Part 2
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Part 3
As we continue up the Mekong towards Cambodia, we have two more excursions and some interesting sights along the way.  Fish are a major resource of the Mekong.  All along the way we see evidence of this like the nets seen below and the floating houses with fish netting under the house to keep the fish and the "fish farms".
The floating market was fun to see.  The boats anchor with their produce and the pull up along side to make their purchases.  You know which boat to go to for what you want because they "advertise" by putting a sample on a "mast".  The boat above left has bananas, the one above center has pineapples and the boat above right has watermelons.

The boat below left has its "banana" advertisment attached to the "mast".  A boat may be offering more than one item like the one below center.  In that case all offerings appear on the "mast".  The small boat below right is interesting because she is not a customer but a vendor.  She is selling soup to the other boat people.  See the pot of soup cooking in the boat?
Notice the "net" like container on this boat.  It is used to carry something like rice.
It has to take a lot of practice to throw a net like this.
It's not an easy life on the river!
Another excursion.  This time to a Hmong village.  Access was a little "dicey" as you can see from these pictures.  However, with the able assistance of Dave, Granny made it over this bridge.
The houses are built on stilts.  And for very good reason.  Each year in the rainy season, the river rises and floods the area.  The picture in the center shows the water level each year.  Look at the level it reached in 2000!!
After leaving the village, we passed a number of floating houses and we also stopped by a fish farm.
 I made it also but first was had to play with my new friend who decided that I was there to play with her and her little sister. 
This looked like another floating house from the outside.  However, it is a fish farm.  The fish are kept under the house. 

Granny is about to enter for a look around.  Next we see some feed being put into a pan which is then going to be tossed into the hole shown on the picture - above right. 
(Click HERE to see a video of what happens when the feed hits the water.)

Some of the fish are ground into a "fish paste".
Our last excursion was in Tan Chau to visit a shop where they make woven grass objects - place mats, rugs, and numerous other items.  The weaver starts with a supply of different color grasses.  She strings the loom for the pattern she wants to make and then feeds the strands of grass into the machine in the order she wants for whatever pattern she is making and as the mat is woven it is rolled onto a spool for finishing.
Our trip up the Mekong is about finished.  We were anchored outside of Tan Chau which is a short way from the Cambodian border.  From here we took a speedboat for about a 5 hour ride up to Phnom Penh.  As you can see, Granny is kind of bushed after the trip.  It's been a VERY good 4 days and 3 nights on board the Gecko Eyes I. 

I put togeher two videos of our Mekong adventure.  It certainly was one of the highlights of our SE Asia journey. Floating Down the Meckong River - Part 1  and   Floating Down the Meckong River - Part 2 

Unfortunately, I lost most of my pictures from the speedboat ride  However, I have to say it wasn't a great loss as the ride was long and not very interesting.  Granny slept most of the way. 

Next stop Phnom Penh, Cambodia.