Mekong By Bike - 4. Pak Khat to Bueng Kan
- art58koen
- Nov 20, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Nov 21, 2023
In a way today was going to be the last real cycling day as Bueng Kan was our end destination.
The views of the mighty Mekong were as stunning as ever.
Another early morning start, we packed our gear and said goodbye to Pakkad Rim Khong Resort.
No temple visit, but just a very quick stop for this picture!
The mountains in Laos looked very impressive, but I was very glad not to be cycling there as I'm allergic to cycling uphill...
Lots of rubber estates in this part of Thailand.
Another photo stop, since we were never in a hurry!
But this roadside restaurant stop was well appreciated!
Breakfast consisted of mama noodles with assorted veggies & chillis, photo by the restaurant owner.
Bird nests are serious business in the South of Thailand (*), so I was surprised to see a few of those typical buildings here as well.
An almost overgrown section of the Mekong path, complete with streetlights...
A close-up on rubber production.
Sometimes we had no choice and ended up riding on Highway 212, no fun at all.
After all, we tried to stick to the riverside as much as possible and avoid highways like the plague!
Another Friendship Bridge under construction, just before Bueng Kan.
Wat Pa Sut Khet Daen Siam, a miniature white temple.
What started as a pretty decent B-road eventually turned into this, which progressively became worse...
And here too, lots of rubber trees!
Time for an early lunch and well-deserved beer stop!
Following our meal we spent quite some time observing how the car ferry dealt with all the heavy traffic.
It was a very impressive sight and certainly worth a video clip, scroll down to the bottom!
Finally arrived in Bueng Kan where we checked in at The Wisdom Residence (**) in the vain hope that we would end up a bit smarter...
Bueng Kan was much bigger than the other places we stayed but also a bit disappointing as instead of the usual nice riverfront we found the above, no Mekong views at all!
The full route.
This gives you a better idea how tricky this is...
The route in detail, part 1.
The route in detail, part 2.
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I especially liked the film sequences.