Mekong River

From Chiang Khong, I travel across the friendship bridge through immigration and into Laos. We are now looking across the River at Chiang Khong Thailand. After spending a couple of days exploring and dining with river views, I book passage on one slow boat on the two-day trip to Luang Prabang. You can view Huay

The small Riverside border town looks across to Huay Xai in Laos. Entry into Laos is across the Friendship Bridge. I have made this trip twice, once on a bus from Jinghong China and again from Chiang Rai aboard a smaller local Thai bus.

The Wunonglong and Lidi Dams near the Tibetan border. On the last leg of our journey, we were discussing the idea of my returning to China the following year to visit other attractions in Yunnan, plus the idea of following route 31 alongside the river all the way to the Laos border. Mr. Mu agreed

With the construction of the Wunonglong Dam 10 miles downriver from Cizhong the water level rose by more than 60 meters and flooded the community of Yanmen. Flatland on the Lancang’s narrow gorge is scarce and more than 200 households were forced to relocate downstream to Cizhong.

The Golden Triangle refers to wide stretches of mountainous areas in northeast Myanmar, northwest Laos, and the Upper regions of Thailand. It was called “golden” because the wealth of the region was derived from the cultivation of opium poppies. The Small Riverside town of Sop Ruak is important to me as here lies the confluence

Our first view of the Mekong as it snakes through the Lancang valley and past the small village of Ninong. We drive along route 31 for the next 3 days following the river. Mr. Mu always happy to stop and allow me to photograph. You can view Ninong’s location here

Sitting on the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan Rivers, Luang Prabang is the finishing point for our trip. Unable to catch another ferry further downstream to Vientiane due to low river levels I booked a bus. The trip was scheduled to take 8 to 10 hours, in fact, it took closer to 12

Midway between Huay Xai and Luang Prabang. Pakbeng is the overnight stopover point for both cargo and passenger boats. We arrived in the late afternoon and departed again in the early morning. You can view Pak Beng’s location here

Chiang Saen is one of my favourite riverside Thai towns. With lots of activity as goods arrive and leave to China, Laos, and Myanmar via its busy port. Many old temples to explore and every night I would have dinner of Mekong fish from one of the many barbecue vendors along its riverside promenade. it’s

The Tibetan village of Cizhong situated on a narrow plain on the banks of the river was surrounded by rice paddies collectively four or five times the size of the village itself. The only place to build the homes to accommodate Yanmen’s relocated villages was unfortunately on top of Cizhong’s communal rice paddies. Cizhong is

Leaving Pak Beng we were lucky enough to see elephants from the Mekong Elephant camp come down for their morning drink. Further on we stopped at a small village and were greeted by the local children offering for sale handmade souvenirs and trinkets. The final stop was at the Pak Oc caves before finally arriving

We depart from Huay Xai and eventually, Thailand disappears and the river starts its flow solely through Laos. This is day one of the two-day trip to Luang Prabang. I have been fortunate to have made this journey twice.