River Scenes 59
People's selfishness at leaving their bags on one seat inside and actually sitting in another place outside, means that there initially doesn't appear to be enough room for everyone. The guide manages to rearrange passengers though so that we can all sit with our original travel companions.
The low water levels slowing the journey down considerably and the fact that we left one and a half hours late because of the chaos at immigration, means we are unable to make the planned stop at a local village this morning. It does mean, however, that with seven hours of cruising, I can catch up on some much needed sleep after having been fully awake at 03:00 every morning so far on this trip.
The scenery along the side of the Mekong is somewhat of a surprise – I expected to see the cultivation and jungle with the buffalo, cows and occasional boar, as well as the people fishing, washing and playing in the water, but the two things that surprised me most were the rock formations and perfectly formed sand dunes. Jagged boulders of slate and sandstone litter the edges of the river, sometimes spilling into the middle of the stream, leaving only a narrow channel for navigation. With the shallow water being as low as just two metres in places, the captain has his work cut out as there is not much room for error.
Even though the sun was out and the temperatures were in the high 20s, it got rather cold on the boat this morning, especially with the wind and at times even the water spraying over the bow of the boat. Although not quite as exciting as the white water rafting in India last November, we did shoot a few rapids on this river too.
River Scenes 59
People's selfishness at leaving their bags on one seat inside and actually sitting in another place outside, means that there initially doesn't appear to be enough room for everyone. The guide manages to rearrange passengers though so that we can all sit with our original travel companions.
The low water levels slowing the journey down considerably and the fact that we left one and a half hours late because of the chaos at immigration, means we are unable to make the planned stop at a local village this morning. It does mean, however, that with seven hours of cruising, I can catch up on some much needed sleep after having been fully awake at 03:00 every morning so far on this trip.
The scenery along the side of the Mekong is somewhat of a surprise – I expected to see the cultivation and jungle with the buffalo, cows and occasional boar, as well as the people fishing, washing and playing in the water, but the two things that surprised me most were the rock formations and perfectly formed sand dunes. Jagged boulders of slate and sandstone litter the edges of the river, sometimes spilling into the middle of the stream, leaving only a narrow channel for navigation. With the shallow water being as low as just two metres in places, the captain has his work cut out as there is not much room for error.
Even though the sun was out and the temperatures were in the high 20s, it got rather cold on the boat this morning, especially with the wind and at times even the water spraying over the bow of the boat. Although not quite as exciting as the white water rafting in India last November, we did shoot a few rapids on this river too.