On Saturday 16 July we arrived in Chiang Khong in the far north-east of Thailand. This small border town is strung out along one street beside the Mekong river, and on the opposite bank lies land-locked, sparsely populated Laos (or more correctly, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic). Our guesthouse for the one-night stay before crossing the river into Laos is a beautiful tradional wooden building, with wide balconies overlooking the river. All of us know very little about Laos and its people, so we were all really looking forward to our seven or so days in the country.
After a pleasant meal and a good night's rest, it was up early on Sunday 17 July to make the crossing. We cleared Thai immigration on the western bank and crossed the fast-flowing, muddy-red river in narrow longtail boats; after clearing Lao immigration we transferred to another pier and hopped aboard the wooden barge that would take us down the Mekong over the next two days, to Luang Prabang.
Our vessel is a simple 'slow boat', similar to the water buses serving the local population on the river. It is a rather narrow, long affair; the single deck is open on the sides but has a roof to ward off the sun. There are some wooden seats in the front half, but most of us preferred to lounge on the mats spread on the floor at the back. Our young skipper and his wife live aboard the boat when working, but have a home and two small children in Luang Prabang.
So, over two days, on Sunday and Monday, we cruised down the Mekong as it meanders its way between hills and soaring mountain peaks, through lush jungle and past steep sloping fields planted with vivid green mountain rice. We covered 250 km in total, about 120 km a day. The scenery left us all breathless - the contrast of the brick-red river against a backdrop of emerald green, all topped by a blue sky with whispy white clouds - was impossibly photogenic and brought tears to my eyes quite a few times! Rich and I had to pinch ourselves to really believe that we were here, in Laos, cruising down the Mekong. Who would have thought we'd ever be here?
The river itself was quite high (it being rainy season at the moment), fast flowing and pretty tricky to navigate - eddies, whirlpools and small rapids abound, along with assorted flotsam including huge tree trunks. Our skipper deftly wound his way downstream, picking channels and avoiding submerged obstacles.
Mid-afternoon on the first day the crew spotted a huge dead fish (the size of a porpoise) floating in the river, and the skipper immediately swung the boat around towards it. As we neared the corpse, the stench was just sickening! Despite the fact that the fish, bloated and floating belly-up, was clearly a long time dead, the skipper and crew decided to haul it aboard, much to our disgust! Apparently it would still be suitable for making fish pickle, and they just couldn't let it go to waste. So one chap jumped in and tied a rope around the fish, and it was taken to the back of the boat (where the staff living quarters are). We never saw the fish again, but from time to time over the course of the two-day cruise, when the boat was stationary, we'd get a whiff of the rotten catch!
All along the Mekong, tiny villages are scattered on the banks - the dwellings are simple but picturesque huts on stilts, with walls of woven bamboo and palm-thatched roofs. These people mostly lead a subsistance life, farming 'dry' rice on the mountain slopes, raising livestock and fishing. From time to time we would stop off to walk around a village, and our local Lao guide, Mr. Vong, would give us some background on the lives of the locals. Needless to say our arrival was always greeted with much curiosity. The shy smiles of children would turn to shrill laughter when they are shown digital pictures of themselves. In the afternoon of the second day, we stopped off at the 'Whiskey Village' where inhabitants distill lethal rice spirit(the Laotian version of Chinese rice wine) known as 'lao lao'. We tasted, but didn't buy...the stuff burns a hole in your throat! The village women also hand-weave beautiful scarves of cotton and silk thread - quite a few of us in the group made some purchases.
Our final stop before reaching Luang Prabang was the Pak Ou Caves complex. These two natural caves, one above the other, are set in limestone cliffs and have been places of Buddhist pilgrimage for 400 years or so. The lower cave is filled with hundreds upon hundreds of small Buddha sculptures left there by pilgrims; the upper cave houses the sacred water spout where devotees come to wash
At the end of the first day we moored at Pak Beng,
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