Our trip to the lovely village Chiang Khan started on Saturday early morning. Enjoying the journey through loads of rural areas and charming little villages along the Mekong river, I couldn't wait to finally meet Chiang Khan. Chiang Khan, popular for its Walking Street and great location next to the Mekong River, is a pretty village in the Loei Province three hours east from Nong Khai.

First things first. As we all were starving for a lunch we quickly checked into the guesthouse and headed to the centre of Chiang Khan to enjoy a rich meal in one of a wide range of good restaurants. After a "Tour De Cafés", some good coffees and me tasting pink milk for the first time (if you like extremely sweet drinks, then please go for it!), we strolled along the well known Walking Street of Chiang Khan. There can you find plenty of stalls and little shops selling stuff like art, jewellery, accessoires and traditional or non-traditional clothes as well as a lot of tasty food.

Streets of Chiang Khan

Charming cafe

Find the cat...

Enjoying a cappu ron with a view

Me trying pink milk for the first time

The next stop we had in view was, guess what, a restaurant! Having a delicious dinner and a little break from a highly strenuous walk down the market is always a good idea.

After a little rest we went for a walk towards a fancy bar to grab a drink and cheer to the awesome day we had spent.

Chiang Khan Walking Street and market

Plastic Bottle Art - a nice way of upcycling!

When the alarm clock on my mobile phone went off the next day, I thought I'd be still dreaming. Although I put the alarm on snooze for another 15 minutes, I forced myself to get up at 4.45 AM. Right after I met Toto and Chris at 5 AM, we hit the road towards the small mountain Phu Thog. At the foot of Phu Thog we had to change from our car to sort of a taxi which brought us to the peak of it. Since we arrived at the top of the mountain, all three of us were eagerly waiting for the sun to rise. We had seen amazing pictures of the sunrise but it was nothing compared to seeing it with our own eyes. As the sun finally appeared to rise from the horizon, all the people including us pulled out their camera to capture that magical moment. It really was worth getting up that early.

Toto enjoying the beautiful view

After watching that stunning sunrise, we took the road back to the village to have breakfast. I thought we were driving to a cafe to have some coffee, juice and bread but as Toto parked the car next to a Thai restaurant I knew that a typical Asian breakfast was expecting me. As I have never eaten breakfast like that before I listened to Toto's recommendation and picked a noodle soup. I thought I wouldn't really enjoy that kind of meal at that time of the day. On the contrary! "Aroi mak mak" - I really liked it and it was healthy and filling on top of it! From that moment I knew that I will eat more often a Thai style breakfast.

Chris and me eating a Thai noodle soup for breakfast!

Around noon we met Sven and Jim and planned to go on a boat trip on the Mekong River. We cruised around on the river in between of Thailand and Laos enjoying the beautiful view as well as landscape, sunshine and warm weather. That was the perfect way to round off an awesome weekend in Chiang Khan.

Happy and pleased from our great time we spent in Chiang Khan we decided to head back to Nong Khai carrying loads of good impressions, memories and a light sunburn (well... the latter only applied to me).

Jim, Chris and me fully protected with a life vest

Sven enjoyed the trip, too!

Local lady

Another local lady