The Mekong

We are both farther north and higher in altitude than we've been to this point, and the damp, cool weather is a bit more brisk than we prepared for in the wardrobe department. We awoke to thick fog and temps in the upper 50s/low 60s this morning. Breakfast is outdoors. Good thing the coffee was hot. At least we had a hot shower in our room -- some in our group complained that they couldn't get hot water. The rooms have air conditioning, but no heat.

We left the hotel a bit after 8:30 a.m. by tuk-tuk and drove about a half hour to a village where paper is made. We got the whole tour and our group actually made a sheet, decorated with real leaves and flower pedals. There was, of course, a shop adjacent. In fact, the entire little town appeared to be a string of shops selling fancy papers and/or locally made textile goods. Our guide chatted up a family having breakfast a short way off the street, and four of us with the guide were invited to sit down to join them. We tasted sticky rice which we dipped in eggplant, fish, or water-buffalo skin. The egg plant was good.

Next, we walked down to the Mekong River bank and boarded a boat (on which the family running it appeared to live). The motor launch took us up river for a good hour and half through the hills of Laos. We were surprised that there were so few settlements along the river -- the land appears almost unpopulated. Also, aside from a few small fishing canoes and a flotilla of other tourist boats like ours, there was virtually no river traffic.

We stopped at a village where the specialty is the fermenting and distilling of rice. A sweet rice wine is made by fermenting a rice mash with yeast in a clay jar. After a couple weeks the wine is poured off, and the remaining mash is then put into a still to make something very much resembling Chinese baiju (white lightning). This is frequently bottled with a scorpion, snake, or other livestock in the bottle, similar to the worm in a bottle of tequila, only considerably larger relative to the size of the bottle. We tasted a small free sample, but did not buy. Others in our group did.

The village also featured a fairly ornate temple complex and a plethora of textile shops, including some where young children were operating the looms. We had to hope that this was only because our visit happened to fall on a Buddhist full-moon holiday when school was not in session.

We re-boarded the boat and continued up river to the "Buddha Cave." This riverside cave was once thought to be home to a river spirit, but has apparently been exorcized by adding a couple of thousand Buddha statues. Apparently some monks placed one large statue here, then locals attempted to fill the place by bringing in their own, in all sizes and descriptions, pretty much putting them anyplace that they could fit. There were so many tourist boats here that they almost needed traffic control, and the dock was no more than a pile of floating bamboo that made disembarking interesting.

We were fed lunch on the boat on the way back, apparently cooked by the boat driver's wife. She was not an excellent cook, but we didn't starve. With the swift current, the downstream trip took only a fraction of the time. Most of the group re-boarded the tuk-tuks for the trip back to the hotel, but Mary and I walked  the town a bit, seeing some beautiful river views and interesting French colonial architecture. Most of the fine old colonial homes are now converted as restaurants or guest houses. We caught the hotel shuttle back and had about 45 minutes of rest before the next group adventure at 5 p.m.

The tuk-tuks took us into the town once again to a beer garden overlooking the river. We bought a large bottle of the local beer to share, and we were treated to bar-b-cued duck with a hot mustard dipping sauce. Our guide had also purchased a large bottle of red rice wine at the village shop this morning, and shared it with those who were not beer drinkers.

We were also treated to the preparation of a local delicacy frequently served as an appetizer or with beer prior to the evening meal: duck's blood. This was somewhat different from the duck's blood I'd had in China, which was cooked and gelatinous in texture, eaten with chopsticks. This blood was mixed at the table with a duck broth, roasted and chopped duck innards, and spicy green herbs, similar to cilantro. After sitting for several minutes to thicken, it was eaten with a spoon. I found it better than the Chinese version, but not something I wanted to chow down on.

Having finished our appetizer, we walked a few blocks to a nice restaurant for our evening meal, consisting of soup, egg roll, white rice, and three stir-fry dishes -- similar to other meals we've had here. The local guide insists this is not tourist food prepared to American tastes, but that much Lao food is not spicy. He also insisted that a large family meal would also consist of rice with several dishes like this. The difference is that we've been eating a large family meal twice a day on this trip, while Lao families might only have such a meal once a week or so. The meal ended with ice cream, a first for our time in Southeast Asia.

The tuk-tuk ride back to the hotel was quite chilly with the wind in our faces, and we were glad to get under warm blankets in bed.