The other day I went to the swimming pool for the first time in a long while, and I was surprised. The Mekong River had swollen so much it was almost overflowing. The small island which had been right there was nowhere to be seen. I knew from some books that the volume of water often increases during the rainy season, but the current condition of the Mekong River before my very eyes was more than I had expected. The gorged river was also flowing faster than usual.

When talking of Laos, the Mekong River cannot be overlooked. The Mekong is a slow-moving river with muddy brown water. It's not a dirty kind of brown. The clayey red earth is mixed into the water. As it flows it swallows everything from logs to human rubbish. They would even throw cremated bodies into the river. It was seven years ago when a bridge was built for the first time over this river which is ranked twelfth in order of length and tenth in water volume in the world. It's called the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge located about ten kilometers southeast of Vientiane. It was completed with the assistance of Australia. Another bridge was built also built last week in the south of Laos with Japanese support. During the French colonial period France considered Laos an underdeveloped country without a coastline and did not build any bridges, roads, and railroads. The main form of transport were boats on the Mekong, despite the fact that travel on the river is impossible when the water volume decreases during the dry season. So even now there are no railroads in Laos, and they are no plans to build them either.

Hydroelectric power generation that utilizes this river's high volume of water is the best source of foreign exchange in Laos and electricity been exported into Thailand. Perhaps because of that there are not many people using candles even though Laos is a poor country. There are even some big houses with bright streetlamps that look like Christmas decorations. Even so, electricity service is available only to twenty percent of the whole of Laos. Although there are a number of dams being planned to benefit the national financial management, these plans may have to be reconsidered as there are some problems such as moving local residents and damage to the environment.

This river is also a rich repository of fish. It's because of the river that the Laotians eat fish very often as their main source of proteins even though they live in an inland country. Moreover there are rare river dolphins living somewhere down the river close to Cambodia. Unfortunately, I hear they are in danger of extinction.

Still, I think the sun sinking slowly and quietly into the Mekong River is the most beautiful thing. There is nothing that can beat watching the view while drinking beer.

Translated by Maiko Noda