More Lazing on the Mekong

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Another early start to another lazy day on the boat watching the world go by. We’ve started to get a card school going, playing crib was fairly safe, but when Mark introduced his version of rummy, he said he could feel the hate coming towards him ... I’m not surprised really, we were seriously considering throwing him over the side ... one more ‘you can’t do that’ and he’d have been swimming!

Stopped to see a cave alongside the river that was packed full of Buddha statues of all sizes. Incense sticks added to the atmosphere as did the sight of elephants on the opposite bank. A slow climb to a second cave with yet more Buddhas completed the stop. Apparently the Mekong is unnaturally low at the moment, and this was brought home when we saw the markers for where high-tide had been in 1966 and 2003 - at the top of the steps leading to the first cave ... probably 20 metres above us!

The boat owners made us lunch on the boat today, and it was an absolute treat - the dish that most fascinated me was the pork/noodle stuffed cucumber soup. John preferred the pork and ginger. Having lunch really brought home to us how lucky we were to be on a ‘private boat hire’ - the public boats were arriving with 150-170 people on board, all looking very uncomfortable and utterly miserable.

As we neared Luang Prabang, the old capital of Laos, there was a marked increase in the level of agricultural activity along the banks of the Mekong. One major surprise was the absence of bird life, a lone swift flitting past the boat the only once. Another steep porter-assisted climb and a 10 minute van ride to our next guest house, Thong Bay. This turned out to be a beautiful clump of individual houses by the river - not one Baywatch lifeguard in site!

A group meal at a local restaurant we’d been recommended, Tamarind, gave real insight into local food and eating customs - sticky rice, lettuce wraps, and baked fish in banana leaf going down very well. A short shower of rain curtailed our visit to the night market but as we’re here for three nights, that wasn’t a disaster.

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