Tuesday, 15 October 2019

What a difference a decade makes: Chiang Khan

Prior to my first ever trip to Thailand in 2010, I bought a copy of the 2009 Lonely Planet to help me plan the trip. Their entry on Chiang Khan reads, in part:

"If you have the image of a quiet riverside town where nothing much happens and to one seems to care, Chiang Khan may just be it....Next to nobody in Bangkok has ever heard of Chiang Khan."

Sunset over the Mekong

A lot seems to have changed in a decade, and Chiang Khan is very popular with domestic tourists, with good reason:

The town stretches along the Mekong, 19th century teak houses baking in the sun while flowers cluster along the riverside walk, and the views stretch to the mountains in Laos. It's a very pretty town, making the most of it's enviable location. 

Walkway along the riverbank

You can walk or cycle for miles along the riverside walk, past several worthwhile wats, all the way to the rapids at a bend in the river at Kaeng Khut Khu (5km downstream) where a popular park features viewpoints, a gallery of traditional folkart, and a bevy of market stalls selling snacks. And when you've walked or cycled all the way back to town and worked up an appetite doing it, the centre of Chiang Khan becomes a lively night market selling Isan foods.

(There's also a modern side to the town, a couple of streets inland from the river, if you should need a supermarket, bank, or other conveniences.)

Teak houses as the night market gets going

Rice paddy crabs on a stick. Crunchy.

According to Travelfish, the town gets rammed with domestic tourists on weekends, but I was there during the week and was sharing the town with enough people to give it a vibe, but not enough to be crowded.

I found it delightful, and one of my favourite finds on this trip.

Some of the murals at Wat Sri Khun Mueang

Like Dan Sai, Chiang Khan has it's own masked festival (a sculpture on the way to Kaeng Khut Khu)

Kaeng Khut Khu



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