The Mekong

[woralak]

Took these while having my daily dose of caffeine and a splash of (Chivas),the Mekong is up a wee bit today after four days of rain,back home now and relaxing with a nice cold (Tiger),AAHHH,it's a hard life but someone's got to do it.

[dindong]

Keep up the good work.

[Lizard2010]

Great photos.

I heard on the news that there are big floods in China due to them damming the river upstream.

If it happens and they let a lot of water or the Dam Walls fail there will be millions of litres of water with no where to go.

So keep us informed.

Plus not too much Chivas with your caffeine fix.

Edited July 23, 2010 by Lizard2010

[woralak]

Great photos.

I heard on the news that there are big floods in China due to them damming the river upstream.

If it happens and they let a lot of water or the Dam Walls fail there will be millions of litres of water with no where to go.

So keep us informed.

Plus not too much Chivas with your caffeine fix.

Cheers Lizard,did you know a wee dram a day keeps the blood thin (good circulation) true,here are a few pics from August 2008,it was the highest the Mekong had been for 30 years.Dont think its owt to do with the dams,it's the amount of rain and Chiana is being hit pretty bad right now,ill do my best to keep you posted from here in wet (Chiang Khong).Hope we dont have as much as we did in Aug 2008,it rained for 3 weeks solid,many people were flooded out.

[jubby]

That is High. I heard it was bad a couple of years ago. You can see where the river washed away some peoples land further down stream. Hope it doesn't get that bad again. but the way things are. Its highly possible

[bifftastic]

I heard yesterday from Chiang Saen that the river is close to flooding, apparently in Ban Sob Kham, soi 2, 3 and 5 have got some water in them (the village goes right up to the river bank) but our place (soi 6) is dry and wasn't affected by the last lot of floods either. Hope it doesn't get any worse!

[bifftastic]

Now it seems as thought the family fields are flooded and they're trying to rescue the corn crop. Taking boats to the fields on the tractor, picking the corn, loading up the boats, paddling back to the tractor, taking it all back home and trying to dry it out. Apparently it doesn't smell too good 'mehn mehn!' was Ms Tastic's comment.

I hope they can rescue their corn, they had enough bad luck with the last tobacco crop!

[woralak]

Now it seems as thought the family fields are flooded and they're trying to rescue the corn crop. Taking boats to the fields on the tractor, picking the corn, loading up the boats, paddling back to the tractor, taking it all back home and trying to dry it out. Apparently it doesn't smell too good 'mehn mehn!' was Ms Tastic's comment.

I hope they can rescue their corn, they had enough bad luck with the last tobacco crop!

Chok Dee with the crop Biff,wish you well.

[bifftastic]

Now it seems as thought the family fields are flooded and they're trying to rescue the corn crop. Taking boats to the fields on the tractor, picking the corn, loading up the boats, paddling back to the tractor, taking it all back home and trying to dry it out. Apparently it doesn't smell too good 'mehn mehn!' was Ms Tastic's comment.

I hope they can rescue their corn, they had enough bad luck with the last tobacco crop!

Chok Dee with the crop Biff,wish you well.

Korb Khun Maak Khap :jap:

I'm sure they'll be fine, wish I was there to help (not sure how a city boy bumbling about would actually help!), but Pi Suk is a man to be relied upon to make sure his family are fed, the man's a workaholic! Everyone is pulling together and the whole village is full of drying corn. If it can be done, they'll do it.

[bifftastic]

Corn crop is all in, and sold!

Lao Khao all round

Beer for Ms Tastic, who is, of course, sobriety personified

[davidgtr]

Some photos from Chiang Saen on Wednesday 28th July 2010.

Looking upstream

Looking downstream

Its almost unbelievable the difference in just a few weeks!

Chiang Saen from Wat Phra That Pa Ngao 22 June 2010

Edited July 30, 2010 by davidgtr

[bifftastic]

Nice shots. thanks for those!

Wat Pra That Pa Ngao! my 'local' Wat! Ban Sob Kham,

yes, the difference in the water levels is remarkable.

Cheers,

Biff

[davidgtr]

Nice shots. thanks for those!

Wat Pra That Pa Ngao! my 'local' Wat! Ban Sob Kham,

yes, the difference in the water levels is remarkable.

Cheers,

Biff

Biff

No worries, you're a lucky man if you've got a residence in Sob Kham, as I always thought that would be a delightful little village to get lost in & "retire gracefully." One that they could not build out or ruin with over development. The history of temple fights between the rival groups of monks over Wat Phra That Pa Ngao is pretty amazing though.

For photos of the Mekong you might like to watch this one on GT Rider.

[bifftastic]

Nice shots. thanks for those!

Wat Pra That Pa Ngao! my 'local' Wat! Ban Sob Kham,

yes, the difference in the water levels is remarkable.

Cheers,

Biff

Biff

No worries, you're a lucky man if you've got a residence in Sob Kham, as I always thought that would be a delightful little village to get lost in & "retire gracefully." One that they could not build out or ruin with over development. The history of temple fights between the rival groups of monks over Wat Phra That Pa Ngao is pretty amazing though.

For photos of the Mekong you might like to watch this one on GT Rider.

I'm working on the residence, should be sorted by January, it is a delightful little place, all the land is owned by Thai people and they're reluctant to sell it, which is a good thing IMO, when we found a little old lady who wanted to sell her small 2 bed bungalow, all the villagers chipped in to get her to lower the price, they don't want any kind of 'property market' rising house prices in their village. everyone works hard and they're all pretty cool. With Chiang Saen 5 minutes away on the motorcy and Mae Nam Khong 50 yards from the front door, it'll do me nicely I reckon.

I didn't know about the temple fights! Sounds interesting, it's a lively Wat, not just sitting empty like many others, I like to hang out there when I'm in Thailand, the daily exercise routines at 5pm are cool too thanks for the link.

Biff

Edited July 30, 2010 by bifftastic

[woralak]

Today 10.30am,the water level looks quite normal for this time of year considering the amount of rain we have had.

Edited August 14, 2010 by woralak

[Lizard2010]

Woralak

Kepp up the good information as to the river level.

[woralak]

Woralak

Kepp up the good information as to the river level.

Cheers Lizard (will co).

[woralak]

Today 10am.

[gotlost]

So the dams up river have hurt the water level. Nice PICS.

[gotlost]

So the dams up river have hurt the water level. Nice PICS.

[woralak]

So the dams up river have hurt the water level. Nice PICS.

Hi lost boy,i've said this before,not that i'm an expert on the river or dams,im not really an expert in anything but i've been in Chiang Khong for five years now and in my opinion i dont think it has any effect on the level of the water where i am anyway,i think it's due to the quantity of rain fall,could be wrong but like i said i'm no expert.

[Lizard2010]

Woralak

So what is the level of the water, compared to previous years?

[woralak]

Woralak

So what is the level of the water, compared to previous years?

Check the post 23 July top of this page,i think i've answered this before.

Edited August 18, 2010 by woralak

[woralak]

Not a lot of difference after my last pics but here it is.

[Lizard2010]

Woralak

Thanks for the photos and the update.

[woralak]

Sorry if this is a bit boring for some but just trying to keep those up to date that are interested,pics are from the sky of yesterday,and the Mekong today on my coffee fix.

Edited August 30, 2010 by woralak

[gotlost]

Fantastic photos. Thanks.

[sceadugenga]

Mekong near Golden Triangle 25/8/2010

[woralak]

Heavy rainfall for two days now so the water level is up quite a bit.

[Joel Barlow]

what? no pics of superhwy twixt Ban Du and Rajapat?

stronger current there, anyway, I'll bet.