My history with Mukdahan - 2009

It has been several years since my wife, Anchalee and I started visiting Mukdahan. Our first trip was in 2009 to visit with a couple who Anchalee had befriended during her doctoral studies at the University of New Mexico. We were there as tourists during this trip. Gick had not yet started working at the university so we spent our time visiting temples, touring the Friendship Bridge, the Tower and writing post cards about our adventures.

This photo (below) shows the city of Mukdahan from the Tower, the Mehkong River and Laos in the distance on the right side of the river. The mountain in the background, to the left side of the image is where the new UBU Mukdahan campus is being built. Mukdahan is an interesting area. It's rural, off the beaten path of so many tourists (which I like) but close enough to Bangkok by bus (6 hours) or plane (1 hour). It's also home to one of two freedom bridges that cross into Laos, the Mukdahan bridge crosses into Savannekhet Laos, one of the most populous provinces in the country and home to an international airport.

This was a busy trip. In addition to Mukdahan, we drove to Chang Mai. Along the way we visited the ancient city of Sukothai and we stopped to see a friend who was working at Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University in Phitsanulok. We spent 5 days touring around Chang Mai. After returning from our adventures, we went on several eating excursions with the family. While this wasn't my first trip to Thailand, I certainly had more exposure to Thai culture (history & religion) than previous trips.