It does indeed seem as if the madness of man is infinite …
At least when he's put something in his mind. But more on that later.
Today is dedicated to sporting efforts to get my muscles, still completely stiff from yesterday's trip, back into shape.
As usual in Laos, the hotels also rent bicycles, I decide for a grass-green ladies bike with luggage rack. And then I set off happily to explore the two islands, Dom Khon and Dom Det. What interests me most of all is the incredible crazy idea of the French to master the rapids of the Mekong by rail.
Water buffaloes, cold beer and fishing
The island is mostly flat, but also mostly hot as hell. Does not bother me at all, my slow driving style causes a light breeze around my hot ears.
The island is rather small, so I soon reach a bank and wonder which arm of the Mekong I am standing in front of. The water buffaloes seem to like it, I might watch their comfortable wallowing in the water for hours.
Life is beautiful - water buffaloes
In this heat, restaurants serving cold beer and just about anything else are a real treat hard to resist. The Khonpasoy is definitely just the cure for my dry throat.
Heat and loneliness
A bridge leads over a tributary of the river, there is no soul to be seen. That's not surprising, smart people take a siesta at lunchtime to survive the midday heat. Not in my case - I love the heat and loneliness.
Fishing on the Mekong
Strange-looking constructions are stretched across the river. It takes some time until I realize that these must be fishing facilities. A kind of Laotian fishing traps. I'd like to inquire about the exact process, but as I said, smart people are sleeping in the shade at this time.
How to conquer the Mekong by ship and rail (or not)
The French are nuts. The waterfalls are so enormous that Plan A alone, to master them by boat, must have been the result of a certain megalomania.
However, Plan B - loading the ships onto a train and transporting them across the two islands - was not really the best option either. But strange ideas for strange times.
By train over the rapids
A few infos from Wikipedia about the insane idea, to cross the rapids of the Mekong by rail.
The French colonial power in Indochina tried in the 1890 years to move its border west at Siam's expense. There were also military conflicts, among others in the area of the Si Phan Don Archipelago in the Mekong. The French military tried here to establish the Mekong as a western border. To achieve this, the river had to be controlled by the French armed forces.
This again required cannonboats in the upper section of the river. The Mekong Falls with a total height of 21 meters in the area of the Si Phan Don Archipelago formed an insurmountable obstacle for their passage. In the years 1891, 1892, and 1893, attempts by steamboats with their engines running and the support of hundreds of men pulling them up from the rocks on ropes and others staking with poles from the decks to overcome the rapids failed. A ship could at least be towed to 50 m below the highest point in a narrow gully before the attempt had to be stopped.
Although economically nonsensical, the railway line over the island of Don Khon was from the French point of view militarily necessary. The first route connected a jetty below and above the Mekong Falls on Don Khon Island.
Finally, it needs to be said: Man is capable of everything, if he just wants to. However, also to the biggest idiocies. At least sometimes nature is there as the last hurdle to stop it.
Reunion with old friends
The guy's from New Zealand, his lady from France. "Hey Rudi, nice to see you again." I have to think a bit, until I remember why I know the two, but of course: bus to Vang Vieng, stopover in no man's land. We exchange mutual memories of old wild hippie times (we were traveling in India at the same time).
It is still scalding hot, and the room will not cool down at night. Does not matter, I still sleep like a baby. However, I have to be ready for departure tomorrow at eight. I will spend tomorrow's last day to take a boat to Nakasang and then have a ride on motorcycle to the famous waterfall. Hope it works!
P.S. Matching Song: Jefferson Airplane - Wooden Ships
And here the journey continues ...
