The Mekong

The Mekong in Luang Prabang

Vegetable gardens and houses, Luang Prabang

The Mekong is the biggest river in Laos and the busiest.  All along its length, from Luang Prabang in the north, through Vientiane and Savannakhet and down to Champassak, I’ve seen people using the river for a variety of purposes.  Where it doesn’t form an international border (e.g. in Luang Prabang, Pakse and the 4,000 Islands) it is more thoroughly used than in places like Vientiane and Savannakhet, where traffic on the river is greatly reduced (in the years around 1975 many people fled Laos by swimming across to Thailand, often under fire from Lao soldiers).

Up in Luang Prabang the Mekong is surrounded by mountains, and the lush green river banks fade to blue-grey haze behind.  Down in Champassak the river wends through a plain and is so wide at times (up to 14km at its widest during the wet season) it’s hard to realise the islands just a short distance away aren’t the opposite bank of a much smaller river.

There’s always plenty of activity on the river – many people wash in it (wearing a sarong, usually without soap), do their laundry, water their livestock and vegetables (which in the dry season are sown in the silty bank which is underwater during the monsoon), fish, dredge, and (for children) play in it.  There is a lot of river traffic – both dedicated cargo and tourist boats and smaller fishing boats which are ferrying families, monks, and tourists opportunistically.

Cargo-house boat north of Luang Prabang

Monks washing in the Mekong

 There is some trap fishing but the most common method seems to be to stand in a small, flat bottomed boat, and throw out a large – at least 4m in diameter – circular net.  Mostly the fishers throw their huge nets out very gracefully; occasionally someone overbalances and falls in the river with the net!  There seems to be a low return on this input - I understand it’s mainly fishing for home consumption this way, not to get enough to market.

Fishing boat

Just outside Pakse we passed a huge mansion on the river - by far the largest and most ostentatious thing I saw on the river, anywhere!  Apparently it belongs to the woman who owns Dao-Hueang coffee, which is a large Lao coffee conglomerate.  It seemed odd to build such a huge palace in the backwaters (literally) of Laos, when you could presumably afford to build something pretty showy somewhere else!

The Dao-Hueang mansion

Down in the 4,000 Islands in Champassak the Mekong is blocked all across its length by waterfalls: these impeded the French, who were hoping to use the river for transport through Indochina.  To get round the waterfalls they built a small railway up one of the larger islands, which was in use for about 50 years, including briefly by the Japanese during WWII.  The railway fell into disuse and disrepair shortly after the war and independence from French rule, and the engines were only recently rediscovered in the jungle.

Vegetable gardens and modest houses along the river in 4,000 Islands

Buffalo grazing on an island

Relaxing on the Mekong

 

Looking for Irrawaddy dolphins 

Some of the waters around the 4,000 Islands, near the Cambodian border, are home to a small pod of Irrawaddy dolphins which we were lucky enough to see.  They are very shy but we caught several passing glimpses of them over an hour or so on the water, listening to traditional music from a Cambodian temple.  It was very peaceful!