At the eastern extremity of Issan, on the Laos-Thai border, the small town of Khong Jiam clusters on the tip of a peninsula overlooking the confluence of the Mekong and Mun Rivers. The mingling of the different coloured waters (the Mekong is sandy brown and the Mun blue-green) forms an arresting natural spectacle known in Thai as ‘maenam song si’ (‘two-colour river’), best admired by boat or kayak.