Meet Me on the Mekong

For our first full day in Luang Prabang, we decided to take a boat ride on the Mekong River.  We booked a boat to ourselves, packed some beverages in ice in a cooler, slipped into our swim suits, and headed to the Pak Ou caves.  (In truth, we were not all that interested in the caves.  This was much more about the journey than the destination.)  Our captain and his wife were quite nice, but did not speak a word of English.  Like almost all the other boat owners, they lived in the back of their boat.

I've always been enthralled with the power and expanse of the wide ocean blue, but have recently come to appreciate the dignity and solitude of rivers. The Mekong is the world's twelfth longest river - it begins in China near the Tibet border and flows through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before flowing into the South China Sea.  It is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world.  If you watch Discovery channel's "River Monsters," this is the home of BIG fish - the famed 600 pound catfish and 600 pound giant river carp.  Sadly, due to flood controls, dams and overfishing, these majestic creatures are now rare.

We wanted to go fishing, but the local fishermen were intent on catching their day's food.  From what I could observe, they balance one or two to a wooden fishing boat, nearly skimming the surface of the water, and mostly use bamboo rods and nets.

Once we toured the upper and lower caves, we took a quick dip in the refreshing Mekong before puttering back to Luang Prabang.  Truly idyllic.

Our journey, in pictures:

Our captain walking on the boat

our boat

Credit to Michael for this picture.  He wants to submit it to National Geographic.