Laos, Page 3.
| We decided to charter a longboat to see some limestone
caves two hours up the Mekong. Our captain was a mild man in his 40s
who spoke very passable English and introduced himself as Sinkum.
This seemed a suitable name for a captain, and when I asked about his
river experience he could not hide his pride when he said that this was
his fourth boat.
We boarded at the international boat terminal, seen to the right,
and after poling the nose into the correct direction, the two lung diesel
engine coughed to life and we moved briskly up-river. For a time,
the engine continued to cough whenever Sinkum added power, and we eyed the
plethora of limestone islands breaking surface in the river, but after
five minutes the engine smoothed out and we focused on the activity around
us.
Sinkum proved to be an engaging and competent captain. He
hugged the shoreline upstream to stay out of the current, changing sides
occasionally to avoid hazards. He had a subtle sense of humor, and
at lunch he plied us with stories about the mythical serpent nana, a huge
fish which took little children occasionally. He told us about life
along the river.
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Boys at play on canoes.
The Mekong River begins in Tibet, and it is a critical
lifeline through southern China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and
Vietnam. While we saw only occasional huts along the river, we
were struck by the amount of activity happening on the river and on the river
banks. Longboats much larger than ours were ferries and shuttled
passengers up and down the river. Fishermen threw nets from the shore and
from canoes, catching mostly small fish, but the occasional large carp.
Farmers carried water from a carrying pole over their shoulder to nurture lush
crops, knowing that the May monsoon waters would carry the farm away. We
saw water buffalo soaking in the cool water, and we saw farmers building fences
to keep the buffalo out of their field. More than once we saw groups of
naked boys chasing, wrestling, throwing sand and diving from boats, oblivious to
the call of Nintendo. On a flat sandbar, an after-school soccer game was
in full swing.
As with many tourist attractions, the best part of the caves
was the journey getting there. They were tall, perhaps 40 feet, and the
longest of the two about 200 feet deep, but they were more important as temples
than as geologic wonders. Their limestone tables were covered with
thousands of tiny idols, brought and left to improve luck.
Lunch stop.
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Captain Sinkum and Sam viewing the English menu.
The pork soup-noodles were excellent. |
Kaizen and friend. |
Don Webster: websterdr@yahoo.com