We were a little skeptical about taking a speedboat for 1-l/2 hours vs 5 hours but everyone was willing to go. Everyone had jackets, scarves and blankets because the ride was cold...very windy and spray from the river keeping us cool. It was 57 degrees when we left and he sun was not out until we reached the first village. The river was rough through the busy area with the wake of boats stirring up the water and we were going up river against the current. Once we got away from the river traffic there were some areas of smoother riding but when we got to rocky areas there were currents and the riding got rougher.
I mentioned in a previous post that one of our girls from Chansouk's house went with us to her village. Tik is pictured below with Phet (our translator) before we left our guest house that morning. She had never been on a speedboat and Phet said she was scared when the riding was so rough. She and Phet sat on the front seat, Ron and I on the second and the two workers, Chansouk and Khumsing on the row behind us. It was definitely an exciting ride up the Mekong River. I was saying my prayer for a safe trip and wondering at the same time, "Are we taking this trip because of faith, doing the Lord's work, or because of stupidity?" I turned my concern over to God and tried to enjoy the views along the river. There are many interesting rock formations along the side and sometimes even in the center where we had to go around into the narrow passages where boats could travel. There were small villages and houses along the river bank and sometimes we saw water buffalo in the edges of the water. I kept thinking how different those houses look along the river in comparison to houses in the U.S. along the banks of rivers and lakes.
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