Sunday, January 26, 2014 (Australia Day)
Before driving out of Phitsanulok we made a quick detour via the Starbucks in the shopping Plaza – everynow and then it’s nice to be able to simply order a ‘grande non fat latte’ and knowing that’s exactly what you’ll get 🙂 (the right coffee-to-milk ratio and no sugar or condensed milk).
They really are working on their roads here in Thailand: stretches of the days’ drive were along roadworks, but nothing really disruptive to travel times. Upon reaching Loei we got the feeling that is was an expanding but rather non-descript big town, so we decided to continue a little further to Chiang Khan, which is situated on the banks of the Mekong River, or Mae Khong as it is called here.
Chiang Khan turned out to be a small, still quaint – but by the looks of the new guesthouses and on-going construction, fast growing town totally gearing itself towards tourism. We found a brand spanking new hotel (with parking), checked in and armed with the camera went through a little alley to go and see the Mae Khong. It was the hour before sunset.
And this was another one of the ‘wow’ moments. Seeing the Mekong River for the longest time was a wish, something to dream of (for me, Caroline). And there I was: on its banks, enjoying the sunset over the river, while seeing Laos on the other side!
After sunset while strolling down the cute main street in search for food we came a cross a group of entrepreneurial kids, making a baht out of the tourists.
Monday, January 27, 2014
My 6am alarm went off and 15mins later I sneaked out the door (didn’t want to wake Stephen) towards the River. The sun was yet to rise and I was able to witness one of the morning rituals (very common throughout Thailand): the buddhist monks leave the temples early in the morning, walk the street and are given food (or other offerings).
And then it was time for the ‘pièce de résistance’: sunrise over the Mighty Mekong. And it did not disappoint. Especially since I had the spot at the bottom of some steps and right on the water all to myself. The water was calm, the fish were jumping, and a thin low layer of mist was rising on the far side of the river as the sun came up. Magic. Pure Magic.
Walking back along the main street the town and locals were slowly waking up, getting ready for the day.
