Thu 25/12/08 22:06
As I write this, it’s Christmas eve and I’m on a slow riverboat going down the Mekong River. The river has so much mystery to me it’s hard to explain. Maybe it’s the dozens of war movies that use it as a backdrop to the horrors of the Vietnam war, maybe it’s the idea of being somewhere that I heard of during my youth, that I didn’t understand what the river was to so many people. Whatever the reason it has been great to see it. We crossed the border from Thailand to Laos yesterday afternoon and spent the rest of the day just walking around this sleepy little border town. The town was what I envision when I think of a developing country. People cook outside with fire, so they’re dozens of smoky billows coming from everywhere. Dogs are wandering around the streets, seemingly ignored by the villagers, but now and again you see a dog with a shirt on. It’s almost like they’re revered or something. The town is at the base of a mountain that has a temple at the top. We went to the temple last night, but it was too dark to take any pictures. One thing that was kind of funny last night was I’m sitting outside having a cigarette by myself, and a guy on a motorcycle rides up to me and says in a broken accent, “good evening, how are you.” I say that I’m good. He comes back with, “I have cancer.” I’m like what? I’m thinking that he is going to ask for money or something. We go back and forth with him telling me that he has cancer, and me telling him that, that’s too bad. He gets of his bike and sits down next to me and I start to get a little nervous like he was going to take my backpack or something. Then he tells me again that he has cancer and reaches into his pocket and pulls out some weed. Turns out that he was saying Gonza… I guess. When I convince him that I don’t smoke it and don’t want it he says, “ You have boom-boom?” I knew exactly what he meant then. He points to the street and says, “you pick any girl for boom-boom.” I turned him down, but it was so funny. We used to play around about “boom-boom” when I was a kid, probably from hearing stories about Vietnam, now I’m living it. So cool!
This morning, after a cold shower we loaded up in a truck for the river. It’s not far away, and within just a few minutes we were on our way down the river. Our boat is about 60 feet long and fairly narrow. The Mekong is lined with very small villages, these villages, unlike the one we stayed in last night are something straight out of history, maybe like hundreds of years ago. The villagers have drying fish hanging out, people squatting at the rivers edge, and although I don’t know for sure, my guess is that they don’t have electricity or any of the basics that I take for granted. Not that it’s bad, in fact the villagers that I’ve seen seem content. Few of them even seem to notice our boat, or even care. There is a difference between the personalities of the Thais and the Laotians, the Thais are much more outgoing and fun loving. Maybe it’s because they have a more capitalistic society that requires talking to people, maybe it’s something else too, who knows? It is noticeable how reserved the Laotians are.
The sun is out and the weather is just about perfect, we’re lined by mountains and jungle and the day couldn’t be any better.
