Surreal

After dinner on my first day in Nong Khai, everyone seemed to be heading in the same direction, this place called Surreal. I had no idea what kind of place it was nor did I understand why people freaked out when they discovered that it was closed that particular day. What's so special about one bar? There were plenty in Nong Khai. I would have the same feeling later though, and to say that Surreal became almost a third home, a third dorm is not an exaggeration.

There were a lot of bars along the Mekong but most would have the same crowd and atmosphere, old dirty farangs with young thai women, the kind of things you unfortunately can't really miss if you go to Thailand. Squeezed in between all those places were this little bar with a completely different vibe and no dirty farangs in sight. Run by the married couple Mark & Jane, it felt more like stepping into their livingroom than a bar. Most of the time the crowd would be dominated by people from Travel to Teach, local thai people and friends of Mark & Jane. If you were looking for someone, they would either be at Meechai or Green dorm, or at Surreal.

It became a natural thing to stop by Surreal almost every night either for food or drinks, or just a game of pool and a cup of coffee. Every weekend spent in Nong Khai would be spent at Surreal and every going away party or special occasion would be celebrated there. Great fun, great people, great times. I've always wanted to have my local bar where I knew everyone and where it only took a subtle movement, nod, or eyecontact with the bartender to get "the usual", and in Surreal I found that place. A place where everyone knows my name...

Mark did not resemble Ted Danson in any way though.