Northeastern Thailand (Isan)

Isan is Thailand's soul — the vast Khorat Plateau stretching to the Mekong River, home to a third of the country's population and virtually none of its foreign tourists. This is where the food that Thais actually eat comes from: som tam pounded to order, larb minced with herbs, sticky rice from hand-woven baskets, and grilled chicken basted in garlic and white pepper. Isan cuisine has conquered Bangkok and the world, but eating it at a plastic-table night market in Khon Kaen or Ubon Ratchathani is the real thing.

The Khmer temples here rival those across the Cambodian border. Phanom Rung's volcanic hilltop sanctuary and Phimai's ancient city are the headline acts, but smaller ruins dot the landscape from Buriram to Sisaket. Along the Mekong, towns like Chiang Khan, Nong Khai, and Nakhon Phanom offer riverside tranquility, Lao-influenced cuisine, and surreal sculpture parks. Isan's festivals are legendary — Yasothon's rocket festival, Ubon's candle parade, Surin's elephant round-up, and Loei's ghost mask carnival are among the most spectacular celebrations in Southeast Asia. The silk-weaving villages of Khon Kaen, Surin, and Sakon Nakhon produce Thailand's finest textiles.