Day 8: A pit stop in Sang Khom on scenic 211

Today we travel to Sang Khom a steady 106 km ride from Chiang Khan, where the Mekong River rejoins Thailand and marks the border with Laos for more than 1,000 km, all the way to Ubon Rachathani province.

Despite its obscurity way off the tourist trail, Sang Khom has a respectable looking place for an overnight stay. Boo Pay Resort a small 10-room property, stands on the river bank, about 500 metres from the town’s hospital. An air-conditioned room costs Bt700 a night and the resort advertises free internet.

There are, in fact, three small resorts, located on this stretch of Highway 211, all catering to travellers, who break the journey between Chiang Khan and Nong Khai probably to enjoy the views of a vast stretch of water that passes by at a tidy pace if you happen to be steering one of the empty barges upstream.

On arrival at the resort just before dusk we ordered chilled beers and four Thai food dishes with rice and enjoyed the river view from the resort’s balcony and riverside restaurant.

The main attraction was watching a barge battle the Mekong River currents. It took 30 minutes to pass by and we thought we were going slow, at an average of 21 kph on the trip from Chiang Khan.

Since we started 8 November we have covered 680 km mostly in the hill country in Nan province, but on two occasions we were forced to do some walking to reach the summit of some very steep ridges.

All that is now behind us and our trip to Sang Khom follows one of the most beautiful stretches of riverside road in the country. At a first glance the river bed appears exposed, parched and rocky with stagnant pools and sand banks. But as we view the far shore we can see a narrow channel of fast flowing water that confirms the river’s health. In the flood season the 1 km expanse of rock-strewn river bed would be under 10 metres or more of water.

During our rest stop in Dansai, we met a Swiss businessman who had hired a car in Nong Khai to drive this scenic route but in the opposite direction, travelling to Chiang Khan, Loei and Dan Sai on his way to Chiang Rai.

“I didn’t see much water in the river, although it was still an attractive route,” he told us at the time.

Now we understand how he came to that conclusion. Travelling at 80 kph, even with your head poking out of the window, the volume of fast flowing water was just a dark shadow near the far bank.

All the way to Sang Khom the road skirts the riverbank, through forest cover and small hamlets providing spectacular views until we pulled off the road into the parking lot of the resort.

We appreciate why Michelin Map coloured this road in green signifying a scenic route that is worth driving. It’s even better from the vantage point of cycle saddle.

Tale of the Tape: Today’s distance 106.2 km; average speed 21.1 kph; cumulative distance 679.83 km.

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Email details to the Mekong Odyssey 09 email mekongodyssey@ttrreport.com attention Don and Peter.

Mekong Odyssey 09: How to support