Road Trip up the Mekong from Khong Chiam to Chiang Khan

The Mekong is a river that’s always had an alluring appeal for me. Originating on the Tibetan Plateau in China and flowing down nearly 5,000 kilometres to the South China Sea through Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, it passes through countries with turbulent histories and fascinating cultures.

On the way it forms borders between Myanmar and Laos, and Thailand and Laos. I’ve done many river trips on the Mekong from the quiet upper reaches of the river in Laos, through the sections bustling with river traffic in Cambodia, and down to the Mekong delta in Vietnam where I’ve explored on a bicycle the islands formed by the branching tributaries, hopping from one island to another on the local river ferries. All were memorable trips.

However, one section of the river that I’d not seen much of was where the Mekong forms the northern and eastern borders of Thailand’s Isan region with Laos. I’d previously visited Chiang Khan on the river in Loei province but nowhere down river from there to the point where the Mekong enters Cambodia.

So, I decided to fly to Ubon Ratchathani and hire a car and follow the Mekong upriver until I reached Chiang Khan. That would be a trip along the entire Thailand border with Laos and enable me to visit most of those provinces of the Isan region to which I’d not previously been.

The most southerly part of Thailand’s border on the Mekong.

Isan is not a part of Thailand that excites me. It’s mainly flat and uninteresting agricultural country with not a lot to see – although as one of my travel writer friends points out in this article, there are places worth visiting if you don’t mind driving the long distances between them. I was keen to see if the provinces abutting the Mekong were more interesting.

The trip involves about 15 hours driving, and I planned to do it over five days, averaging around three hours of driving per day, so I would have plenty of time to explore places along the way. That turned out to be just about right, and it wasn’t a tiring trip. The roads were good most of the way, with only a couple of slow sections where road improvements were being undertaken.

DAY 1 – Ubon Ratchathani to Khemmarat

The first leg of the first day was from my hotel in Ubon city to Wat Tham Khuha Sawan in Khong Chiam – the most southerly town in Thailand that’s on the Mekong. There’s a lot to see on this first day, so I would recommend anyone else contemplating this road trip to plan to make an early start.

The drive to Khong Chiam takes about one and a half hours, and there’s not much to see on the way except half a dozen large workshops making gongs, drums, bells and other artifacts for temples on the road between Philbun Mangsahan and Khong Chiam. It's worth a quick stop at one of them to see what’s in the covered display areas in front of their workshops. The workmanship in what’s been produced is incredible – I can only imagine what they might cost. Many of the items are so large that you’d need a crane to lift them.

The enormous gong at Wat Tham Khuha Sawan.

The turn-off to Wat Tham Khuha Sawan is on the right-hand side of the road opposite the Khong Chiam hospital before you go down the hill into the town. You can’t miss it because there is a huge gong overlooking the carpark – reputed to be the largest gong in the world. Right now, it looks like it’s in need of a repaint, but nonetheless it’s still an impressive sight.

On the north-eastern side of the carpark there is a viewpoint over the Mekong. From there you can see down the river to the most southerly point where Thailand’s border touches the Mekong. Everything you see on the other side of the river is in Laos.

After taking in my first sight of the Mekong on this trip, I headed down into the town to visit the so-called ‘Two-Color River View Point’. This is in the grounds of Wat Khong Chiam which is located on the promontory at the junction of the Mekong and Mon Rivers. Supposedly the water in the rivers is a different colour, but I couldn’t see any difference. Perhaps it depends on the time of day and angle of reflection of the light to be able to observe the difference.

Looking down river from Wat Khong Chiam.

From there it was a half hour drive to my next stop in the Pha Taem National Park. This national park – the most easterly one in Thailand – is known for its prehistoric cave paintings under the sandstone cliffs overlooking the Mekong. Those cliffs also offer the best views of the Mekong in this part of Thailand. However, there are no guard rails along the top of the cliffs, so caution needs to be exercised when enjoying the spectacular views.

The header image to this article was taken at the top of those cliffs, but I had to wait nearly 30 minutes for a French tourist to come along and take the photo with my camera because there was nobody there when I arrived. There is a coffee shop adjacent to the visitor centre car park at the end of Road 2368 which has comparable views, so it wasn’t a problem waiting.

I had to keep an eye on the ground when sitting in the coffee shop, because there are giant black millipedes, about 20 cm long and thicker than your middle finger, crawling around. They won’t bite (and are non-venomous), but if you accidentally tread on one, they will curl up and may excrete an irritating fluid that can stain the skin and make it smell. On the steps down to the cave paintings, you’ll probably see another large species of orange and black-banded millipede which are quite attractive looking creatures.

Looking south from the cliffs above the cave paintings.

Whilst the views from the cliffs were impressive, I wasn’t so enamoured with the prehistoric paintings. I walked down to the first group of paintings, the ones closest to the parking area, but it took me several minutes to identify where they were. They are faded and probably wouldn’t have been noticed if not for the national park signs nearby.

The next group of paintings were another 350 metres or so further on, but as there was nobody else around, I felt a little uneasy venturing further on my own. The cliffs overhanging the path have warning signs of falling rocks (and some sections did look loose and unstable) so I didn’t want to chance being hit on the head with a rock and nobody knowing about it.

I decided to go back to the car and drive to Pha Mon from where you can access a third group of cliff paintings towards the other end of a 3.4-kilometre circuit between all of the paintings. However, there was nobody else at Pha Mon either, and worse, the steps down to the third group had been washed away and were under repair.

The cave paintings below the cliffs are hard to see.

There was a temporary track down to the bottom of the cliffs over slippery rocks, but as I’d recently suffered a leg injury, I decided not to chance it. I’ll go back one day in the dry season and do the whole circuit with a companion before I pass judgment on whether the prehistoric cliff paintings are worth traveling that far to see.

Instead, I drove to Sao Chaliang, only five minutes away, where there are three large mushroom-shaped sandstone rocks – the largest in the southern section of the national park – and then walked to the Lan Hin Taek viewpoint. That required jumping over some deep fissures in the rocks which I wouldn’t have attempted if it was raining.

In my efforts to try and find an easier way back to the car (the track was not well-signed) I got lost for a while. The large slabs of weathered sandstone over which I had been walking tend to all look the same after a while. Several times I thought I had found an easier way down, only to be thwarted by fissures in the rocks which were too wide to jump across with a leg injury.

The sandstone rocks at Lan Hin Taek are deeply fissured.

In the end, I had to resort to using the compass on my phone to find my way back to the car because the GPS positioning on my Google Maps wasn’t giving me reliable readings. I wish I could say that the views from the Lan Hin Taek viewpoint were worth all that effort, but they weren’t. They were expansive views but nothing like the views from the cliffs near the visitor centre.

My next stop was the Soi Sawan waterfall about 25 mins drive north. That was somewhat disappointing given it was the middle of the rainy season. I had seen a spectacular wet season photo of Soi Sawan on Trip Advisor, which was why I stopped there, but when I compared that photo later with my own, I concluded it was either photo-shopped or was a different waterfall.

From there I attempted to access the wildflower fields in the national park, but there was a ford in the road a short distance from the Soi Sawan car parking area, and there was soft mud on either side of the ford that I didn’t think my rental car could handle, so I had to turn back.

Sao Chaliang Yai is one of the park’s largest mushroom rocks.

My last stop in the national park was Sao Chaliang Yai, one of the largest mushroom-shaped rocks in the park, about 45 mins drive further north. On Google Maps this rock is labelled as “Prehistoric giant rock”, but of course all rocks of this type are prehistoric. On Friday and Saturdays this part of the national park is open 24 hours so people can go to Sao Chaliang Yai to take photographs of it silhouetted against a starry night sky. There is no light pollution here, so it’s a popular spot for astronomical photographers.

After leaving the Pha Taem National Park I stopped at Sam Phan Bok, about 30 mins further on, which is popularly known as Thailand’s Grand Canyon. This was another disappointment as there was nobody there and all I could see were weathered sandstone rocks dividing the river into many tributaries. Perhaps this is something you need to see in the dry season, when the river water levels are lower, but there’s definitely nothing there that remotely resembles the Grand Canyon.

I then headed up to Khemmarat, another 30 mins north, just in time to see the sunset over the Mekong. This is one of the few places on the eastern side of Isan where you can see the sunset on the Mekong. Unfortunately it was overcast, so the sunset was not a spectacular one, but it was still a colourful sight to end the day. I stayed at the Inghkong River Hotel which is undoubtedly the best value accommodation in Khemmarat. Clean, comfortable rooms with private bathroom, right on the Mekong, for only US$25 a night.

The colourful sunset over the Mekong at Khemmarat.

I had dinner at the nearby Laekhong River Resort – fresh river fish cooked Thai style. It was far too big for one person though. Note there is no western food available in Khemmarat, so if you are not accustomed to eating Thai breakfasts, you would need to bring some breakfast items with you.

DAY 2 – Khemmarat to Nakhon Phanom

After a good night’s sleep, despite being woken up at 3 am by a loud thunderclap at the height of an electrical storm that lasted most of the night, I headed north towards Nakhon Phanom. My first stop was the Phu Pha Thoep National Park which is about an hour’s drive from Khemmarat. The entrance is just a couple of kilometres off to the left from the main highway along a rural road lined with Tecoma stans shrubs (‘Yellow Bells’) which were in full flower.

This is a small national park that features a 5-6 km long nature trail over weathered sandstone rocks that takes you to a viewpoint from which you can look out over the plains on which dinosaurs roamed over 65 million years ago. Along the way there are many of the mushroom-shaped rock formations that I’d seen the previous day in the Pha Taem National Park – but on a smaller scale.

The sandstone plateau of the Phu Pha Thoep National Park.

The trail was not clearly marked, and I only walked about halfway before turning back because it was extremely hot and humid, and I was getting soaked in perspiration. However, I’d walked far and high enough to get a feel of the views. If I’d had more time, I would have done the whole trail and then had a shower in the toilet block near the entrance. I was advised that towards the end of the rainy season (around late October to early November) and as the cool season starts, vivid displays of wildflowers appear across the rocks. That seems to be the best time of the year to visit this park.

There wasn’t a lot to see along the highway compared to the first day’s drive, but a stop at the Wat Roi Phra Phutthabat Phu Manorom, a little over an hour’s drive north of Khemmarat, proved worthwhile.

I’ve seen most of the more spectacular temples in Thailand on previous road trips around the country, so I wasn’t intending to visit many temples on this trip, but Wat Roi Phra Phutthabat Phu Manorom is home to Thailand’s largest Naga statue – a 122 metres long and 20 metres high river serpent with a dragon head that is named Phaya Si Mukda Maha Muni Nilapala Nakharat (also spelled as Phaya Sri Mukda Mahamuni Neel Palnakharaj).

Thailand’s largest Naga statue is an impressive sight.

It's an impressive structure that is dwarfed only by the white Giant Buddha further up the hill which can be seen for miles as you drive along the Mekong. The temple grounds were busy with local tourists (I was the only foreigner there) making merit and tying red ribbons on the ‘wishing trees’ around the Naga statue.

There is a coffee shop near the entrance to the temple grounds from which you have some great views over the small city of Mukdahan and across the Mekong to Savannakhet in Laos. The white observation tower known as Ho Kaeo Mukdahan – the main landmark of the city – can be clearly seen, and in the distance the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge No. 2 which crosses the Mekong a few kilometres north of the city.

There are only three road bridges over the Mekong – this one, and two further north. They are numbered in the order that they were built. The road bridge that crosses the Mekong further south, which travellers from Ubon to Pakse use, is entirely within Laos and is called the Lao-Nippon Bridge, and that’s the only other bridge to the south before the Mekong crosses into Cambodia.

Distant view of Mukhadan, and Savannakhet beyond the river.

My next stop was Ho Kaeo Mukdahan, the 65-metre-high observation tower in the city. This is the most prominent feature of the Mukdahan skyline, but when I arrived it was deserted. There were some interesting local heritage exhibits on the ground floor, but I wanted to go up to the top of the tower and take some photographs looking up and down the river. The elevator didn’t seem to be working and the stairs were blocked off.

When I eventually found someone who could speak some English, I was told the elevator hadn’t been working for more than two years, and the stairs were currently undergoing repairs. However, two months after my visit I read that the elevator had at last been restored to working order, so if you are heading through the city anytime in the future, it would be worth stopping by Ho Kaeo Mukdahan.

At that stage I was feeling hungry for lunch, so checked Google Maps for any western restaurants nearby as I’d been eating only Thai food for the past few days. About half a dozen appeared in my search but they were all across the river in Savannakhet. There were none in Mukdahan.

Temple offerings for sale near the second river bridge.

I contemplated taking a taxi over to Savannakhet for a few hours (taking the rental car would not have been possible) but when I checked the Australian Embassy’s website, I discovered that Laos only issues visas on arrival at the Friendship Bridge No. 1, not at the other two. So that wasn’t an option.

From Mukdahan to Nakhon Phanom in the afternoon, the drive took a little under two hours, and I can only describe it as boring because you don’t see much of the river on the way. As you approach Nakhon Phanom, you do start to see the outline of the craggy mountains of the Phou Hin Poun Bio-Diversity Conservation Area across the river in Laos on the horizon, but for the rest of the way everything is flat.

I got into Nakhon Phanom early enough to take a pleasant walk along the river near the Naga Monument. That felt akin to walking along Sisowath Quay in Phnom Penh, but with far fewer people around. As the sun went down, there was a steady stream of people arriving to make merit at the small shrine next to the Naga Monument.

This Naga serpent statue has seven heads and is made of brass weighing seven tonnes. Nagas are mythical creatures that have played some important roles in the lives of Buddhists living in northeast Thailand. As well as river serpents, they can take the form of snakes or dragons, and have up to nine heads. This Sakhon Nakhon website has some interesting information about Nagas if you are interested to read more about them.

People making merit at Nakhon Phanom’s Naga Monument.

I stayed overnight at the Mekong Heritage Hotel on the river. It is quite a grand looking 4-star hotel, but the room rate was only $35 per night which was excellent value for a large, comfortable room. There weren’t many people there and the staff weren’t all that attentive, but at $35 I wasn’t complaining. The rate included breakfast but that was fairly basic, and the butter was rancid.

DAY 3 – Nakhon Phanom to Bueng Kan

As I wasn’t impressed with the hotel breakfast, I stopped at a little coffee shop called EX.iST further upriver for a top-up breakfast and a decent coffee. It was just a random selection of coffee shop as I drove out of town but turned out to be a good choice and I spent nearly an hour there overlooking the river whilst planning the route for my day ahead.

I couldn’t see much on Google Maps along the highway to Bueng Kan where I planned to stay the next night. In fact, it looked to be a repeat of the ‘boring’ drive up to Nakhon Phanom but several hours longer, and an almost dead straight stretch of over 50 km with only two slight bends in the road. And it looked like once I left the coffee shop there would only be one place along the route where I would get a glimpse of the river.

Flooded fields along the road to Bueng Khan.

So, I decided to head inland after about an hour north of Nakhon Phanom and visit Phu Thok Noi, one of two prominent sandstone mountains in the middle of Bueng Kan province. Although I had intended to follow the Mekong all the way, I felt that the fact that I wouldn’t see the river again until almost the end of my day’s drive justified changing my plans. That turned out to be a good decision.

I left the main highway at Na Phra Chai and headed northwest along rural roads 2417, 5037, 4011 and 3009. They were good roads but not as fast as the main highway of course, but more interesting to drive on. As I crossed the provincial border into Bueng Kan, it was apparent there had been a lot of rain in the area recently as rice and banana fields were flooded to almost a metre deep.

Fortunately, the roads were not flooded (most were on embankments well above the ground levels of the fields) but when I got to my first intended stop, the Chet Si waterfall – one of two large waterfalls in Bueng Kan province – I was informed at the access gate that it was temporarily closed because the waterfall was in full flood and dangerous to enter.

First view of Phu Thok Noi from Road 3009.

After determining that it was unlikely to reopen that day, I continued driving onto Phu Thok Noi. I only entered Phu Thok in my Google Maps navigation (because that’s what it’s commonly known as) and subsequently ended up at the end of a dirt road in a rubber plantation to the northeast of the mountain. It was only when I adjusted my destination to Phu Thok Noi was I able to find my way to the entrance to the climb up the mountain. (Alternatively, you can enter ‘Wat Phu Tok’ which is the temple at the base of the mountain).

After parking my car in the temple grounds, I started the climb to the top boardwalk that runs around the perimeter of the mountain. It’s about 700 steps to the top boardwalk and another 50 steps to a couple of higher viewpoints. There is a lower boardwalk at around the 600 steps level but the top boardwalk has the most spectacular views.

The boardwalks were built by monks and villagers over period of five years about 50 years ago. They are rickety and in places it’s hard to work out how they stay connected to the overhanging rock faces. Even the website of the Tourism Authority of Thailand acknowledges that many visitors regard the boardwalks as “horrifying and too dangerous”, but that doesn’t stop people climbing the mountain.

Part of the upper boardwalk around Phu Thok Noi.

I only saw three other people on the mountain, so if one of the boardwalks had collapsed under my feet, or if I was hit by falling rocks (there were a few on the boardwalks large enough to knock a person unconscious) it probably would have been a few days before anyone found me. Such a climb would never be permitted in western countries with health and safety regulations, but this is Thailand!

The climb is not difficult as there are steps all the way – either cut into the rocks or wooden steps with handrails – but they are steep so the climb can be exhausting for older travellers in the heat and humidity. I was soaked to the skin in perspiration by the time I got to the top, but the views were worth it.

After I returned to my car, I changed into a fresh set of clothes in one of the toilet blocks for the rest of the day’s journey. When I reached Bueng Kan town in the late afternoon, I checked into the One Hotel on the main highway as I couldn’t find any suitable accommodation there along the river. This was the only night of the road trip that I didn’t stay right on the Mekong.

I had a large, air-conditioned room with a spacious and well-appointed bathroom overlooking the highway, and at only $27 a night it was excellent value. The bed at the One Hotel was harder than the more comfortable beds I’d had the previous three nights, but otherwise everything was good. The only downside of staying in Bueng Kan town was that food options were very limited.

DAY 4 – Bueng Kan to Sangkhom

The free breakfast at the One Hotel was only a basic Thai breakfast, so I headed off at about 8 am to look for a coffee shop. I found one called PROCAFE down towards the river, which served excellent coffee, but no breakfast food, so I ended up buying yoghurt and pastries from a 7-Eleven.

After coffee I drove down to the Bueng Kan Walking Street markets along the river, but discovered they don’t open until 4 pm. There didn’t seem to be much else to see in Bueng Kan, so I headed back to the hotel to pack my bag. There was a lot of construction and reclamation going on along the river in Bueng Kan, so perhaps there will be more to see in future years.

The distinctive architecture of Wat Pa Sut Khet Daen Siam.

On my way out of Bueng Khan, I visited Wat Pa Sut Khet Daen Siam which has a couple of very beautiful temple buildings right on the Mekong, but there was nobody there when I arrived and the doors to the temple buildings were locked. I read that one of the buildings has a 100 kg Buddha image inside that’s made out of solid silver, so that’s probably why they keep it locked.

The drive from Bueng Kan to the next major town, Nong Khai, took only two hours. When I reached there, I wished I had stayed there the previous night because along the river just to the east of the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge No. 1 was a strip of excellent restaurants including ones serving western food and higher quality Thai food. In contrast to Bueng Kan, Nong Khai felt quite touristy because many overland travellers stop there for the night before crossing over into Laos.

After a walk along the river, I had a cheap (and good) lunch at Macky’s Riverside Kitchen, and then headed over to Sala Keo Kou, a park on the eastern side of the town that has a collection of massive Buddhist and Hindu statues, some of which look hundreds of years old (but aren’t). There are a few quirky statues of non-religious items too. It’s a relaxing spot to spend an hour.

Some of the statues in the Sala Keo Kou garden park.

After my visit to Sala Keo Kou, I continued my journey west along the Mekong towards Sangkhom. During the afternoon I had many views of the river and I stopped halfway at Si Chiang Mai where you can look across the river to the Laotian capital, Vientiane. I was surprised at how many luxury homes there were along this part of the Mekong given that Isan is one of the poorest regions of Thailand.

About 20 km before Sangkhom the landscape changed, and I started to see forested hills on both sides of the river for the first time since leaving the Pha Taem National Park in Ubon on the first day. It made a nice change after three days of driving through the flat country that is typical of the Isan region. The drive along this part of the Mekong is quite scenic, and that continued into the following day.

I stayed overnight at the Vera Costa Hotel right on the river. It was the nicest room that I stayed in on the trip, but also the most expensive. It was $77 for a river view room including breakfast. There were rooms on the side of the hotel away from the river for less than half that price, but I had read they were noisy (from passing traffic) and anyway I wanted to wake up to a sunrise over the Mekong.

My river view room at the Vera Costa Hotel.

I ate at the Vera Costa that evening and the food was reasonable. They have a lovely outdoor dining terrace overlooking the river. It looked like it might rain, so I was hesitant to sit outside. The restaurant manager assured me it wasn’t going to rain, so I took a table on the terrace. As soon as I did, it started to rain, so I had to move back inside.

DAY 5 – Sangkhom to Chiang Khan

Unfortunately, it was misty when I woke up, so I didn’t see the sunrise, but it was still lovely to see the Mekong flowing past in the mist. There’s not much river traffic along this part of the Mekong, but there were a few fishermen casting nets across on the Laotian side of the river.

Today the drive really felt like I was doing a road trip along the Mekong. I could see the river far more than on any other day of the trip, and for most of the way it was scenic like the last part of the previous day’s drive. After Sangkhom, the highway becomes a rural road, and as there were a lot of bends and hills, it was the slowest day’s drive of the trip. But that didn’t matter because there was plenty to see along the way, and it was only a little over 100 km.

The $25 bungalows adjacent to the Meet Me Café.

After crossing the boundary of Loei province, there are a few lookouts over the river on the right-hand side. Here the waters of Mekong run over rocky outcrops and around small islands, making it appear to flow faster than further downstream. There is a lookout at Phan Khot Saen Khrai but it’s not well maintained. There’s a cleaner one called Nong Pla Buek about a kilometre further up the river.

I stopped for coffee at the Meet Me Café about 200 metres before the Phan Khot Saen Khrai lookout. It’s not shown in English on Google maps, but it’s marked in Thai as a campground. The coffee shop is part of the campground business which consists of small bungalows right next to the river which are available for $25 a night. There is a deck overlooking the Mekong and the coffee is very good.

I reached Chiang Khan late morning. I had previously been to Chiang Khan on a six-week road trip that I did last year up the western border regions of Thailand with Myanmar, including the Mae Hong Son circuit, and up to the Golden Triangle and down through the mountains of Nan province to Loei.

The night market in Chiang Khan’s walking street.

Coming into Chiang Khan from the east meant that I had now done a complete circumnavigation of the northern half of Thailand (that is everything north of Bangkok) but in two parts. As I had spent several days in Chiang Khan on the previous road trip, I didn’t stay there overnight on this trip. Instead, I headed cross-country to Ubon Thani after lunch, as I had an 10-hour drive ahead of me to get the rental car back to the airport in Udon Ratchathani. I did the longest day’s drive on the following day when I drove from Ubon back to Udon via Sakhon Nakhon.

However, for anyone contemplating doing this road trip, I would recommend staying two nights in Chiang Khan. It’s a laidback small town on the Mekong that attracts a lot of local tourists as it was the setting for a popular Thai romantic comedy movie in 2014 called Tookae Ruk Pang Mak (Chiang Khan Love Story).

It has walking street that is closed to motor vehicles for an hour early in the morning, and then again in the evening. It’s about a kilometre long and has many traditional wooden houses that have been converted onto boutique guest houses, restaurants, and handicraft, clothing and souvenir shops. In the morning tourists can participate in alms-giving ceremonies with the local monks from 5.30 am to 6.30 am, and then the street is closed to traffic again at 4.00 pm for vendors to set up for a night market. It’s one of the better night markets that I’ve been to in Thailand.

A lovely view of the Mekong (right) from the Chiang Khan Skywalk.

Accommodation prices in Chiang Khan are more expensive than in other parts of Isan because of its popularity with local tourists. I stayed at the Chiangkhan River Walk Hotel right on the Mekong with a balcony overlooking the river. I had a lovely contemporarily furnished room that cost me $120 including breakfast, but there are smaller rooms at half that price on the walking street side of the hotel. I would imagine those would be much noisier at night.

About 30 mins upriver from the town is the Chiang Khan Skywalk, an observation platform that is built out over the river and from which you have fabulous views of the lush green mountains around the junction of the Mekong with the Hueang River. That point is where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar join, and represents the end of the journey from where the Mekong leaves Thailand in the south to where it enters Thailand in the north.

Would I do this road trip again? Probably not, but I would certainly go back to the Pha Taem National Park and to Chiang Khan again. Both those destinations at the start and end of the road trip provide opportunities for relaxing stays of a few days. The rest of the trip was worth doing once, and the Phu Thok Noi climb was an exciting experience – but one that I wouldn’t chance doing a second time.