邂逅泰国葵花海与红莲湖

邂逅泰国葵花海与红莲湖


泰国东北部秘藏了美丽，华富里一望无际的葵花园。

谷向东北开往乌隆他尼（Udon Thani），来到距离曼谷129公里的猴城华富里（Lopburi）。当地有名的三峰塔成了猴子聚集的寺庙嬉戏玩闹，它们在菩萨头上搔痒，甚至潇洒地穿行在马路上，爬到电线杆上，坐在饭店前，在民居屋檐上肆无忌惮，大摇大摆，完全无视居民的存在。这里的猴子拿起饮料瓶咕咚咕咚就喝了起来，和人类没什么两样。我们都知道，别把食物装在塑料袋提在手上，万万没想到竟有大胆猴族来抢游伴的小背袋，令她大声惊叫！


用敲碎的大理石、陶瓷片、陶瓷杯装饰的寺庙。

葵花园比北海道的还大

华富里是泰国最大的太阳花种植园区，在这里你可以看到很多大大小小的葵花园。每年的11月到隔年的1月葵花盛开。这里的葵花，比起我在北海道、广州等地看过的葵花园还要大。黄澄澄的，一望无际，非常壮观。沿着花园里的小径走进花园里拍照，人在花丛中，感觉成了葵花仙子。

碧差汶府（Phetchabun）是泰北值得旅游之地。游伴说要宠一宠自己，因而不惜订了山上的住宿。果然，山峦绵连，众山迤逦，山色空朦，深涧急流。晨曦和夕阳美景更是令人陶醉，景色特佳！

涌上考柯享受山间凉爽

一直以为12月的天气凉快，没想到泰国酷热的太阳比在新加坡还要威猛！司机找了另一位司机，天还没亮就开着四轮驱动车载我们去当地人非常喜爱的避暑胜地——考柯（Khao Kho）。考柯位于中北部的碧差汶府，因风景旖旎、气温凉爽怡人著称。每逢周末，当地人开着车子从周边城市涌上考柯享受山间的凉爽、怡人的美景。

来这里住帐篷的游客还真不少。天还没亮，游客已渐渐多了，大家都想找个拍日出的最佳地点。穿着民族服装的少数民族小女孩跟着妈妈与游客合照，赚点儿小钱。萌萌的脸，鲜艳的服装，令人怜惜。

若说考柯山上什么最吸引人，那一定是最负盛名的云海。雨季开始，峰上云雾缭绕，像一条彩带从云间飘落下来，只要运气好才可以观赏到壮观的云海。

年轻憨厚的司机不会说英语，比手画脚地沟通，我们好不容易才明白原来要8、9月的雨季才能见到云海。他载我们去山崖拍照，去看开在山上的醉蝶花，又去山坡上的草莓园品尝甜美的草莓。

他常年带团，什么时候可以看到云海，他怎会不知道呢？于是他载我们去喝咖啡、吃饭，餐馆几乎都建有宽敞的平台面对连绵群山，让食客可以一边喝咖啡，一边观赏云海。可是12月，只能看到青色山峦和山谷。想象一下雨季时节，坐在这里，仿佛身在云端，可真是难得的体验啊。

上万亩的莲湖

泰国东北部乌隆他尼距曼谷约560公里，位于乌隆他尼机场东南40公里处，对于大家来说比较陌生，但是那里却藏着意想不到的美丽。那儿有一个天然湖畔，每年11月到次年2月，湖泊的东南湖面，都会被上万亩的红色睡莲所覆盖，莲叶何田田，嫩红娇绿，非常壮观，因而被媒体评为世界奇观。

由于红莲是在清晨绽放，日照气温高升，中午时分红莲闭合，所以最佳的观赏时间是日出时分。成千上万的红莲绽放，让我想起周敦颐的《爱莲说》：出污泥而不染，濯清涟而不妖，画出了粉红色的地平线。花朵在清晨苏醒，缓缓舒展花瓣，摇首弄姿。开船的都是当地朴实的船夫，虽然语言不通，但是能够了解爱花人和喜欢摄影游客的需求，带领我们深入花丛，观赏莲花。在万亩红莲上，那场景如梦似幻，让人流连忘返。

湖内营养丰富，野生淡水鱼、原生鸟类都把这里视为生长的乐园，因为这原因，红莲的数量得以逐年增加。

鱼与熊掌难以兼得，云海和红莲湖也难以兼得。红莲湖令我们惊艳，让我们此次的泰国游没有遗憾。

~联合早报~

Growth of Udon Thani brings thrills, new style

Growth of Udon Thani brings thrills, new style



The two rubber ducks at the famous Prachak Pond in Udon Thani carry the national flags of Germany and Argentina, who met in the 2014 World Cup final.

Old 'GI City' now a major hub in Northeast

From being known as a "GI City" due to the US Airforce base that was once there, Udon Thani has transformed from a simple peaceful town into a leading hub in the Northeast, buzzing with businesses catering to investors, locals, and traders from neighbouring provinces and nearby Laos. As urbanised as any other major Thai city, Udon is flooded with brand-name goods and malls and people there, especially teenagers, have leisure choices equal to those of their peers in Bangkok.

A 17-year-old high school student, "Pop", said that rapid development had vastly improved Udon. "If I want to go eat, shop and do things it is very convenient," she said. "We can just hop on motorbikes and go to malls without asking to be driven there by our parents."

The pressure on the wallets of the youngsters, however, balances out this convenience.

"Now we have plenty of choices but we don't have enough money to buy them," complained Pop. "We have to spend carefully as the earnings of our parents and the money they give to us remains the same. Sometimes we just hang out in malls without buying anything."

Aum, a graduate from Udon Thani Rajabhat University, said that more people are spending their leisure time clubbing or watching football matches and drinking at pubs.

As he prefers shopping, he admitted that his personal expenses are high because he buys tempting, and often unnecessary, things. He claimed that crime has become more of an issue as people were robbing and stealing in order to get the things they want. Heavy traffic has also become a problem as more locals take to their vehicles to get places. The roads are also packed with visitors from nearby provinces and from Laos. Fortunately the jams only occur at certain periods of day and cannot be compared to the ones in Bangkok.

"Udon Thani used to be a peaceful place and people were not so selfish," said Aum. "The appearance of all these malls and condos have changed that. People feel pressure to dress more fashionably and spend more money at malls such as Central Plaza and UD Town, which are both beautifully decorated and offer brand-name goods."

Aum's fellow-student Thanyalak Woranoi, 24, said the city has become a real hub for entertainment. The two main malls often host events and there are many restaurants where she and her friends can go and split the bill. "Before our choices were limited to Nong Prachak and parks where we eat picnic-style or ride bicycles together," she said.

Although Udon Thani is now more urbanised, people are still kind and welcoming, hence many visitors from Laos liked to visit and make large purchases, she said.

A Laotian tourist, identified only as Noi, said she liked to shop at air-conditioned Udon Thani malls because of the large selection of products.

In addition to shopping, Udon Thani is a favourite destination for Laotians seeking medical treatment due to its profusion of trustworthy private hospitals.

Meanwhile, those with money to spare can also take advantage of the many services from Udon Thani International Airport, including flights to Phuket, Koh Samui or even South Korea.

~News courtesy of The Nation~

Vientiane - Udon Bus

Image courtesy of J&C Expat

Map of Udon Thani