Advertisement
One of the mighty river systems in the world, yet for a large majority of the westernised world it is almost completely unknown. It doesn't have the grandeur or allure of the Amazon. The history of the Mississippi, the majesty of the Ganges or the beauty and importance of the River Nile. Of course I am talking about the Mekong river, the lifeblood of the South East and for many places the sole contributor to their survival. One place where at least in the past, but to a certain degree in the present this statement is very true. This place is the marvelous but somewhat unknown city of Mukdahan. This statement was proven by a sign I saw in a previous day that declared 'Unseen Mukdahan,' and that statement could not ring truer. This city left a strong impression on me even though I had never ever heard of it, which is such a shame because it is a city where I will return to again in the future.
Driving into the city via the river we initially stop outside of the city on the riverbank where there is a shrine in dedication to the much loved King
and Queen, but also there seems to be a religious monument to. As we arrive at the riverbank there is also a bus load of school children dredging themselves out of an old bus to explore the region. Their faces suggest this wasn't the most exciting thing for them, but for foreign eyes this was absolutely brilliant. The might of the Mekong is visible not only by the vast width of the river , but all of the olden style fishing vessels that litter the bank-side as well as the river. This illustrated very quickly to me the absolute importance of the river to the well being of the people in the area. It seems like there is a huge reliance placed upon the river and it would be concerning what would happen if something terrible ever occurred to the river.
But after a little while bathing in the sunlight and the importance of the Mekong we continue on onto the riverside city of Mukdahan, which is the largest and most important in the similarly named Mukdahan region. The city is absolute popping full of life and has a vibrant city life. This was plainly evident just
driving through the centre of the city, but with Lunch time quickly approaching we decide to head into the local big C, which if you use your brain you can work out exactly what chain it used to be before deciding to separate itself from them. For those who cannot work out exactly what supermarket chain I am talking about, well the only clue I am willing to give you is think French. But upon entering into the store it was a sight for sore eyes. Everywhere you look is the unusual, well at least for me it was. To give you a simple example the yellow Watermelon that was visibly on display. I have never seen that before and out of complete surprise and amazement I had to purchase it, but for all of 30 odd baht, it didn't exactly break the bank, neither did purchasing a whole roasted Chicken, a drink, some sliced up Dragon Fruit and some random Lobster-Pot flavoured potato chips cost me all of approximately 200 baht, which is less than $10 Australian. But it wasn't just the low prices that made the place memorable it was the amenities to. The amazing looking employees were
another thing. I guess there must be some employment policy of only hiring fit looking staff, which I wasn't complaining about. But another thing that made the place memorable was the fact it was above a market place full of both cheap clothing and electronic goods.
After driving down to the river bank to eat some of what we had purchased we decided to go and explore the local surroundings and something in the immediate area was the regions famous Indo-China markets that were located above and below the ground. Above the ground and below the ground was almost a random symphony of unrelated stalls next to each other. Some of these include random food stalls, next to shows, next to random household appliances, even throw in some clothing and a few military paraphernalia stalls. It was busy and vibrant, full of people of all sages, but especially young teenagers all dressed in their day-glow pink school shirts giggling as they walked around observing all of the treasures that were on offer throughout the market place.
The city itself was rather large with many well maintained buildings but this was mixed with the poor
side you observe in the are. The roads were in a lot of places ill-maintained, with numerous and large potholes around the place. Electrical wiring was just left to drape along the ground and all went to the same roadside boxes and what looked like hundreds upon hundreds of other cables. But also there were some buildings that had definitely seen better days. But strangely that was apart of the places charm. You keep walking along the river and eventually you reach the ferry terminal where is one of the major connectors between Thailand and neighbouring country Laos. The Mekong River is acting as the division between the two countries, and fortunately the border is open and rather friendly which allows for quick travel between two of the regions most interesting countries. The ferry terminal itself is evidently the most well maintained building in the area, with what looks like brand new veneer and not a single sign of wear. It is the most immaculate looking building in the North East that I have seen after several days. It seems they like to keep it cleans to show the importance of the terminal, as a lot of things are cheaper
in Laos and unlike the area in Thailand, the city the other side of the Mekong has a casino, which attracts the Thai locals to venture across the river en mass.
Next was a venture to a landmark that you cannot really miss as it stands literally hundreds of feet above any other features of the city and that is the famous tower. Over 400ft tall it is the largest man made structure in the area and it dominates the view of the city. But it is the vicinty around it that surprised me. As so far I have not seen anything dodgy like you expect to see in Thailand, like a seedy Red Light District. Well that changed as the side street that went around the base of the structure was full of 'massage' parlours. It wasn't that late in the day and in the space of five minutes odd, I must have been asked by four different groups of women if I wanted to have fun. All I could do at suggestions of that was chuckle under my breath and say "no thank you" and walk briskly away. If you looked around you would have
guessed that the area was a red light district, but that was the perfect metaphor for the city. Beauty with Filth, but that also describes Thailand too, but that is easily the charm. You can't expect the innocent for ever.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.134s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 46; dbt: 0.1024s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb