The Golden Triangle Rider

[Davidfl]

I always love riding alongside the Mekong & Chiang Khong is my fave spot on the 'Khong.
The Mekong river's always changing up & down, & colours.
If you're like me & miss the 'Khong & views of it, here's what is was like on Saturday 19th July 2009.

Houei Xai (Laos) from Tammila guesthouse, Chiang Khong.

Yes, it was raining & the river's up.

The view downstream, from Tammila


Mouang Khan from the Huai Sai Mann viewpoint, 16 kms north of Chiang Khong.

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Davidfl
Keep The Power On

[thailasse]

[Davidfl]

FRIDAY 1ST AUGUST - SUNDAY 2ND AUGUST 2008
And the river’s way way up

The Ferry landing on the Thai side & the water’s up to the Customs Office & Gateway





Crossing the “Khong in a steel hulled boat with a bit of protection

The Africa Twin just fits in nicely!

The view back towards Chiang Khong from the Laos side



The view from the Wang View “happy hour” Resort


Laos immigration at Houei Xai, get off the boat & it’s straight up the steps with the river so high.

Lao immigration & Mekong panoramas

And in the rain


The Houei Xai “Mekong Boulevard” looking upstream

And looking downstream


The Bug car ferry pier at Houei Xai. Note how close in the cargo boats & Bug ferry are

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Davidfl
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[Rhodie]

The 'Kong looks a little different from hen we crossed in Jan.
What's happened to the ferries?
Having done a bit of long tail excitement in the past,
I prefer the sedate chugging of the flat steel platform.
Great pix mate looking forward to the full write-up.
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The Dogs bark, but the Caravan moves on ...
Eastern Proverb

[SilverhawkUSA]

Pretty amazing, I have never seen the 'Kong that high before. As they have been complaining for the past couple years of low water, it looks like a change is in store. Any reasons?

The low water has been blamed on the Chinese dams, so why so high now? Unless they are diverting water around the dams or from somewhere else there must have been spectacular rains somewhere upriver.
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Dave Early

Ever notice that "What the Heck!" is usually the right answer?

[cdrw]

Hmmm...
David had a nifty and covered boat to take him across the Mekong.
When I was there, last year, the ferry wasn't running. I waited two days, still no ferry. So, I was open to anything and a small boat was the oply option. I tried sitting and balancing on my bike at the start of the crossing from Houei Xai to CK...but my balance was precarious. The boat kept rocking, so not wanting to go swimming...both me and the bike...I let the local manage straddle the bike. All's well that ends well at CK Immigration.








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Pattaya local

[Davidfl]

A bit of a note on the Bug Car Ferries at Chiang Khong / Houei Xai.

There are two operators now
1. A Thai one from Chiang Khong, & the original sole operator.
2. A "new" Lao one, & I understand in partnership with the Thai operator that used to be at Mukdahan / Savannakhet, before they put in the bridge (& bye bye ferry companies.)

You would think this provided a greatly improved service with double the number of crossings, but nope they have new rules in place that effectively halve your chances of getting across on the car ferry.

What happens?

Well, with two operators now everybody must get a share – so they can only carry vehicles from their home port & always return empty.

If you leave from Thailand & want to go on the car ferry you can only go on the Thai ferry.
The same for the Laos side - leaving Laos you can only leave with the Lao ferry.
Or
You’re stuck with the old boats.
Or
You wait & hope that at the side you’re on, some other vehicles will turn up so the car ferry goes.

Now speaking from very recent experience (Monday 4th August) this can be extremely frustrating if you’re patiently queued up waiting to go on the Lao side, but the Lao ferry is not going, and you have to sit & watch 2 ferries from the Thai side come, discharge trucks & then return empty, And you’re not allowed on – twice!
Needless to say I was not impressed, particularly when my sneeky master plan of paying the Lao Bug 500 baht for nothing & then tipping the Thai ferry for a cheap ride back was not alowed. No way – cannot do. Must go with Lao boat!!
So back it was to the old wooden boat. And here’s where the trouble really started.

The trip over cost 600 baht on the Thai side, plus 20 baht a man unloading fees on the Lao side & there were 6 of them who couldn’t wait to get their hands on the bike to get their 20 baht. It was all easy & extremely efficient, so no complaints.
However on the return the greedy bastards wanted 700 baht for the boat + 200 baht loading fees = 900 baht. All a bit much I thought. A fairly lengthy & intense exchange ensued, which ended up with me walking off to speak to the Lao ferry owner to confirm if he was indeed going at 2PM, for which I was prepared to wait so that the small boat thieves got nothing. But before I got to the car ferry a polite well dressed Lao official called me over to ask what the problem was. He immediately understood & said to follow him & he would fix it. So back down the steps we went to confront the small boat owner. He barked out an order, telling them the fee was 500 baht, no extra labour fees & to get to work loading the AT. Laugh you should have seen the look on the face of the boat owner – he’d lost his first prize in the lottery. I was highly impressed. I understood the Lao official to be the harbourmaster, but did not get his name or exact position, but he said anytime you have trouble, just go & see him at the port & he will fix it!
A nice man & next trip I will drop him off a bottle of whisky to keep the waters smooth.
But wow, that was sensational - a clear win over the boatmen of the Mekong!

Crossing back over to Thailand from Houei Xai in a small wooden boat, something I prefer not to do if possible.


Of note too on the Lao side, the Customs are computerized & “online” they say with their Thai counterparts across the river. There is no handwritten form Customs Import form anymore, the data is typed into the computer & the form is printed out. Couldn’t be easier.

Cleaning the mud off the port ramp.

The river had dropped a couple of metres after 48 hrs in Laos.

Mouang Khan from the Huai Sai Mann viewpoint, 16 kms north of Chiang Khong.

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Davidfl
Keep The Power On