such as the riverside Light House restaurant. Another reason for the tourist neglect might be that some guidebooks dismiss Loei as a 'drab' stopover, although that's their loss.
River roll
Aside from the processions and the town’s humming space age club, Robot 2029, Loei can seem sleepy. If you go, you may find that you fall into the hypnotic routine of following the gleaming, bendy Mekong offshoot that snakes through the outskirts, hosting carp, catfish and various swishy beauties reminiscent of angel fish.
Green belt
Beside the river, the 'lungs of Loei', Kut Pong Park, serve as the stage for an 'outdoor gym'. Loei’s other town park, which reclines beside the Amari-run Palace Hotel, is more laid-back and ornamental, with paradise overtones. Both parks are pretty much welded together by a wobbly adrenalin thrill suspension bridge that is deeply disconcerting the first few times. As you head along the bridge, it buckles and rumbles. Somewhat bizarre.
Skew circle
One roundabout near the river on Chum Sai Road scores even more oddity points. Fairy-light models of butterflies and dinosaurs, including a pterodactyl, sprout from it, shining at night. Only in Loei.
Getting there:
Bangkok-Loei bus services run from Mo Chit Mai bus station, Tel: +66 2936 2852-66. The trip takes about seven hours.
Loei Tourism Coordination Centre District Office (Old building) Charoenrat Road, Tambon Kut Pong Amphoe Mueang, Loei 42000 Tel. 0 4281 2812, 0 4281 1405; tatloei@tat.or.th.
Travel tip: For much of the year, Loei is cool. During summer, especially the month of April, the heat can be brutal, so pack accordingly.
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