Mekong Misadventures

Hello again, blog-vultures ! Dan and I skidded into Sydney last Saturday, marking the end of Chapter One of our travels. Asia has certainly left a lasting impression on us both, at once vibrant and ambiguous, in parts bustling and exploited, in others enigmatic and serene. It's difficult to articulate the sheer variety of the continent, and the many apparant contradictions in the cultures we encountered - cutting edge technology and infrastructure in one area, juxtaposed with agonizing poverty and dilapidation in the next. The rural psyche of Cambodia and the noise of Mumbai versus the sterile (and in my opinion, characterless) polish of Singapore.

Here's the first of a couple of small posts, just to stick up some photos while I think about it :

The Mekong River - over 4,000 km long, running through Tibet, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam - acting both as divider and provider for the lands that it splits. The scene for most of the aforementioned Apocalypse Now, and a continual source of irrigation for "Asia's Rice Bowl". I went to have a look, and ended up having a cycle around Tan Thach Village in the Chan Thanh district.






Bees ! Our intrepid tour guide wasted no time in thrusting my hand towards this boiling nest of stingers, insisting it was safe. I wasted no time in squawking my firm reservations ... I should have told him the story about this bloke I know. He got stung by a bee once, and one of his testicles began to swell up to a colossal size! Why the hell did that happen? I don't know, but it's one of my favourite anecdotes; it's got a bit of everything - mystery, drama, comedy ... still, the pecan and ginger honey sweets were delicious.










The village string group go through a quick set - and rope in what seemed like most of the rest of the village for the vocals.






































Monsoon season over the Mekong Delta ...








... doesn't stop the locals navigating during the often torrential cloudbursts.


















This is one of my favourite images from Vietnam, the village was so peaceful and idyllic - pretty far away from the madness and murder of the past of the country.






























Despite the abundance of food produced in the surrounding lands, this is still one of the region's poorest areas.




















On the Cambodia-Vietnam border : It's easy to see why there's a concern about Avian Influenza around these parts ...