Isaan High Life!

Green Gecko

View Photos (1) Image © 2008 james john

We stayed at Green Gecko for four nights in October and had a very enjoyable time.

The villa itself was stunning and had a swimming pool just for us, but the real wow factors here were the people, the food and the location!

This place is situated in the middle of rice paddies and surrounded by  traditional farming villages and temples, in Thailand's northeast, out of Udon Thani. We were collected from the airport there.

You would not expect to find a property like this here, and it was a very nice surprise to see it looming out of the trees! We only used one of the two bedrooms, and spent most of the time on the deck or i the poool, but it also had a huge living room with all mod cons...and was airconditioned throughout.

But again, the real attraction was learning how to cook delicious Thai food, and exploring the area with the local families who were only too happy to encourage us to get out and immerse ourselves in the local lifestyle: this is not something you can easily do elsewhere in the country, presumably because major centres have been dulled by too much tourism.

Don't forget to visit the lake and take a boat out, take a bicycle or the motorcysl to explore the villages and farms, and to visit Ban Chiang! Do get out of the villa: it may be tempting to simply relax and soak up the sun but there really is a lot to discover!

Published on 11/5/08