South Udon Thani One Day City Tour

1 Day Trip Udon Thani (For 10 hours/day)

The Red Lotus Sea

• The Red Lotus Sea or Talay Bua Daeng (ทะเลบัวแดง). It’s one of the most beautiful natural attractions in Isaan (or arguably in all of Thailand, for that matter).
• From the lake’s edge, it may not look like much. But hop into a pontoon boat (500 THB for a 1.5-hour trip) and watch as the murky, weedy water transforms into something magical. As you approach the lake’s center, you’ll find yourself in a seemingly unending sea of hot pink flowers. The flowers are quite large, too, and some are as big as an open hand.
• These blooms are seasonal and are best observed between the beginning of December and the end of February each year. Be sure to go early, too. The flowers open in the cooler part of the day between 6am and 12pm noon. They close in the afternoon when the sun is the hottest.
• The Talay Bua Daeng is a great place for a day trip and certainly one of the more stunning things to do in Udon Thani.

Than Ngam Waterfall

• Than Ngam was declared as a forest park on the 19th December 1984, and is a mixture of  is deciduous forest, of which the major species are ta baek, pradu, makha mong, daeng, krabok, and chingchan. There is a waterfall, although as with many places in Udon Thani, contains water only at certain times of the year, which is of course in the wet season. When the water levels are high enough to create something tangible, the waterfall is well worth seeing in 'full flow', so to speak. When the pool below has sufficient water, you are permitted to swim to your hearts content.
• Other interesting features in the forest park include a cliff, a stone ground, and a beautiful cave. The stone ground, commonly called 'Lae', covers a large area with a scattering of overlapping giant rocks, overlooking a scenic view.
• As you enter the site, on the left there is a small lake. If the lake is empty then the chances are that there is no water flowing over the waterfall. On the other side of the coin, if the lake is full then there is a good chance that you will see the falls in full flow. However, most of the pathway to the falls are no more than a dirt track where water also rushes down when it rains.

Phu Foi Lom

• Also known as Phu Phoilom is predominantly a park where you can find some rare plants and a somewhat diverse ecological system. The park is worth a visit providing you don't expect too much. While there is plenty to see, including some nice landscape views, you really need to appreciate nature to the full to really appreciate this park. I would not say that Phu Foi Lom is what might be called a traditional tourist spot as it is more for somewhere for Thai's to get away from the city or their village, relax, eat and talk to friends.

Wat Pa Ban Tat

• The highlight of our second trip to Udon Thani was a visit in Wat Pa Ban Tat (or Baan Taat). This is home to the venerable Than Achan Maha Bua Nanasampanno, one of the most respected monks and teachers of Buddhism in Thailand. Most people refer to him as Luangta Maha Bua and there are many books, videos, audio tapes etc available with his teachings.
• The forest temple in Udon Thani is a place of meditation and not your gold and silver shining temple buildings. Both Majesties, the King and and the Queen, came to the temple to pay their respect to Luangta Maha Bua and the Princess comes to the temple to get guidance in meditation as well.
• Picture collages around the main building of the temple show many of the projects where Luangta is involved in and where he helps the people. When we visited several trucks with livestock arrived, which had been bought back from slaughterhouses to prevent the animals from being killed.