Beyond the Nine Dragons is an excellent travel guide on CD-ROM that introduces Southeast Asian countries that lie along the Mekong river: Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.The game includes thousands of lines of text and photos from a book called "The Mekong: A River and Its People", which was published by Thailand's Post Publishing in 1991.

As a Southeast Asian (a Thai-born Thai here :)), I can attest to the accuracy of the information included in this CD-ROM. While it is meant more as an easy-reading travel guide than an in-depth encyclopedia, BND includes a comprehensive overview of subjects that are not always covered in travel guides: history, religion, and people. You can listen to a nice, professionally-narrated multimedia slideshow on each of these topics for each of the countries covered on the disc. Text from the book is divided into "Explorer's Guide" and "Reference" sections, the latter containing more in-depth information. The whole CD-ROM contains over 20 minutes of rare, dynamic video footage, over 450 excellent color photographs, and a number of historical prints and maps. If you are fascinated by this exotic and fascinating region of Asia, Beyond the Nine Dragons provides one of the most comprehensive and objective guides you will find. I hope you will find this CD-ROM fascinating enough to choose my homeland for your next vacation destination :) Highly recommended!