Nong Khai - town of the random Buddhas. Overnight train is DEFINITELY the best way to travel in Thailand. A good night's sleep saw me arriving in Nong Khai with plenty of energy to hit the ground running, and as I was ferried to my guesthouse of choice, that is exactly what I planned to do. Unfortunately, Nong Khai is not a running kind of place. And my guesthouse, the fantastically located Mut Mee (restaurant overlooking the Mekong and Laos anyone?!) is DEFINITELY not that kind of place. I had time to linger over fruit salad with wonderful homemade yoghurt, laced with honey, whilst they got a room ready for me, enjoy a long hot shower and catch up on reading before I felt any kind of need to get going! I'd heard about an incredible Buddha Park near to the town centre, so I hired a bike and cycled out towards the river path. It was very hot and very beautiful, and after meandering through the riverside market (where you can buy anything, seriously) I was out on the open road, passing stunning temple after stunning temple on my right, the Mekong rolling brownly and lugubriously on my left, with Laos just over there (took a while to get my head round that!). After a 30-min cycle ride very much off the beaten track, past a little school, more temples and lots of typically Thai countryside (buffalo and all), I could see the Buddha Park up ahead - or at least, the head of an 8-storey high Buddha that marks the entrance. Well it's just about the strangest place I've been. There are SO many statues, ranging from the normal-size to the absolutely enormous, all of Buddha in various incarnations and interspersed with what I think are depictions of Hindi gods. I was one of about 3 visitors, so had the park to myself, and the shade was welcome relief from the heat of the bike ride. Weirded-out and refreshed, I headed back into town. That's Nong Khai's big attraction, I would say, although the town itself if lovely. There are some amazing temples, as noted, and one particularly funky Chinese temple - small but I loved it! It also has AMAZING baguettes at the market that appear to have been baked with pate in them, so that when you bite into what you think is a normal loaf, you bite into some spicy sausage meat you weren't expecting! Satisfying lunches, definitely. The Friendship Bridge is another attraction, linking Nong Khai to Laos' capital Vientiane, and I biked out there to see where I would be going. I'd definitely recommend the Mut Mee to anyone going there - it's got such a relaxed atmosphere and makes you feel really at home and comfortable. In fact, since you're largely in charge of writing up your own bills and helping yourself to drinks, it IS pretty much like being at home (except for the big payment you make at the end!). All-in-all the perfect antidote to crazy Bangkok, and the perfect build-up to country number 4.