It’s round-up time once more and the ever growing reputation of Surin’s elephant extravaganza takes pride of spot in November’s festival calendar. Thai elephants are visible all year round in the Surin and Buriram provinces of southern Isaan, but the round up offers much more to the visitor than elephants and is truly a gathering of the khmer clans from the region which boast up to 70% khmer-speaking people. Laotian influence fades away here, giving way to the powerful Khmer presence. Not surprisingly genuinely, as Buriram and Surin are a mere 40km from the Cambodian border.

Surin itself is a typical Thai country town no more noticeable than in the local favorite delicacies of frog and maengda (water bugs). It is nonetheless normal practice for townsfolk to walk the streets frog hunting in a monsoon downpour as well as frequently generating a battery of neon lights to attract the tasty bugs. Festival time swamps the town and the nigh on 40 year-old annual show has its centerpiece correct downtown at the Lak Muang Stadium. Here, over 200 elephants perform sacred rites and rituals, hunting techniques and the far more enjoyable pastimes of tug o’ war and football. There are also folklore plays and a rocket festival comparable to that in Yasothon. Nearby artisans and street entertainers complete the party atmosphere.

Everybody trades and the Artist’s Pub and the “joke” curry shops are hives of activity as well as the normal markets and Petchkasem and Tharin Hotels. The order of the day is to book early as group bookings normally fill the offered properties up to a year in advance. Outlying towns such as Korat, and Buriram typically have space but it is better to be there in the thick of the fest.

Train tickets should be bought properly in advance for the late November shindig and expect roads to be jammed enroute to the capital on Sunday evening. For all that, it is still a worthwhile trek. This year’s round -up is on Saturday/Sunday, November 25-26.

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Naturally Surin has a lot more to offer than a one weekend a year party and if travelling outside of festival time be sure to take the border road to Ta Muang exactly where there are three effectively-preserved khmer-style temples on the edge of a plateau. This is deep in khmer country and beyond the cliff edge is Cambodia (literally – the dividing line IS the cliff!) and flat jungle land as far as the eye can see. Beyond Ta Muang on the Thai side is the road to Phanom Rung khmer ruins in Buriram Province, now more popular than its Pimai counterpart.

One more worthwhile project to go to in Surin is the Chakneua Pinery Forest reserve enroute to Si Saket, a need to for nature lovers. This joint Thai-Danish project has a collection of some of the world’s very best pine species. Sisaket itself, is house to the yellow-leaved lamduan tree and there is an actual lamduan festival in March when the trees are at the height of their bloom.

Off the beaten path and some 58 km north of Surin are the villages of Taklang and Gapoe, residence to the Suay men and women. These men and women speak a different tongue and migrated from Southern Cambodia around 200 years ago. Their forte is “elephants” and their information and know-how of the beasts is unsurpassed. A “spiritual” communication, nearly a language rapport, with the pachyderm is practically mystical in its enactment throughout the training, capture and rearing of the mighty beasts. Their methods date back to the Ayutthaya period of the kingdom when members of this community successfully assisted in searching for out King Suriyaman’s lost white elephant. A trip here need to be a preference if time makes it possible for.

Sikhorophum also boasts outstanding Khmer ruins and these can be taken in on a combined visit to Surin and Buriram. These ruins apart, the town also is property to some accurate cottage industries. Ban Butom boasts superb basket-weaving, now really popular with Bangkok afficianados. Ban Choke’s silverware is rough but has its own style. In either village, locals can be seen working away in their own backyard, as it had been. No big showrooms here as but.

On to Buriram and the hilltop sanctuary of Phanom Rung which was built at the exact same time as Angkor Wat. The lately restored temple has magnificent Naga (Serpent) bridges like most main Khmer temples and now supercedes Phimai for annual visitor figures. One of a line of temples dotted from Angkor Wat, such as Muang Tam and Si Thep, Phanom Rung is now regarded as to be the greatest khmer architecture on view within the kingdom of Thailand.

Buriram is the base for any pay a visit to to Phanom Rung and the town itself has a couple of much more offerings.

Khao Kradung Hill provides bird’s eye views of the surrounding paddies, for this is the farming heartland of Isaan and the property of somtam (papaya salad). Any wannabee photographer need to begin here if requiring rice farming shots. Near to the hill is Soradeg Stone Caring Centre, one more photographer’s dream. The centre is a sculptural marvel exactly where students and teachers alike carve their pieces across the wonderful lawns of the property. An afternoon here would be time nicely spent.

Buriram has its share of festivals and a November kite-flying show vies with the round-up for attention. Phanom Rung, however, is the major attraction and the son et lumiere festival is in March/April.

No matter whether taking in the round-up or not, Surin and Buriram provinces have distinctly diverse aspects to offer you the visitor, partly by way of the khmer heritage and partly via this getting the centre of Thailand’s Isaan rice bowl. They offer but yet another side of Thailand’s diversity for the eyes of the option traveller.