May 27, Sunday
The pouring rain woke me up this morning. The monsoons are starting earlier than I expected.
The pouring rain from my rooms window
And from the porch of my cottage. It is really coming down !
We have each pre-ordered our breakfasts and I have a delicious cheese and tomato omelet with toasted baguette bread and a strong cup of coffee. The gentleman who owns the compound, Mr. Singh, was delightful and had a beautiful French accent although he did not speak French. We piled into our large tuk-tuk type vehicle, despite the pouring rain, for the drive down to the river and then make it down the steep slippery slope (no staircase) to the long boat that is waiting for us. All of this in the pouring rain. The boat which will take us down the Mekong is about 45 feet long and only about 8 or 9 feet wide.
We are extremely lucky and just as we are pulling out the rain stops. Up came the tarps that cover the sides and we were able to admire the view along the banks of the river.
As we back out of our spot on the shore, I can see what the back of the boats look like. They really are extremely long.
The back part of each boats is off limits to passengers, it is where the family lives.
There is a long line of transport trucks waiting for the barge to ferry them across the Mekong to Thailand
And there's one already making its way
And here is the car ferry. It's a busy river !
Here are some freight barges with two story houses on them
We left Huay Xai for our cruise downriver on the Mekong River at about 8:30. 4,350 km long, it is the 10th longest river in the world and longest river in Asia we are told. NOT TRUE, the Yangtze is 6,418 km long), but I won’t argue; it is their country.
Laos is land-bound, surrounded by Burma, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
One of the towns we pass along the way
Looks like there is a storm coming our way
We say many boats all along the river
And the storm is getting closer
They are building a bridge across the Mekong between Thailand and Laos. Altough it is an improvement for both countries, it will have severe repercussions on the economy of the people who make their living from transporting goods and people up and down the Mekong River.
There are some turbulant waters along the river and it takes a boatman who knows where the rocks are to maneuver the boat to keep it safe.
I take advantage of a quiet day to catch up on writing my blog
We get to snack on some green mango. That's mango that has not ripened and it is very tart. They make a salad with it. I've tried to eat it twice and still don't like it.
Our group on the boat: view towards the stern
View towards the front.
A family of 6 live on this boat, appears to be husband & wife, 2 daughters (teenagers or older), one daughter in law and her little boy who is probably 2.
Grand Pa is showing the little guy the ropes as Grand Ma sits by. Actually the wife and her daughters can all drive the boat and take over whenever he needs to take a break
Every time it started pouring again, the tarps came back down, sometimes only on one side, sometimes on both. The family served us lunch on board.
And the rain comes down again
We see fishermen all the way down the river
mostly using nets to fish with
Our lunch on board
There are amazing rock formations along the river
Passing a small village while the rain pours down again
After lunch it poured for a long time and the tarps came down again. It was quite dark with the tarps down, and although there was still air circulation between the tops of the tarp and the roof of the boat, it became quite close and many people took advantage of that and had a nap.
The tarps are down to keep the rain out, and everyone is resting
A plantation on the hills
and some sand dunes on many of the banks
I'd love to be able to go walk on those dunes
We are nearing Pakbeng, where we will be spending the night
Some buffalo taking a drink of water. Wonder if they are just roaming wild.
But the tarps finally went up for the last time that day and the remaining hour on board was nice. We arrived at the small town of Pakbeng at 4 pm; much earlier than anticipated. I wish I could have taken pictures of the process of getting off the boat, using a narrow 8 inch board, spanning about 6 feet across to the rocky steep side of the river which we then had to climb. I had opted to have my bags carried by the locals (who can make a bit of money this way) and was very glad I had. Mind you, Mike and Karsten have been great at helping out many times with our bags and that has been a blessing. It is one thing to roll my small black back-pack with the larger green tote bag on top, on a smooth cement surface, it is quite another trying to lug them up stairs or slopes. Once we reach the road, we still have quite a trek uphill to reach the Sivongsack Guest House for the night.
Almost at the top. We mass a sign showing how high the floods have been in the past. That is incredibly high ! Can you see the river on the right hand corner of this picture?
My room at the Sivongsack Guest House
Again, very clean; shoes off at the door. I’m actually sharing the room tonight with a small gecko who has wandered around the ceilings of both the bedroom and bathroom. As long as he stays on the ceiling, I don’t mind sharing.
At 5 pm we head out to explore the village; basically one street with shops and some houses going up and down a mountain path.
Little girls enjoying a snack
The ground floors are unimpressive, but look up and see how they have built nice houses for themselves above their stores.
The streets of Pakbeng
These are houses up on the hill above the town
and these are the ones built in the ravine, on stilts
We browse through the market area and Scott points out a local delicacy. See the brown stuff in the middle of this picture? They are roasted rats !
After wandering around and walking through the temple compound where the monks live, we head back to the main part of the street where the restaurants are located and stop for our evening meal. We each order our own tonight, so I opt for a cucumber salad and some Buffalo spring rolls. Buffalo as in meat ! There are only tiny pieces in them and it tastes mildly gamy, but not as strong as I would have thought. I’m drinking beer most of the time during this trek rather than sodas. It is quite nice (for someone who isn’t usually a beer drinker) and refreshing.
We linger at the restaurant just chatting and taking in the evening breeze, such as it is. The restaurant is located high up from the river and we had a great view earlier on before darkness fell.
Daylight lasts about 12 hours, from 6 am to 6 pm, about the same as in Mexico.
We walk back uphill to our guest house and I finally get to enjoy a nice shower to cool off from our first day cruising on the Mekong River.
The pouring rain woke me up this morning. The monsoons are starting earlier than I expected.
The pouring rain from my rooms window
And from the porch of my cottage. It is really coming down !
We have each pre-ordered our breakfasts and I have a delicious cheese and tomato omelet with toasted baguette bread and a strong cup of coffee. The gentleman who owns the compound, Mr. Singh, was delightful and had a beautiful French accent although he did not speak French. We piled into our large tuk-tuk type vehicle, despite the pouring rain, for the drive down to the river and then make it down the steep slippery slope (no staircase) to the long boat that is waiting for us. All of this in the pouring rain. The boat which will take us down the Mekong is about 45 feet long and only about 8 or 9 feet wide.
We are extremely lucky and just as we are pulling out the rain stops. Up came the tarps that cover the sides and we were able to admire the view along the banks of the river.
As we back out of our spot on the shore, I can see what the back of the boats look like. They really are extremely long.
The back part of each boats is off limits to passengers, it is where the family lives.
There is a long line of transport trucks waiting for the barge to ferry them across the Mekong to Thailand
And there's one already making its way
And here is the car ferry. It's a busy river !
We left Huay Xai for our cruise downriver on the Mekong River at about 8:30. 4,350 km long, it is the 10th longest river in the world and longest river in Asia we are told. NOT TRUE, the Yangtze is 6,418 km long), but I won’t argue; it is their country.
Laos is land-bound, surrounded by Burma, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.
One of the towns we pass along the way
Looks like there is a storm coming our way
We say many boats all along the river
And the storm is getting closer
They are building a bridge across the Mekong between Thailand and Laos. Altough it is an improvement for both countries, it will have severe repercussions on the economy of the people who make their living from transporting goods and people up and down the Mekong River.
There are some turbulant waters along the river and it takes a boatman who knows where the rocks are to maneuver the boat to keep it safe.
I take advantage of a quiet day to catch up on writing my blog
We get to snack on some green mango. That's mango that has not ripened and it is very tart. They make a salad with it. I've tried to eat it twice and still don't like it.
Our group on the boat: view towards the stern
A family of 6 live on this boat, appears to be husband & wife, 2 daughters (teenagers or older), one daughter in law and her little boy who is probably 2.
Grand Pa is showing the little guy the ropes as Grand Ma sits by. Actually the wife and her daughters can all drive the boat and take over whenever he needs to take a break
Every time it started pouring again, the tarps came back down, sometimes only on one side, sometimes on both. The family served us lunch on board.
And the rain comes down again
We see fishermen all the way down the river
mostly using nets to fish with
Our lunch on board
There are amazing rock formations along the river
Passing a small village while the rain pours down again
After lunch it poured for a long time and the tarps came down again. It was quite dark with the tarps down, and although there was still air circulation between the tops of the tarp and the roof of the boat, it became quite close and many people took advantage of that and had a nap.
The tarps are down to keep the rain out, and everyone is resting
A plantation on the hills
and some sand dunes on many of the banks
I'd love to be able to go walk on those dunes
We are nearing Pakbeng, where we will be spending the night
Some buffalo taking a drink of water. Wonder if they are just roaming wild.
But the tarps finally went up for the last time that day and the remaining hour on board was nice. We arrived at the small town of Pakbeng at 4 pm; much earlier than anticipated. I wish I could have taken pictures of the process of getting off the boat, using a narrow 8 inch board, spanning about 6 feet across to the rocky steep side of the river which we then had to climb. I had opted to have my bags carried by the locals (who can make a bit of money this way) and was very glad I had. Mind you, Mike and Karsten have been great at helping out many times with our bags and that has been a blessing. It is one thing to roll my small black back-pack with the larger green tote bag on top, on a smooth cement surface, it is quite another trying to lug them up stairs or slopes. Once we reach the road, we still have quite a trek uphill to reach the Sivongsack Guest House for the night.
Almost at the top. We mass a sign showing how high the floods have been in the past. That is incredibly high ! Can you see the river on the right hand corner of this picture?
My room at the Sivongsack Guest House
Again, very clean; shoes off at the door. I’m actually sharing the room tonight with a small gecko who has wandered around the ceilings of both the bedroom and bathroom. As long as he stays on the ceiling, I don’t mind sharing.
At 5 pm we head out to explore the village; basically one street with shops and some houses going up and down a mountain path.
Little girls enjoying a snack
The ground floors are unimpressive, but look up and see how they have built nice houses for themselves above their stores.
The streets of Pakbeng
These are houses up on the hill above the town
and these are the ones built in the ravine, on stilts
We browse through the market area and Scott points out a local delicacy. See the brown stuff in the middle of this picture? They are roasted rats !
After wandering around and walking through the temple compound where the monks live, we head back to the main part of the street where the restaurants are located and stop for our evening meal. We each order our own tonight, so I opt for a cucumber salad and some Buffalo spring rolls. Buffalo as in meat ! There are only tiny pieces in them and it tastes mildly gamy, but not as strong as I would have thought. I’m drinking beer most of the time during this trek rather than sodas. It is quite nice (for someone who isn’t usually a beer drinker) and refreshing.
We linger at the restaurant just chatting and taking in the evening breeze, such as it is. The restaurant is located high up from the river and we had a great view earlier on before darkness fell.
Daylight lasts about 12 hours, from 6 am to 6 pm, about the same as in Mexico.
We walk back uphill to our guest house and I finally get to enjoy a nice shower to cool off from our first day cruising on the Mekong River.
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