Mekong river cruise day one

First off if you go to Chiang Khong this is the place to stay.

Nice people and a great place along the mekong River in Thailand.

This was my view from my room at sunrise.

The best tour is Nagi of the Mekong and Adisak is wonderful. The tour operator makes it easy. We are given Laos visa forms and they check to make sure all is okay and there to help with the process. They like US dollars and if you don’t use it the exchange rate is not in your favor. Note : if the dollars have any weird marks like dye they will not take it and they do not like large bills like 20’s. Take small denominations. Thank goodness the canadians I made friends with had extra cash.

I also took Laos kip currency out. Like Vietnam, I am a millionnaire. Okay, that was only about 117US.

The boat was awesome.

We were able to sit at the bow in the sunshine. There were places to sit or lay down. Here is a video I made when we first started down the river:

The views along the mekong were amazing.

We stopped a few times to meet locals and they purchased a root like potato that is a bit sweeter. You peel like a flower. You were able to peel with your fingers unlike our potatoes. It was delicious. It had a texture like a water chestnut.

We also stopped at a local village. The boat brings things for kids in order to stop.

Xay is our guide on the left. His sister is also a guide. He tour is going to the river and we are going down. Was nice to see them together. He has 11 in his family and is from a village much like this one.

The village used to be higher in the mountains but the government could not support them with what they needed so they moved further down the mountain.

Only about 100 live in this village. Children go to elementary school here but there is no high school. It is not free even for young grades. If a child goes to high school, the family must pay. If it is like china, then parents may have to go away to work to pay but may not be near their child.

This hut is to house sticky rice. The disks on each leg stop the rats from climbing to get into the house. There are a lot of dogs and not much cats. Here dogs do a better job of controlling the rats.

Piglets. I didn’t ask but sure they eventually are for meat.

The kids everywhere are especially fun. They wave, will high five you, and have the sweetest smiles. It is great to see kids helping and playing outside. Low tech. Note: For a bunch of the trip I did not have a Sim card or any connection which was great for connecting with others.

Coconuts.

The bones of animals are used to adorn for luck.

Drying tobacco.

Drying the sticky rice grain. Some villages like this one can pool money for a machine to remove the outer covering or bran. Otherwise it is thrashed by hand.

I bought a bracelet from a woman.

We continued on the cruise. Lunch was waiting for us when we finished the village.

At one point the mekong is 100% in Laos.

We stopped here in Pak Beng for the night. Our hotel is up here on the cliff.

After depositing our bags (we could keep what we wanted on the boat so only took a change of clothes),we met too go to the market.

Here is a picture of the room.

At the market we ate bamboo sticky rice. Some in the group had never tried it. It is always good. The bamboo sticks gold the sticky rice for cooking. Usually coconut, beans, or spices are included.

Here is banana flower and golangal. Both are used in cooking.

I played peek a boo around a person’s shoulder with this little boy.

I bought sugar cane that is processed and wrapped in the village. It becomes like chocolate. I am not going to try it until I get home to the states to share with my kids. I also purchased a bamboo spoon. I would rather spend money here for those who need it and are so friendly.