Roi Et

Two days in Roi Et around Bueng Phalan Chai and out to Nong Phok

Two days in Roi Et cover the town around Bueng Phalan Chai lake and the great chedi in Nong Phok district. Day one is for the lake island, the City Pillar Shrine and the Roi Et Tower; day two for Wat Burapha Phiram's giant Buddha, the National Museum and Phra Maha Chedi Chai Mongkhon.

From Roi Et Airport, on the flights from Bangkok, the lake is half an hour away. Cross to the island in Bueng Phalan Chai for the City Pillar Shrine and the walking Buddha, then follow the shore to Somdet Phra Srinakarin Park and the Roi Et Tower, shaped like a vot, the Isan wind instrument; check whether its deck is open.

On day two climb to the knees of the giant Buddha at Wat Burapha Phiram before the heat, then visit the Roi Et National Museum on Pleonjit Road (closed Monday and Tuesday). Leave by early afternoon for Nong Phok and Phra Maha Chedi Chai Mongkhon, a hilltop chedi 101 m wide and 101 m long with Buddha relics inside.

With a spare morning before the flight back to Bangkok, see the Khmer ruins of Ku Phra Kona or Prang Ku, or the silk weavers of Ban Wai Luen. Travellers heading west can continue to Khon Kaen by bus.

Khao pun with spiny eel, khao chi and Thung Kula Ronghai rice

Roi Et eats standard Isan food with three local points of pride: hom mali jasmine rice from the Thung Kula Ronghai plain, khao pun rice noodles with a namya curry of spiny eel, the province's official aquatic animal, and khao chi, egg-brushed grilled sticky rice sold near temples on cool-season mornings.

The Thung Kula Ronghai plain to the south grows hom mali jasmine rice, so a plain bowl of it here is the real thing.

The province's official aquatic animal is the spiny eel, and it appears in namya, a curry sauce ladled over khanom chin rice noodles, known in Isan as khao pun. Eating khao pun is the centrepiece of the Bun Phawet festival in March, when tables of noodles are laid out around the lake for anyone to join.

In the cool months look for khao chi, balls of sticky rice brushed with egg and grilled over charcoal, which are the focus of the Bun Khao Chi merit-making festival in Pho Chai district during the third lunar month. Vendors sell them in the early morning near temples and markets.

Jutamat, a takeaway street restaurant on Thawa Phiban Soi 13 behind Wat Valuvan, is a local favourite for home-style northeastern dishes, and its owners speak English. Cafes ring the lake.

Bun Phawet, rocket festivals and boat races in the Roi Et year

Roi Et's calendar follows Hit Sip Song, the twelve Isan merit-making festivals. The big ones are Bun Phawet with communal noodle meals around early March, Bun Bang Fai rocket festivals in May and June, a candle festival at the start of Buddhist Lent and longboat races in Kaset Wisai around mid-October.

The season opens in the dry months. Bun Khao Chi, in the third lunar month (usually around February), sees Pho Chai district grill sticky-rice cakes, including a giant one for a competition. Around early March, Kin Khao Pun Bun Phawet takes over Somdet Phra Srinakarin Park and the lake; held every year since 1991, it retells the Vessantara story with processions and communal noodle meals. Weather then is still kind, with highs of about 35C and little rain.

Heat peaks in April at around 36C. Rocket festivals, Bun Bang Fai, follow through May and June to call the rain, and by July and August rain passes 200mm a month. A candle festival in the park marks the start of Buddhist Lent, and longboat races run at Tambon Mueang Bua in Kaset Wisai around mid-October.

November to February is the most comfortable time for sightseeing, with December averaging just 3mm of rain and nights near 18C.