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The Mekong route starts promisingly at CHIANG KHAN , whose rows of wooden shophouses stretch out in a two-kilometre-long ribbon parallel to the river. The town has only two streets - Highway 211, also known as Thanon Sri Chiang Khan, and the quieter Thanon Sai Khong on the waterfront - with a line of sois connecting them numbered from west to east. Arguably the most enjoyable thing you can do here is to join other travellers for a boat trip on the river, organized through one of the guesthouses. Upstream trips (B300-500 per boat; 2-3hr) head west towards the mountains of Khao Laem and Khao Ngu; downstream trips go to Pak Chom (B1200 per boat; 6hr round-trip) through beautiful rural scenery and some dramatic rapids. Frequent songthaews from Loei and Pak Chom stop at the west end of town near the junction of Highway 201 (the road from Loei) and Highway 211. Friendship Guesthouse (tel 042/821547; $5-10) offers clean rooms, Internet access, car and motorbike rental; bicycles are free for guests. Across the road, right on the river on Soi 8, Rimkong Guesthouse (tel 042/821547; under $5) offers small, clean rooms . The owner is a mine of information and can organize treks and boat trips. The outstanding Zen Guesthouse (tel 042/821825; under $5) has clean, simple wooden rooms and dorms on quiet Soi 12, and offers traditional massage and mountain bikes for rent; smoking is not allowed on the premises. Poonsawat Guesthouse, 251/2 Soi 9 (tel 042/821114; under $5), is Chiang Khan's cheapest, with cleanish rooms in an old wooden building; you can rent motorbikes (B150) or a pick-up (B1000) here. For food , try the day market, on the south side of Thanon Sri Chiang Khan between sois 9 and 10, and the night market (6-8pm), between sois 18 and 19 on the same road.
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