We were still struggling with the heat and the poor air quality. Temperatures persisted on sneaking up to 40°C and we continued to pass forest fires. Days had got into a rhythm that always began by waking to the sound of the air conditioning. This, we regarded as an essential and carefully chose our hotels to ensure cooling. Some rooms were better than others but whenever the temperature began to drop even a few degrees we both felt like we were coming back to life. I did ponder this a little in the context of climate change – the key to surviving higher temperatures is to expend even more energy on cooling. In Bangkok many public areas, including large shopping malls, are air conditioned. So there is an irony. Using energy and releasing carbon is causing global warming but the way to survive in warmer places is to use even more energy.
Such ruminations usually see me to the first important discovery of the day, breakfast. This was usually very good and often quite surprising. Fortunately coffee, black and strong, was a common element. Diane prefers tea. There was usually fruit. Lovely fresh local fruit. Water melon, yellow melon, banana and pineapple. A simple salad of tomatoes, lettuce and onion was common. Eggs were scrambled or fried. I once had baked and fried eggs with a tamarind sauce – very nice. Other days we might have noodles, stir-fry vegetables, bread, rice or soup.
The Mekong river is one of the great border rivers of the world. Originating in Tibet, it divides China from Myanmar, Myanmar from Laos and Laos from Thailand before heading across Vietnam and finally reaching the ocean in Vietnam. The tripoint where northern Thailand meets Myanmar and Laos is known as the Golden Triangle and is strongly associated with the opium trade. We had heard of a very interesting opium museum in the area. Unfortunately the heat and smoke compelled us to keep moving south and east in the hope of fresh air.
We finally encountered the Mekong in Nakhon Phanom. Hills had given way to flatlands. Rice fields were everywhere and we spotted quite a few cattle grazing. Our hotel was right on the banks of the river had windows looking across to Laos. This far inland there is very little traffic on the river. Mostly just a few fishermen. Sounds like the scene here would be idyllic, perhaps it is sometimes, but not this evening. The heat remained unrelenting. The river is a mucky brown colour with silt and a dull mist hung over everywhere that washed out all the colour. The sun set into the grey murk and then it was dark. Next day we continued south.
