15-Feb-2002 -- Continued from 16°N 102°E.
From the previous spot we headed north along small roads not shown on the road maps until we reached road 2353. We then continued on 201 to 2141 until we were about 4.8km north of the confluence. Around here we found a dirt road heading in the general direction of the confluence and left the pavement. The area is quite hilly and the road was winding around the hills. At about 1km from the confluence the GPS was pointing us towards a little hill. It looked like the confluence would be on the other side of the hill, so we continued further south and found a road over a little pass between two hills. This brought us to a village about 1 km south of the confluence. From there we took a narrow dirt road in the direction of the confluence. Following the road into the fields we had to park around 500m from the confluence due to the low clearance of our car.
Hiking on farm roads we got to a large cornfield, which fortunately had been harvested. The confluence is located in the northeastern corner of the field, a couple of meters further east and we could have practiced using our bush knife in some very dense bushes (elevation: 1078ft(329m), EPE: 0ft). Just like at 16°N 103°E we could hear music from the village.
After taking our pictures we returned the way we had come and headed north to Chiang Khan. The main attraction around here are the Mekong rapids, were we arrived right around sunset. Exhausted from a day of confluencing we got some rooms in a small 'resort' right by the river and enjoyed a great dinner overlooking the rapids.
Continued at 18°N 102°E.