Crossing the Mekong with Laos dead ahead.
In June 2006 I traveled to Thailand to interview a Laotian woman named Phone (pronounced Pahn) I met in Bayou La Batre after hurricane Katrina. Her husband ran their crab picking factory in Thailand while she ran one in Alabama.
She grew up in Laos and became a refugee in Thailand during the Vietnam War. To escape Laos, her family hid in a cave and waited for her father to come get them and take them to Thailand. This meant crossing the Mekong River at night. During my time with Phone in Thailand I wanted to see the Mekong River and the area where her family crossed.
We made our way to a part of Thailand where the Mekong and Mun rivers meet. The Mekong is the 10th largest river in the world. It begins in China, divides Thailand and Laos, cuts through Cambodia and forms the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. The area we crossed was probably a mile wide. I couldn’t imagine crossing such a river in total darkness.
We found a guide who for a few bucks would take us across the Mekong. Minutes later we were squated in a small, colorful wooden boat heading toward Laos.
more to come…
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