Down the Nam Ou to Luang Pra Bang

Trip Start Mar 03, 2008
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Trip End Apr 01, 2008


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Flag of Lao Peoples Dem Rep  ,
Friday, March 28, 2008

Time forces my departure from Nong Khiaw this beautiful and serene place. In the morning I set out 4 foreigners and 3 villagers by boat down river to Luang Pra Bang. The river wanders through steep rugged limestone mountains, by rice paddys, small villages, fishermen, people panning for gold, children swimming, water buffalo soaking and over treacherous rocky rapids.
Steep Faces
Steep Faces
A Fisherman
A Fisherman
In the Boat on the Nam Ou
In the Boat on the Nam Ou
River Travers
River Travers
Nam Ou Caves
Nam Ou Caves
Rapids
Rapids
Hour after lazy hour the brutal winter sun beats on us as the scene moves by us. We stop only to let villagers on or off and an occasional pee stop.
I watch fishermen throwing their nets to catch small fish. Several villages have constructed elaborate bamboo platforms to place microhydro generators into the strong current to generate electricity for the village. In Vietnam at the Hanoi University of Technology students have designed and marketed similar units, but the units made in China are cheaper ($100) and outsell the superior Vietnamese units. I later see these units for sale in a LPB hardware store.
Tired Old River Fart
Tired Old River Fart
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