22nd
January 22 - Laos Adventures
Our final day in Siem Reap Dave was entertaining a travellers bug, so Mr. Sokhoeun took me to the Bayon for a final look at the wonderful bas relief carvings. Around the outside gallery every column has lively dancing asparas. The walls contain scenes of everyday life, crocodiles attacking people, and tigers chasing people up trees, temple builders, people cooking, cockfights, naval battles. Too soon it was time to pick Dave up and head to the airport.A few hours later we touched down in picturesque Luang Prabang, Laos, nestled on a peninsula formed by the junction of the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers. LP is full of monasteries. Each morning at 6am there is a procession of orange-robed monks through the city, begging alms and granting blessings. This is a tourist mecca, with lots of shops, guesthouses and restaurants. It is delightful, but not representative of this country, where 80% live in rural villages with no electricity.
We had fun exploring, especially enjoying the bamboo foot bridges built across the Nam Khan. They are constructed in the dry season, and are destroyed each year when the rivers rise again with monsoon rains.
Our second day here we caught a 3-hour overcrowded minibus with no shocks to Nong Khiau, where we stayed at the NK Riverside in a thatch bungalow. Gorgeous setting - the river has carved steep walls. We booked a tour, advertised as “something suitable for your parents”, a boat trip upriver to Muang Ngoi, and an all-day kayak ride back down. On the way up we got a preview of the whitewater we’d be descending, yikes. Muang Ngoi is a small village with a lovely temple. We walked both blocks on main street, and learned how river weed is prepared - a lot of steps to make this local delicacy.
Our guide gave us a double kayak, and had us put on life jackets. We started our leisurely paddle downstream, past small villages, pigs rooting on the riverbank, and water buffalos cooling in the river. The river villagers wait until the water starts dropping in the dry season and plant vegetable gardens along the banks as the water recedes. Gardens are fenced in bamboo to keep the livestock out. Along the way we saw many people harvesting riverweed. Our boat driver and guide provided a riverside picnic - delicious eggplant dip, sauteed vegetables, tough beef, and sticky rice, a small feast. In Laos you eat with your fingers, both hands. We carried on downstream, until we came to the longest stretch of rapids. The kayak seemed stable, but halfway down we flipped. I came up underneath the kayak for a moment, then popped up alongside but didn’t grab on quickly enough. Our guide caught me and got me back to our kayak. We righted it and Dave tried to climb up, but was hindered by his life jacket. So we rode the rapids hanging on to the sides of our kayak, occasionally bumping feet and knees on rounded river rock. A few minutes later the rapids spit us out into calmer waters, where our boatman caught us. He was waiting below the rapids to made sure no boats attempted to come upstream while we were in them as they are quite narrow. We hung onto both the boat and our kayak. The boatman skillfully brought us to a sandspit. While he motored us there, I was very aware of the prop spinning not far behind our feet. No drama, all was well. Our camera was in a ziploc, tied to the kayak. Amazingly, we did not lose it, nor hats, sunglasses. The guide even caught my flipflops!
We climbed back into the kayak and continued on, refreshed by our surprise swim in the cool Nam Ou. Late afternoon we pulled back into Nong Khiau.
Our waitress at dinner told us she works as a volunteer, teaching in a village far upstream, living with the wealthiest family in the village. They have a tiny store with not much in it, as no one can afford to buy anything. A couple times a week the villagers eat rats, about all they can catch. They have a few chickens but don’t eat them - the hens are too valuable. She said they basically have nothing. She comes to town occasionally to work for money to buy shampoo and things she needs, and has been living in the village now for 5 months. Makes us realize we have not seen the “real Laos” yet.
This morning we said goodbye to Nong Khiau, and caught the 5 hour “ferry” back to Luang Prabang. The ferry, costing about $13, is a covered riverboat with hard wooden seats, about 4 feet wide and 40 feet long. The driver sits in the bow. No lifejackets this time. The boat descends the Nam Ou for 4 hours until it joins the Mekong. With the dry season, the river is steadily getting shallower, exposing more rocks, any of which would crack the fragile ferry like an eggshell. Rocks were in touching distance on both sides at times, as we threaded the rapids going downstream. We have no idea how the boat driver delivered us safely!
