My girlfriend and I went packrafting in Laos in November of 2005. Two short trips: 3 days on the Mekong from Huayxai (on the Thai border) to Pakbeng (deeper in Laos) and then caught a ride up to the Nam Ou (the major tributary feeding into the Mekong within Laos) for another three day trip. Both trips were great - the locals were very friendly and I’m sure had never seen packrafters before. We mainly camped out at night, but spent one night in a village on the Nam Ou as guest of the chief. Nothing over Class II on that part of the Mekong, but we did have huge crazy hydraulics that would appear and disappear again…as well as weird rippling currents that would appear, rip across the river and run themselves out. The Big Muddy Mekong reminded me more than a bit of the Yukon. We had a few fun Class III wave trains on the Nam Ou. On both rivers: lots of jungle, birds, water-buffalo and a few snakes as well. And lots of Lao fishermen casting their nets into the rivers. And a lot fewer tourists than Thailand. So many rivers in Laos and so much opportunity to paddle…I would love to go back.
The locals were just starting to comment on the unnaturally low water level of the Mekong caused by the building of Chinese Dams upstream just across the border…the few fishermen we spoke to about the dams had never heard of them and didn’t know what to make of the strange water fluctuations. Not good for fish migrations or river travel. And fish is a huge part of the Lao and Cambodian diet. We saw a lot of material poverty in Laos - relative to the U.S., but everyone seemed quite happy and well-fed. Last I checked China was making no plans to alleviate the negative downstream effects of their dam building, yet all the energy created by the dams was destined for domestic consumption.
Ryan Hickel
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