On a recent trip through Champasak Province in Lao, my partner and I stopped at Champasak Town to explore Wat Phu. After taking in the temple ruins, we relaxed on the Mekong River. Champasak Town is a sleepy destination with a few guesthouses serving people interested in checking out nearby Wat Phu. The only other activity in the town is to just relax and watch life go by on this serene stretch of the Mekong River.
Below is a log of my my day relaxing and making observations by the Mekong River. Enjoy!
3:46 pm- At my guest house, I go to sit down at a table on a veranda overlooking the Mekong, but a sleeping dog is under it. I choose another table.
4:02 pm- I order a Beer Namkhong.
4:05 pm- I notice a sunken long boat near the shore of the river.
4:11 pm- Two young boys run into the river and start swimming.
4:38 pm- One boy grabs a styrofoam container floating by and starts using it as a raft.
4:39 pm- My beer arrives.
5:03 pm- The dog under the other table saunters over and promptly lays down at my feet and begins to nap.
5:12 pm- A fishing boat wanders by with a large round cage of some sort on top.
5:27 to 5:45 pm- Fishermen row by in their boats checking their nets. One pulls in some small fish.
5:49 pm- I order some fried rice and an iced lime smoothy.
5:58 pm- A squawking goose runs down by the river. Seconds later a woman in a sarang runs after it. The goose runs into the water while squawking wildly. The lady runs after it up to her knees, but the goose gets away. The woman looks distressed.
6:12 pm- My iced lime smoothy arrives.
6:17 pm- More fishermen row by and check their nets.
6:19 pm- A man comes down to the sunken long boat, pulls it off the river bottom, and begins shaking it to bail water. He continues this until all of the water is bailed. He then gets into the boat and rows away.
6:40 pm- The man returns in his boat with the goose inside. The goose jumps out, prompting the man to jump up and grab it by the leg just before it gets away again. In doing this, he nearly capsizes the boat. The goose squawks madly.
6:41 pm- Two boys emerge near the river bank. They meet the man in the boat and tie the goose to a lashings of sticks which lies in the river but near the bank.
6:44 pm- My food arrives, and the dog under the table begs for scraps.
6:47 pm- The woman chasing the goose earlier emerges with two children. The boys hand her the goose. The man ties up his boat and leaves. The boat begins to fill with water.
6:52 pm- A motorized long boat full of cases of Beer Lao cruises by breaking the serenity.
6:58 pm- An old man runs out of the bushes in his underwear and into the river. He bathes then leaves.
7:12 pm- The long boat belonging to the man who caught the goose is about half full of water.
7:15 pm- The dog sleeping on my foot gets up and leaves.
7: 22 pm- It’s getting dark and mosquitoes start swarming all around me.
7: 26 pm- I get up and go to my room.
7:32 pm- I begin to read my dated sci-fi book.
8:30 pm- A huge thunder storm begins.
9:12 pm- The electricity goes out.
9:30 pm- Not even having a flashlight, I fall asleep.
5:30 am- I wake up.
5: 46 am- I wake up my partner and ask her if she wants to watch the sunrise. She says that she never thought that she would hear me ask such a thing, since I’m the grumpiest, groggiest bear in the morning.
5:53 to 6:10 am- The sun rises but is obscured by leftover clouds from the storm.
6:11 am- Fishermen come out and check their nets.
Armadillo Projections 