Years ago I took a two-day journey down the Mekong River from the Thailand (Chiang Khong)- Laos (Huay-Xai) border to Luang Prabang, Laos. I travelled on slow-moving barges with local people, for whom the Mekong is a major route for moving people and their goods. The Laotians packaged goods covered the floor of the barge and we sat on top of the goods. Some of us climbed through a window to the narrow roof to get a different perspective and hang out with the chickens.
Recently I travelled the Mekong River again, this time under more luxurious conditions, from Cambodia to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Signs of life along the river in Cambodia are limited to a few fishers, a few dwellings and a few Buddhist temples. The level of river activity changes dramatically as you cross the invisible river border from Cambodia into Vietnam.
Cambodians are more likely to live or work along the edges of Mekong tributaries rather than along the wider river. Their homes are built on stilts to protect the homes from flooding. In drier times, the space under the homes is used as living and working space for people and animals, and for protection from the sun and rain.
Colourful vestments
In Vietnam, the Mekong River and Mekong Delta are a hive of activities. You see dredging equipment in the middle of the river, barges moving sand and other goods, fishing, floating fish farms along the edges of the river, people living along the edges of the river, taxi barges moving people from one side of the river to the other and white egrets flitting around water hyacinths. The earth tones of the river and land are offset by brightly coloured boats and the multi-coloured tarpaulins used around homes and commercial activities.
Boat with face