Mukdahan sits on the Mekhong opposite Savannakhet, the second biggest city in Laos, and they are now linked by a bridge, all of this being part of a road system that will ultimately link Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and southern China. The future, it would seem, looks exciting for Mukdahan, and I had been curious to check this place out for a while. Mukdahan itself is a fair sized town and the local Provincial capital.
It's not far at all from Ubon Province and, having spent a few days checking our newly completed rural retreat out, we set off the scenic way- going up through Khemmarat and following the Mekhong up to Mukdahan. Or so we thought. Heres a view of the Mekhong at Khemmarat, looking across to Laos-
Khemmarat is a slow, quite pleasant town, and the remaining old part of the town centre is still mainly wood which is nice to see. But our destination was Mukdahan, so we rolled on, following the Mekhong. Our next view of the Mekhong was actually at Mukdahan- the road may follow the river, but at a safe enough distance so that you can't see it. So a pretty uneventful drive, except for the nice man in a tight uniform that gave me a speeding fine of 100bht. He wasn't the least bit interested in seeing my driving license. If you head up from Ubon, save time and fuel and go up the fast way thru Amnat Charoen.
And heres the mighty Mekhong at Mukda, looking across to Savannakhet. Lunch was had overlooking the river at this restaurant, standard river Thai fare, and it was interesting to see how high above the water line this pier was-