One More Day in Laos

*Published on **2018-02-01** by **Kelley** | Categories: Travel, Uncategorized*

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I had one day and night left and I wasn’t going to let it go to waste. It was like a bridge was spanning out before me to leave this place behind and lead me to new adventures. The first thing I did was go find food. I walked the island instead of buying a bike because it’s so small and because you get to see more instead of it all flying by. I walked watching the people, the houses, the lives going around me. It’s a little strange being back in a place populated with so many foreigners. I walk around searching for a place to eat. I found one I thought I liked immediately but didn’t want to just settle right away. The man sitting at the table mentioned that the chicken curry was really good. It was the dish I was looking at but I thanked the man and moved on. Fifteen minutes down the road I realized that the restaurants were getting more sparse instead of more plentiful. I turned back. The man was still waiting for his food so I smiled and sat next to him. The next thing that happened came as no surprise to me but made me laugh nonetheless. This world is crazy and traveling has made me realize just how small it is. DhamiBoo had been traveling for a few weeks already also and was a breath of fresh air. We got to talking about our lives. “Oh, where have you been? Where are you from?” The answer had me howling with laughter. He lived just twenty minutes from my house in Delaware. I’d never met anyone that traveled from my state, much less someone who lived that close. We connected on so many levels that we decided to hang the next night too. It’s hard to stay a solo traveler long.

The next day I went in search of a little adventure. I was ready to stretch my legs again. I heard that you can bike to the bottom of the island. I decided I wanted to see what the bottom of this little world looked like so I rented a bike and went on my way.

It didn’t take very long before I found the spot. There were a surprising amount of people coming down here to take boats to other places. There was a big pier that looked like it supported massive boats being built. I walked underneath to get a good view of the end of the island.

Bopping down the steps led me to the edge of the water.

Two boats came in to drop passengers who hopped into waiting vans. They were in a hurry to get to their destination. I was just here to see the sights. I waited until they passed and then headed down to take a seat for a bit. It was neat thinking the only thing between me an another island, another community, another way of life was a little bit of water. I could see the edge of the next island just across the way.

The movement of the boat spurred me to make some moves myself. I headed up to the top and took a look at some of the signs that were up there. I found one very familiar bridge. (look closely at the second pic in this post.) I had just crossed over it to get here.

Looking around I found that the structure that I’d just been standing on was famous. Steamers would come up to the pier where people would get off on the top floor.

On the board next to it I learned about how hard it was to get these big boats down here and to build the small railroad that connected the top and the bottom of the island and the island above. Five hundred men were employed on this project but because the conditions were so bad many of them died.

I wish I had a more clear picture. Here’s what it says: “The first of very few steamers to ever conquer Khone Falls was a feat performed by Norwegian Peter Hauff.

Born in 1873, Hauff landed a job in 1894 with a large commercial trading firm in Saigon, where he immersed himself in the culture and language, which gained the respect of the locals.

In 1898, Hauff took a passenger steamer to Hang Khone, hopped on the new locomotive to Van Khone, and boarded a steamboat to Bassace (Champasak).

With trade on the rise with the upper Mekon, Hauff ordered a 16-meter freighter from the experienced Niger River Company in 1902.

Hauff and his 11-man crew received the dismantled vessel, Si-thanh, in Saigon, assembled it to set off the Phnom Penh with an Annamese pilot. During the slow 10-day trip, Hauff fell ill, they lost their way and the firewood got wet.

Hauff hired a Cambodian pilot for the Don Khone voyage, where the French railway would transport Si-Thanh. However, Messageries Fluviales, which controlled the islands railway, wanted an “impossible price”, and refused to sell him oil or firewood. Hauff declined the exorbitant offer, though he knew about the failed attempts to navigate the falls.

Undaunted, he headed to nearby Don Sadam, where an elder suggested he try Hou Sadam Channel, which separated Don Sadam and Don Phapheng Islands. With the river level starting to recede, Hauff had little time. He ordered his men to buy coconut oil for lubricant and collect dry wood.

They departed the next morning, and fought a strong current, relying on tying ropes to trees to progress one mile. Tree chopping and an anchor change and which shortened the second day to some 150 meters. An easy Day 3 preceded a stretch of shallow water that required building a dam of trees behind the boat to move ahead.

Hauff, his crew, and Si-thanh arrived in North Don Khone on their fifth day, and received a hero’s welcome at the French government shop. Hauff had accomplished the impossible.”

After sitting in a hammock with a town of practically nothing I had lots of time to think about how our world was before today. How hard things were, how much things were different and what struggles we used to face that we no longer do. Reading this reminded me of them that much more. I paused and turned it over in my mind for a moment but moved on. I still had one place to visit before my meeting with DhamiBoo tonight. I hopped back on my bike for a bit to head to the falls.