The Mighty Mekong

Swathed in scarves and hoods, toes tucked up under blankets and fingers thawing between sips of coffee, we watch the banks of the Mekong roll by. Anxious for the sun to come to the other side of our boat so we can start shedding layers. Faces lean on the railings, eyes closed to better soak up the sun with. Cows amble down the steep slopes to meet the water. Women go about the laborious task of providing nourishment for the day. They work in groups, sitting on their haunches and swirl flat baskets around in the water, straing the sediment away to reveal what gifts the river will give them today. Our boat putts along at a brisk walk. Any faster and certainly we will meet the rocks laying just below the surface. Faster boats go by with white knuckled passengers in helmets and life jackets on. Perhaps with a tinge of regret for feeling the need to 'get there faster'.

For two days we have been just another set of eyes in a mass of travelers. All anxious to catch a glimpse of Laos life. Pens scribble away in journals and authors look up every once in a while, reflective on the journey at hand. Or perhaps the one to come... It's a discipline sometimes to stay present. A constant meditation on the moment.

Between the steady rotations of iPod, journal, guidebook, food and spacing out, we will eventually arrive in Luang Prabang. All of us excited for a new country. New food. New smiles. Repeating a mantra of the few chosen phrases we have all learned. - please, thank you, thank you very much, how much is this, good bye and take care.

We will come and we will go. Laos, a permanence in our consciousness. Different now than perhaps the next time we return as inevitably the west slips in further and alters the DNA. I am grateful to be here. To be here now. To understand how truly fortunate I am.