Udon Thani is a pleasant town in the north of Thailand, about 600km north-east of Bangkok and fairly close to the border with Laos. And it has long been on my To Do list for winter, because of one thing, and one thing only – the seasonal phenomenon of Red Lotus Lake.
During the winter months of December-February, the lake, itself about an hour’s drive outside Udon Thani, is home to an astonishing spectacle. Hundreds of thousands of red lotuses bloom early in the morning in an absolutely stunning display. And so we flew from Bangkok, just to witness this spectacle.
The Lake and the gorgeous flowers did not disappoint – they were stunning.
But equally impressive was the slick, efficient organisation which got us from our hotel in Udon Thani to the lake and back, with zero fuss, zero hassle. Every bit of the process is flawless.
You arrive in the dark – the idea is to be on the lake for sunrise – but the village is super organised. There is a parking attendant to direct the driver.
You buy a ticket for the boat (Baht 300 for a 2 person boat or Baht 500 for a bigger boat that can take up to 6 people) and immediately board and set off, all in a matter of seconds.
No haggling, no fussing – you buy the ticket, get on the next available boat at the jetty (there are loads of boats) and speed off into the darkness.
There are life-jackets, QR codes on each boat, and everything is spic & span.
Let me tell you one very important thing right now – BRING WARMIES!!!
It was cold on the lake in the pre-dawn darkness and as you speed along, in order to get into position for sunrise, there is a seriously chilly wind. You’ll thank me!
The boats manoeuvre into channels, in rows, no-one blocking anyone else’s views and we are all surrounded by hundreds of flowers.
You can see from my photo (below) that we are in a channel all of our own.
Every few minutes the boats peel off, one by one, and head to a new location, and once again, we are all in rows, no-one blocking anyone else.
The lotuses are gorgeous, and I took a zillion photos.
However, in the interests of full disclosure, I have to admit that I did not change into a long pink dress like the young lady a few boats down from us and then stand with my back to the camera, arms outstretched, posing like crazy. My not-on-any-form-of-social-media husband, who didn’t recognise the classic Instagram pose wondered out loud “Why is she doing that?” and “How come she isn’t cold?” and since she had taken off her lifejacket for the ‘gram, he also wondered how many people fell in the lake while posing like that.
The woman in the boat immediately to our left wriggled her way to the prow, and then got her hubby/boyfriend to take what seemed to be zillions of identical photos of her gazing soulfully into the middle distance.
Also for the ‘gram, I imagine.
But minus the matching pink dress.
Oh yes, on the subject of photos – as we boarded the boat, a photographer took our picture.
When we landed back on shore, about an hour later, there was the photo all ready and framed. Too cute. 120 baht and yes, of course we bought it.
We hopped off our boat, no suggestion of asking for a tip since the boat sailed away immediately after depositing us.
There were a few food stalls on the jetty and oh joy of joys, a young lady selling fresh coffee – pukka espresso machine, the works.
The toilets were free and absolutely spotless.
The whole thing was a delight.
The lotuses were gorgeous, but the seamless, friendly organisation surrounding it was equally impressive. It would imply that all the local villagers are on board with making their lake experience as harmonious and un-hassle-y as possible. Which it is.
There are places to stay closer to the lake, but we opted for a hotel in Udon Thani, which was a good call, because since we had an afternoon flight back to Bangkok, we had ample time to potter around Udon Thani and explore a little.
The downside of staying in town is that you have to get up early – as in early – to make it to the lake in time for sunrise. We set our alarm for 4.30 and were in our pre-booked taxi at 5.15.
Well worth the early start, to enjoy such a spectacle.
Highly recommended.