Kayaking

I arrived at the Wildside office to find 2 Canadians, 2 Swiss, and a Spaniard waiting for the kayaking to start. Everyone had exchanged greetings when we piled into the back of a tuk-tuk and pulled out of town. For some reason, I thought we would put in the kayaks right outside of town. We didn't - we drove for about two hours in the back of the tuk-tuk. I was shivering the entire ride, rubbing my blue hands against one another for warmth. The mornings & evenings are fairly cool, but I knew that midday would be warm enough to be in the water.

We arrived at a small village and were instantly surrounded by people. We unloaded our gear and headed down towards the beach. Only a few children followed us, I guess everyone else had settled back into their previous activities. I shared a kayak with a guy from Calgary; I was sitting in the front and he in the back. After 30 minutes of the kayak filling with water, we finally realized what was happening. He was about 60 pounds heavier than me, so the rear of the kayak was mostly submerged in water, while the front of the kayak was sticking out of the water. I didn't understand why he kept complaining about getting wet until I looked back.

Our route consisted of 16km of river, with 7 sets of rapids strewn throughout. The rapids made things very fun, until you fall out. We capsized the kayak 1/2 way through on the 2nd set of rapids. I wasn't thinking, so I kept holding my paddle and tried to make my way towards the kayak. Unsuccessful in reaching the kayak, I was dragged and slammed into the rocks that made up the rapids. When we finally reached the end of the rapids, I held onto the kayak while I caught my breath. After we pulled our kayak to the shore, I realized I had cut my knee and bruised my legs and feet. I was determined to keep the kayak upright for the remainder of the day...

We stopped for lunch along a bank of black sand. Lunch consisted of sticky rice, Mekong seaweed, beef, fried noodles, and a veggie stir-fry. All of the food had been pre-cooked, so we ate the cold food out of plastic bags that it had been packed in. It had been prepared the night before, and then bagged for our trip. It had sat at room temperature all night, so plenty of bacteria had had a chance to develop. This is just another example of what the west considers 'unsanitary' passes by without question. While westerners would be aghast at the food preparation, is there a difference in our societies? We grow food & animals with the assistance of pesticides, herbicides, and medication. Are all of these chemicals much healthier than eating food that has sat out in the air for a day?

During the afternoon, we floated over a few exciting sets of rapids. On one of them, one of our kayaks grew a fresh hole in the bottom of it. Jit, our guide, proceeded to burn one of the water bottles that we had, and drip the plastic onto the kayak. It was my first experience with Lao kayak patching. Jit assured them that there were no more rapids for the remainder of our trip. After the kayak had been patched, we rounded a corner and saw more rapids! Ben, the guy who created the hole in the kayak, swore at his misfortune while the rest of us laughed.