The beginning of the day.

Every morning these delightful cousins came  to fish.  Their fathers and brothers were under the bungalows with harpoons while they wielded nets from our gangway.

The end of the day.

One should always wear ones pearls when bathing in the Mekong!

Leaving Laos

We left our bungalow on a narrow longtail boat at 6.15 and caught the local 'chicken' bus to Pakse. From this original bus we travelled on 7 other vehicles over 8 hours to cross the border and reach the train station at Ubon Ratchathani and catch the overnight sleeper to Bangkok.  

At every stop along the way someone looked out for us and made sure we were on the right vehicle and going in the right direction.  It was a long hard day on the road but we actually enjoyed it, we certainly got to see rural life and the electrification of Southern Laos.  All along the highways they were erecting pylons and beginning to run the wires.  Word is that they are taking the power to the islands and then they will change forever.