After a dissapointing 2-day trip into the Bolaven Plateau, I headed to the 4,000 islands (in the Mekong River) in the south of Laos with Becky (Brit) and Jenna (American). The place was stunning and I really enjoyed my time there. I've been waking up every day at 5 a.m. for whatever reason, and the first day, I went out for sunrise. It was spectacular over the river....red and pink, and I set up my tripod and got some great shots as an oarsman came past through the sunrise.
That day was "Buddha Day", so after sunrise I went over to the temple to observe and photograph the celebration. The whole village came, dressed in their best, with freshly cooked food carried in on large platters and gifts for the monks who would spend the next 3 months in the same monastery. People lit incense and candles and sat down on the floor of the temple, filling the place until people had to sit outside on the steps. (I was conveniently located in a corner with my tripod.) They chanted the same Buddhist chants I had learned at the retreat in Thailand (though a slightly different pronunciation and rhythm of the Pali text). Then the men got up and one by one put rice and other food in the monks' bowls lined up on the table. After they had finished, the women came, and then everyone ate together. What a feast! Such a beautiful tradition, and a calm and peaceful culture. Nobody gets upset, yells, or demands things. A good example for us!
We then rented a "canoe" for the day. Canoe = wooden long-tail, extremely narrow and shallow boat with wooden paddles. We set out in the river, the 3 of us, paddling away and going in nothing but circles. Becky was steering and directing us, but given that the current went in circles and I think the canoe was a bit caddywampus, it just didn't work. We stuck to the bank the best we could, and managed somehow to avoid hitting anything. We paddled for an hr. and 1/2 in the hot sun, then made it to the next island down, where we docked for a bit and took a walk. The island was BEAUTIFUL: Buffalos taking mud baths next to rice paddies, pigs and chickens wandering around, children calling "Sabai-dee," and thatch huts interspersed throughout. We came upon a temple (wat), and some nuns were about to have a meal. They invited us in, and put out a straw mat for us. We sat down and they looked at us in wonder, and us at them. We tried to communicate our ages, but not sure if it worked. They smiled and joked with each other, having a grand time, and their warmth was extended to us.
We proceeded to try to get our canoe back to our island, but with great difficulty....finally after about a half hour of struggling, we managed. We got out and walked to the huts nearby, finding some people who were very curious about us, how we'd managed to get there, and what we wanted. We played charades to communicate that we'd paddled all the way down here, were tired and sweaty, and would like another canoe with a motor to PULL US BACK UPSTREAM to the place we came from! We got all of that across, in addition to negotiating the whopping price of $8, with not ONE WORD of the same language being spoken! It's amazing what drawing some pictures and doing a lot of body language will do for you...
And all of this happened by 2 p.m.!!!! We finished the day at a great restaurant that served steamed fish with coconut milk and herbs, wrapped in banana leaf.....mmmmmmm!
