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Mekong
Off the Beaten Path; My Cambodia Travel Log
Dekila is the WWF US leader for the Greater Mekong Program. The Greater Mekong Program consists of three Global 200 ecoregions; the Mekong river, the Lower Mekong Dry Forests and the Greater Annamites and covers six countries; China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. This ecoregion complex is one of WWF US's priorities due to the incredible endemic biodiversity found there; whether it is the Mekong Giant Catfish, the largest freshwater fish in the world, or the Douc Langur, possibly the most charismatic primate in the world.
Dekila is from Sikkim, a tiny northeastern state in India the size of Rhode Island which is squished between Nepal and Bhutan. Like every other person from the Himalayas, she is convinced that her homeland is the original Shangrila. Her family is Bhutia, of Tibetan origin and she speaks Sikkimese, the local language, as well as Tibetan, Hindi and Nepali fluently. She worked in the WWF Eastern Himalayas Program for five years prior to working on the Greater Mekong. Her areas of expertise include strategic conservation planning, community based conservation and sustainable livelihoods. Among her most prized skills is the ability to eat anything remotely edible.
Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 14 and 15 | Last Day
Day Three: Riding the MekongBeing on the Mekong, I imagine, is like riding a dragon - a gigantic beast that is part myth, part tradition, all real and all illusion. It is powerful, immense even, and ancient but it charges along in many places like a young playful river, bringing good fortune and sometimes destruction to its people.
The river is immense, the waters are endless, and the banks are a smudge of brown in the distance. After a torrent of rain beating into us and the river, in which our boat feels like a frail effort on sailing, the skies magically clear up. Suddenly, the river is transformed. After having crossed over, driven along and flown over the Mekong countless times, I am finally meeting the Mother of All Waters face to face and she is to be marveled at.
The Mekong starts in the Tibetan Plateau over 17,000 feet high; it is known as Dzachu in Tibetan, the River of Rocks and Lancang Jiang in Chinese, the Turbulent River, and it rushes and roars down steep gorges until it arrives at the edge of Myanmar and Laos. There, it relaxes; the river evens out as it cleaves between Laos and Thailand. It is now called the Mae Nam Khong, Mother of all Waters. Wending down Cambodia, it becomes the Tonle Thom, the Great River, and finally it crosses Vietnam's rich delta tranquilly as Cuu Long, the Nine Dragons.So, why care about the Mekong? One of the world's great rivers, it is over 1400 miles long - longer than the Mississippi. It sustains over 65 million people along its stretches, over three-fourths of whom depend on it for their livelihoods. It has over 1300 species of fish. And, consider this: the Mekong hosts more giant fish than any other river in the world. Chief amongst these is the Mekong giant catfish, over 600 pounds and 9 feet in length, the largest freshwater fish in the world. Other notables include the Siamese giant carp and the seven-striped barb, which is my personal favorite because of its iridescent beauty.
Finally, the river bank is in sight. Coming to shore, I can count the boats and barges parked against each other, stacked like dominoes. Getting off or coming on a boat can work your glute muscles very effectively; you clamber on to the one closest to you and then your way out to the next stacked boat and so on until you finally reach your target. I'm happy to get to the hotel and stagger to my room after ordering a fruit plate. When my food arrives, I see papaya, mango and dragon fruit. How appropriate. Off to bed.Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 14 and 15 | Last Day
