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I'm about to "do" four countries in one day. In the pre-dawn darkness at Chiang Saen, northern Thailand, I step aboard a sleek Chinese ferry, Golden Peacock No.8.
Minutes later, it pushes out into the Mekong River, turning north against the swift current. The journey up this “Danube of the Orient” will take us 340 kilometres up through Thailand, Laos and Burma to Jinghong in China's Yunnan province.
The captain navigates the black waters by spotlight and, I suspect, a degree of wing-and-a-prayer faith. He tiptoes the 30-metre boat between hidden reefs and shoals but just north of the Golden Triangle, we shudder to a halt, aground on a bar. No amount of revving the powerful twin diesels can budge us. Finally, a surge in the river lifts the bow and the current swings us free.
The moon falls like a pearl into Burma. Come dawn, we see the river stretching ahead, framed by symmetrical shores of virgin jungle and empty river beaches. To our right is Laos, with mist-shrouded Burma to the west. Contrasting with their tranquil shores, the river is a tumultuous chicane of reefs, rapids and whirlpools.
