Mekong By Bike - 5. Bueng Kan
This day was mainly a bit of sightseeing in the area until our friend David arrived with his pickup.
But we really wanted to have a closer look at the town's riverfront as the evening before had been rather disappointing on that part.
After coffee and some snacks, we rode into town and immediately ran into this children's parade.
Impressive to see how much effort the kids put into it!
A little later we arrived at the riverfront, but no river to be seen!
The plans were there...
But those would probably take quite some time!
We gave up on Bueng Kan and headed east towards better river views.
Which we found after half an hour of cycling at Cafe' House, a surprisingly large place.
We made a bit of a loop but were slowly getting hungry so I was on the lookout for a decent place.
As soon as I spotted a 'beer woon' sign - เบียร์วุ้น (*) - I knew we would be satisfied for sure.
Weirdly enough Ray's bicycle decided to call it quits half a minute before we arrived there and let its tire explode...
After a more than decent meal with beer, we chatted a bit about our problem with the staff who offered us a pickup ride back into town for 300 thb.
As this was a no-brainer we loaded up our bikes and drove back to Wisdom Residence.
The full route was not that much, but still not bad either.
We abandoned any plans to find a bicycle shop that could repair this as the wheels were not standard.
Instead, we grabbed this skylab and asked the driver to drop us at a place with beer!
Our trip had been pretty successful overall despite the tire mishap at the end.
All that remained now was waiting for David...
He showed up later at our hotel, dumped his stuff in my room, and with his car we set out for dinner a bit outside Bueng Kan with a 'propah' riverview!
A little action clip of the kids' parade!
(*) This kind of beer is served in (cold!) glasses with a lump of ice at the bottom. When you pour the beer it immediately becomes kind of slushy. Some call it snow or ice beer, but no matter the name it's very, very refreshing!
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EXTRA: Mekong (NOT) By Bike - 6. Bueng Kan - Nong Khai
The next day we loaded up our bikes on the back of David's Hilux and set off for Nong Khai.
Most of the Highway was pretty smooth but would have been a boring cycling trip back.
Therefore this was a much better option!
At Mut Mee Guesthouse we returned our bikes, informed the staff about the damage, had breakfast, and afterwards drove to Khon Kaen where Tim and Ray got off at the bus terminal.
David and I continued to a roadside hotel about 30 km before Korat and spent the night there.
The next day was an easy morning ride back to Pathum Thani where David dropped me at Rangsit Station.
My trip ended the same way it started, with a 20 thb SRT Red Line ride!
Read all 5 posts about this trip. Nice report, nice images.