NONG KHAI - week 1
Sunset over the Mekong looking towards Laos
Evening feed time at one of the fish farms across the road. Certainly makes for much activity in the water. With sign language I ascertained they are no longer than 50 centimeters fully grown.
My transport is pretty good - my host has one too - but only seen one other so far in my surroundings. There is a key you can turn on if you haven't got enough leg power. This speed is operated by twisting the right handle. I'm going longer distances each day but tend to be a little inflexible in the evening after a period of inactivity. Didn't use the power except to go up a rise.
Beside my house was a good sized garden of rice grown for transplanting. As you can see, it is pulled out in small clumps to make up a tidy bigger clump then tied into bundles for replanting.
The waterfront has this paved area along it for no more than a kilometer. It is a step up from the road and has this pavilion just sitting there with a couple of plastic chairs in it.
The bed is quite firm and designed for someone taller than me - very high off the floor!
Kitchen provides me with all I need.
Limes in the foreground and teak trees behind on roadside.
This is way over the other side - the Laos people are practising for an upcoming race. They are very vocal when rowing and I hear them coming. I often even hear chanting in the wat (temple) if there is a breeze from other the river.
Now I know more - the baby fish arrive in a ute - and got out in the bucket load, covered quickly with a wet cloth so they don't jump out then two buckets are attached to a pully system and sent down the bank to the fish farm and emptied into the water.
This is the bit that amused me - when the two empty buckets come back up a lady on a scooter drives down the waterfront holding the rope to bring them back up.
These next series of photos are all on the road I live on - heading upstream. Not sure about these wee places yet.
Our area name translates to bears - one of which drowned in an eddy here - according to folklore.
By the time I made my return journey about lunch time, there were 4 people resting here in the cool breeze. A number of these roofed structures along the riverside.
Western style eating place.
You see the odd fisherman about - usually late afternoon, though this was about 9.30 am.
These are the same butterfly - prettier with wing open. Very obliging.
Upmarket eating - not checked this one out yet.
Private dining Thai style at low tables.
Vegetable garden - the rows of lettuces looked quite wilted.
The cattle are all attached to a stake in the ground that is moved throughout the day.
Bathroom ticks all the boxes too.
From here on we go down the main drag looking at architecture styles and abundance of wiring.
My home for a month - was really quite at home here. Had aircon and ceiling fans but never used the aircon.
Love the fragrance of the frangipani in the evening from outside the windows.
