Beung Khan and Ban Ahong

The following day, Nicole spent half an hour looking for bread and jam for breakfast but to no avail, so we had rice porridge (actually delicious). John was fretting because it was getting late (8.30) and we had 90 km to do before our next destination, Beung Khan. Beung Khan was another attractive, quiet town and we were lucky to find a nice chap who showed us a simple hotel in the high street. We had another "Chinese fondue" on the esplanade and the next day we indulged in toast, butter and jam AND rice porridge before setting off to Ban Ahong, only 25km away as John had a cold and was not feeling up to many km.

The lonely planet mentioned a guesthouse consisiting of huts in the village but when we found them they were derelict. But we did find the Wat, which is apparently the smallest in Isan and set amongst interesting boulders, where the Mekong forms whirlpools. And we also found some accommodation next to the temple for people on retreats: it had big rooms with carpet on the floor. A bit hard in the night but perfect for yoga in the morning! We walked through the quiet village for lunch and were entertained firstly by a cock fight that took place next to where we sat (the fight lasted about 20 min and was apparently a draw) and secondly by a very angry lady who set upon a chap (her husband?) who looked somewhat dazed. She whacked him with the flat of a chopper. He went off on his motorbike looking very sheepish with her in hot pursuit. The shopkeeper lady was giggling so we didn't get too worried but we'll never know what it was all about. We were very puzzled by these displays of violence and also by the apparent contradiciton in the men's excitement and urging their cockerels to fight one another and their gentleness in how they cared for their birds and how tame the cockerels were, one being carried off on a motorcycle cuddled in its owner's arms.
We carried on our walk and stopped at another little house/shop where we had pancakes, sweetcorn and coffee whilst trying to make conversation in Thai. Much amusement was had when a gecko fell from the thatched roof under which we were sitting and landed on John's head!