Rolling on the River

I crossed into Laos yesterday and took the 2-day boat tour down the river. Two days was a long time, but it was a great experience and it was as really nice change of pace. Here is some of what I saw.

To begin with, this is what our boat looked like...

It's actually a cargo boat, as you can see from the picture below. But rather than cramming it with oranges, they filled it with wooden benches and crammed it with people. (Everyone used their life jackets as seat cushions because the seats are so hard.)

This gives you an idea why they call it the "Mighty Mekong".

A bustling little village on the shores of the river...

...and a quiet little fishing spot on a nearby shore...

Now for some scenery...

(Please excuse the crooked pictures. I am not used to taking photos on a moving boat.)

You might be wondering what the smoke is in the picture above. Well, the farmers here practice what I believe we call "slash and burn agriculture", which means burning away the brush to clear land for growing.

The flames naturally lead to a lot of smoke...

...which leads to hazy pictures...

And, naturally, we saw a lot of people...

...and animals (water buffalo).

We spent the night in a small town called Pak Bang, which only has generator electricity from 6 to 12 at night. We had a great view of the river from the balcony at the guesthouse’s restaurant, as you can see.

All in all, a really good day.

I tried to catch up on some sleep, but I was awoken several times during the night by a fire at the guesthouse across the street, a dog fight, the electricity being shut off, a group of loud guests that couldn’t find their way in the dark, and an employee singing pop songs as he found his way through the halls of the guesthouse to his room, which happened to be next to mine. I don’t think I will get much sleep in Laos, but I bet it will be a lot of fun.