Nong Wau So & around.

[trubrit]

There are so many interesting places to go in the Province of NWS that I thought they deserved there own mention .
To start with this is Wat Bunyanusit located almost in the center of the town, left at the main rd traffic lights then left again at the first cross road past the market, it's only a small junction , down this road not far.

The temple is both sides of the road, it's quite large which seems strange for such an out of town place but apparently it's well known for a monk that is said to have healing powers for the cure of disabling symptoms , believers are said to include many well known personalities that I cannot mention and others who come from Bangkok for his administrations .
Whether you believe in mystical powers of healing or not it's interesting to see .

[Laan Yaa Mo]

My wife knows this wat. We will go on my second trip to Nong Wau So. We were in the very nice looking town about 3 weeks ago.

[trubrit]

Not somewhere to go but taken from my bedroom window at 6am this morning .

[mickojak]

Trubrit,
I took the same photo myself this morning.
Nice rainbow.
My wife says the monk takes the ghosts out of people.
She never goes there or has taken me, (even though I have driven past many times for a look), in case the ghosts that are hanging around decide to invade us.
Who knows?????
Mick

[trubrit]

This one could change the area for ever .
Many of you may remember the very famous and revered monk Luang Ta Maha Bua from Udon Thani who amongst other things raised literally millions of baht in money and gold donations for the government during the financial crisis and included in his devout followers royalty and other prominent people who died in 2012, bringing the town to a standstill with the number of mourners attending, well this temple is being built to house his remains. It is estimated to be costing many millions to construct and when finished is anticipated to bring an extra million visitors a year to the area

An artist impression of the finished project with the revered monks image.
It is being constructed on the highest mountain in the area which is located 7kms off the main road fron Nong Wau So to Nong Wai about 10kms from NWS town .It is a massive site covering by my conservative guess 200 rai of forest land with magnificent views over almost the whole province stretching to Udon Thani . Some photos of the construction so far .

The actual building work is mainly being carried out by monks from all round Thailand helped by specialist tradesmen.

The temple surounds are being developed with good roads and marvellous view points over the surrounding countryside.

It also has it's own helicopter port with space for three craft.

There are large lakes and natural woodland that is being developed as picnic areas.

It is reckoned to become a major tourist attraction for Thai and foreign visitors bringing increased numbers of travellers to this part of Issan.Last weekend, a holiday period when I went the place was already crowded, about a thousand vehicles were scattered around including many mini buses. So its already pulling them in .

[mickojak]

Thanks for posting this Trubrit.
I went there about 3 years ago.
That tower crane was there then, and they have their own concrete batching plant and two concrete trucks.
We're not talking millions of baht, we're talking millions of dollars, many millions of dollars!
I need to go back and hava a look again.

This is a great thread as there is lots more nice things around Nong Wua So.
I hope more people can post things as well.
Mick

[Marcosteffano]

First pictures I think the temple is called wat non sawang.which is in my village of non som boon..and sorts out ghosts.second pics of unfinished temple are of wat phu pa deng.thats going to be a big one,they've got their own cement factory on site for the concrete.if your interested in visiting temples there's more temples than noddle stalls out this way.wat phu pa deng is a beautiful place and will be a jewel.lowering the tone a bit you can always visit the farang table on the corner of nong wua so and get stuck into a few chang which we all worship.

[Tom & Jee]

I live 200m from the two road sides temple. Its not finished yet but its nice and its an experience to watch (if you are lucky) the way they are taking out of people the demons . many important people( from the government and the royal family) are visiting this temple.

[parrot]

The Jedi that's being built looks to be at a cruising altitude of 1750 or so feet which should offer pretty much 360 degree views of the surrounding countryside. As I read the info, the Jedi was started in 2013 and is expected to take 6 years to complete. It should be a good time to visit for a view of the rice fields! Thanks again for posting the info, Val!

[Tom & Jee]

Another thing to do ,specially if you have kids, is go to the PC ranch. Its only 10 minutes from our place . is a huge place with horses , lakes, shows, animals and many more.

[parrot]

My wife and I took a ride up to the Jedi being built in honor of Luang Ta Maha Bua. The name of the village is Nong Aaw หนองอ้อ which is in Nongwahsaw. The coordinates for the Jedi are 17°10'20.73"N 102°37'52.49"E. A massive structure.....skyscraper-thick concrete walls and a towering structure which appears to have a long way until construction is finished. There's a rest area directly in front of the Jedi serving noodle soup and freshly brewed coffee, complimentary.
We drove further up the road, 1800 feet above the sea (which you can't see) and 1200 feet above and 30km away from Udon (which you can) for some pretty views through the forest. Some nice pine trees and reeds that you don't normally see in lower Udon.
There's a German monk who lives there......speaks impeccable English and seems willing to enlighten anyone who's interested in the finer aspects of Buddhism.
For anyone looking to get away from the city......and up for a hike through cleaner and cooler air, there are plenty of places to park a vehicle and get out and walk through the peaceful surroundings.

[trubrit]

My wife and I took a ride up to the Jedi being built in honor of Luang Ta Maha Bua. The name of the village is Nong Aaw หนองอ้อ which is in Nongwahsaw. The coordinates for the Jedi are 17°10'20.73"N 102°37'52.49"E. A massive structure.....skyscraper-thick concrete walls and a towering structure which appears to have a long way until construction is finished. There's a rest area directly in front of the Jedi serving noodle soup and freshly brewed coffee, complimentary.
We drove further up the road, 1800 feet above the sea (which you can't see) and 1200 feet above and 30km away from Udon (which you can) for some pretty views through the forest. Some nice pine trees and reeds that you don't normally see in lower Udon.
There's a German monk who lives there......speaks impeccable English and seems willing to enlighten anyone who's interested in the finer aspects of Buddhism.
For anyone looking to get away from the city......and up for a hike through cleaner and cooler air, there are plenty of places to park a vehicle and get out and walk through the peaceful surroundings.

Glad you enjoyed your visit up there John but I would caution it's not so peaceful at weekends especially if you want to see the big monk, would advise a midweek visit if possible to see it at its best .Yes free coffee and noodles but I'm sure you noticed the donation box on the counter.555

[tamada]

I noticed that hill top construction last year when we visited a boating lake the other side of Nong O and I wondered what it was. The lake was similarly chock full of locals being the weekend so we couldn't get a mini house-boat to float about in as the queue was already out the door. Now we have 2 places to visit (or re-visit).

BTW, the lake is at 17°12'31.28"N 102°31'16.28"E Forgotten the name already.

[tamada]

Not somewhere to go but taken from my bedroom window at 6am this morning .
IMG_8417.JPG

Learned something new from my 10 year-old last week. Never point at rainbows... well not with your hand anyway. The Issan lip-point may be acceptable tho'.

[trubrit]

Not somewhere to go but taken from my bedroom window at 6am this morning .
IMG_8417.JPG

Learned something new from my 10 year-old last week. Never point at rainbows... well not with your hand anyway. The Issan lip-point may be acceptable tho'.

Nearly as bad as the English belief of finding a pot of gold where the rainbow ends .I'm putting my shovel away. :-"

[trubrit]

I am sure most locals and those from town are familiar with the so called jungle market betweenj Non Wau So and Nong Bua, it;s the one located on the right coming from Udon just before you enter the mountain stretch, well just a few metres further on, on the same side, they are constucting a new one, not sure if it replacing the existing one but it's going to be quite large with lots of stalls and parking so I guess it might.

[trubrit]

Extensive construction going on to a temple just past the jungle market, can't think of the name but apparently it was favoured by a Royal personage when she was working in town. When you start descending you will notice road works just as you go round a bend off to your left, they are making a dual four lane road up to it, but the thing to me was both sides of the new road they are building the longest dragon/snake I have ever seen. A rough calculation using my cars mileometer it is 2 kms long, it's massive, I shudder to think of just the cost of this adorment, yet alone the road.