A 2 hour drive south of where we are staying is an area in the Mekong that consists of a complex region of islands and rapids, known as The 4000 Islands. That was our destination today. We were going to exlpore the area by long boat and tuck-tuck pulled by a motorcycle. The center piece of the day was a visit to Khone Phapheng Falls the widest water falls in the world and its little sibling Li Phi waterfall on the island Don Knon. But along the way we would see many interesting things

  • a young women harvesting rice

  • harvested tapioca

  • many irrigation pumps

  • men transporting bricks on the river

  • the history of French Colonial efforts to bring transport to the upper Mekong

  • the antics of water buffalo

  • and generally life and people on the Mekong

The high point of the day was probably the peaceful boat ride and the opportunity it gave us to just look at the diversity of life on the banks of this mighty river.

As to the most intriguing or perhaps obscure fact of the day. Take a close look at photos 16 and 17, the last on the 2nd row and first on the 3rd row. Its a picture of a structure just below the Li Phi falls. What is is for?

It is to help the locals catch fish. When the river is high that structure is submerged and causes a whirl pool or eddy in the water flow which is an area of slower moving water. The fish swimming upstream use this slower area of water as a place to rest, and that's where they can be caught by fishermen.

The first photo above is from Nina's early morning walk and is the sun rising over the hotel from the western shore of the island. The path leading to the sun is a roadway of woven bamboo used for transporting guests between the hotel and the boats.