Thailand 2025. Day 25. The Mon love bridge

I have painted myself into a corner, for the farther north I go the more jagged the mountains and the fewer the roads. After looking at my very few options I decided to go back the way I had come and then cut to the east, toward the lowlands.

But before heading back I had a moment of cultural experience at the Mon Bridge. This is a real trestle bridge, about 500 m long, that crosses one of the branches of a large reservoir to join a small Thai town on one end with a Mon town on the other end. The bridge looks a bit rickety and has had to be rebuilt a couple of times. The locals have bestowed on it the magic of being a love bridge and a friendship bridge between the Thai and the Mon. Lots of couples come here, dress in red and white sarongs, get their faces painted, and then cross the bridge to earn merits and strengthen their love. There are many kids dressed in colorful sarongs, who balance on their heads stacks of aluminum pots (all tied together) to pose among the happy couples. The shores of the reservoir are occupied by many cabins and house boats, so one can make a week out of the visit with the whole family.

The drive was long and pretty and eventually I reached the lowlands, which are a rich agricultural area with lots of sugar cane plantings. I had never thought of Thailand as a sugar producer, so imagine my surprise when I found out that it is the second largest sugar exporter in the world!

I am back heading north because there are a couple of historical parks I would like to visit, but I am going to have to sleep on that plan because I only have two more days of car rental to explore central Thailand. Today is Monday August 11, and I have August 12 and 13 to do what I want, but by mid-morning on Thursday August 14 I have to be back at Bangkok International Airport (BKK) to return the car.

At mid-afternoon I reached a convenient place to spend the night, and to my great delight saw there was one of those enormous night markets going very close to the resort. I went there to admire the many stalls and salivate at the delicious offerings of food, which included fried maggots, quartered frogs, pig tails, all sorts of sea food, and the best produce ever. Ah, if I only had a kitchen. Fortunately there was also plenty of cooked food, so I was able to put together a meal to take to the resort that included a yummy salad with a black 100-year old egg, noodles with sea food, a sausage, and a tray of duck neck pieces. I sure am going to miss the Thai markets.