LOCALadk Magazine

caves in which you taste the humidity, and island grottoes. While that was amazing, what seemed to stand out the most were the floating fishing villages. These fishing communities retain their own culture, living together as a close-knit family on floating houses. Some small boats were obviously actual homes, carrying fisherman and what was clearly all of their belongings across the seas. Generations of people never leave this unique life that they were born into and acquire only sea legs. It was time for us to press on towards Loa. Loa Arrival in Luang Prabang (a town nestled in a bend on the Mekong) was a soft introduction into the spirituality and charm that inhabits daily life in Loa. Each day monks with apricot robes spill out of temples and monasteries lined with golden spears and glass mosaics, all amidst French colonial villas where natives sell baguettes and donuts in carts out front. I catch a glimpse of several schoolboys having a race with straws in a puddle in the schoolyard as I sip on my genius watermelon and chili pepper slushee. Two wheels and a basket is the best form of transportation in town; however, our focus lies beyond the town. We need no wheels for where we travel. While the river had up until this point only given me scenic eye candy, it was about to dispense some fun in the form of Class II rapids. We were on the jungle-shrouded Nam Ming that opened into the Nam Khan River near the Mekong. The constant quick weaving through the waters alongside such lush vegetation was beautiful. Over the next few days the river started to open up; often times you couldn't see from one side to the other. With the heavy heat of the sun, the river was all too inviting, so we often hopped out of the kayaks into the river and just floated alongside, holding onto our trusty vessels as the current took us. Enjoying my ride, I tried to not let myself think that the world's largest freshwater fish, the Mekong giant catfish, could have been swimming with me. I could also be joined by the Mekong stingrays, with recorded wingspans of 14 feet, and that's only the recorded ones. From the stories I have heard about the river, I feel pretty confident that if you went out with the right person, you could find your name in the Guinness Book of World Records next to a ray that could fit into your living room. In a country that is home to more animals than people (with some 1,200 wildlife species), I think about the unknown creatures under the water and on the banks of this majestic river, maybe right below my feet. I have found my own personal Eden. Summer 2014 51 LOCALadk

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