Monday, February 17, 2020

Two Days On The Mekong River, 2

Continuing our voyage down the Mekong River in Laos...
Back on the water, a fenced-in garden on the shore

More shore activity

One of two tributaries I saw in the course of our 100+ mile voyage; dry season

Panning for gold

More interesting mountains appear

Tour boats and another village


High water mark: easily 7 meters

Under construction: high speed train from China to Bangkok and beyond

More mountains


Docking now at the Pak Ou caves

Still wondering where she fits in Buddhism


Actually it wasn't much of a cave that Vicki missed (too many painful steps)

Back on the river; I interpreted the red flags as a no-no; but, no, our captain
steered right between them and passed without a ruffle




























































And now we are in "Whiskey Village"; obviously it has a real name, but this is
what's it's known as in the tourist trade; here are the stills in which they're making
rice whiskey, Mekong Moonshine

Aged for 12 years in these oak barrels...

Filtered, not once, but three times

For 50 bhat of course I had to have one; 100 proof grain alcohol; Lao Lao, it's
called

In the wat adjoining the market; we are so watted-out

Typical wat inscription tree: wisdom quotes

Our boat, now laden with whiskey, about to shove off

On final approach to Luang Prabang


As the river widens, fish farms appear

And finally we arrive at the "port" of Luang Prabang...and more adventure


Overnight In Pak Beng

We arrived at Pak Beng about 5:30. A hotel van took us to Le Grand, the big resort there, another beautiful room/villa and dinner.
I was navigating all the way, although Google Maps was a bit sketchy regarding
the course of the river

Le Grand, Pak Beng, Laos

Right across the river from an elephant reserve

The tour boats were packed in exactly like sardines

The deck of our villa

And view of the river

Another beautiful room...but this time we were worthy, having shelled out $90,
a splurge; we figured a remote village in darkest Laos might be worth it; turns out
it was not quite that remote; but still a good decision; beautiful furniture, floors,
all teak


Sunset on the Mekong

And a full moon, heading to dinner at the hotel

Only kind of beer I had in Laos, Beerlao

My appetizer was a fairly decent Tom Yum; sadly I failed to photograph the
triple curry we shared for dinner

Dessert: local fruits and coconut ice cream

A bit of the Le Grand complex, reception, and the restaurant; being on the side
of the hill, everything was pretty steep and not very friendly for the mobility-
impaired

Next morning at breakfast, across the river

You can lead an elephant to water, but...

Two Days On The Mekong River, 1

Our next major city was Luang Prabang, the capital of Laos in (French) colonial times. The bus from Chiang Khong had not appeared attractive--long drive through the mountains, not air conditioned, no toilets--so we opted to take the two-day boat tour down the Mekong, stopping overnight in Pak Beng, and also for a few sights along the way. We were on the water perhaps six hours each day, lunch and snacks provided. There were about 40 other passengers, all European except for us and one other American. The crew, including the captain, a guide, a cook, and an assistant who did pretty much everything, was entirely Laotian. The tour was conducted by Nagi of Mekong.
Our boat, whose name I did not catch; it was in Laotian

Our captain; very good at reading the waters; IMHO




































Command and control center


















Captain's shrine

























"Steady as you go"

Most of the passengers; most very nice; only one asshole, the American, of course,
loud and obnoxious





































A small long-tail whizzes by; maybe best termed a short-tail

According to our guide, the river was down about 7 meters (!), with a green
color he had not seen and with much exposed (and interesting) rock; all kinds of
bamboo poles and plastic bottles serve as markers for shallow or dangerous
water; this stretch of the Mekong passes over bedrock, running maybe 10mph
(my estimate)

The cruise passed by a dozen or more villages, most on much higher ground

After being picked up at our Chiang Krong hotel, we had to go through both
Thai and Laotian immigration, etc., and so didn't get off until 9:45 or so; here's
one serving of lunch, fried fish, veggies, more

Another tour boat about to pass

Obviously a longer haul tour boat

Many, many interesting rock formations; this one, the Dog

Us, on the bow; I had suggested a Titanic pose, but she wouldn't go for it

Humongous sand dunes lining the shores

Passing sometimes very close to rocks; as I said, the captain was very good at
maneuvering this long boat in the fast water

Lay of strata, folding; Geology 101 (which I barely passed)

Making brooms

Another village

White water, narrow passage

Water buffalo and Brahma cattle all up and down the river

About to land and visit this village

Anchor

We stayed on the boat: too hot for a climb, particularly with no steps


There's gold in them thar sands; seriously; we'll see people panning further on

Village fishing boats, some powered, some not


More village activity along the shore; including panning for gold