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Post by spindrift on Jul 16, 2010 9:04:40 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2010 10:10:51 GMT
Nice shots Spindrift! Increases my lure towards that part of the world.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 16, 2010 14:37:58 GMT
These are wonderful images that should provoke much interest and many questions.
What were the boats in the pictures used for? Did you ever take one?
That area is so beautiful. Is that stair-looking area actually stairs, or is it for crops?
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Post by spindrift on Jul 16, 2010 18:37:19 GMT
I posted these pics for you to see, Bixa...I knew you'd be interested.
Bixa here: modified after moving thread, but leaving this for you to augment or delete as you see fit. thanks!
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Post by Kimby on Jul 18, 2010 16:45:50 GMT
A long tail boat is a smallish, light boat with a wooden hull and a long camshaft with the propeller at the end. The special is that the shaft is completely movable in all directions, you can therefore take the propeller completely out of the water if it becomes to shallow. The boy steering the boat was doing just that so that there was a big water fountain behind the boat Also, there are tons of vegetation in the water and they lift the propellor to prevent it from getting entangled. Yes, didn't even think of that one... Another possible reason: if the long shaft goes over the back of the boat, there is no need for a hole in the hull as with an inboard motor, or a heavily reinforced transom as required by an outboard motor. The longtailed boats in Thailand used a car engine, I believe... When I get my slide-scanner, I'll post my picture from Koh Phi Phi (before the tsunami).
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Post by spindrift on Jul 18, 2010 17:35:02 GMT
How skilled this little boy is at keeping upright on his bamboo boat! And how ungainly my fellow travellers look (needing to be helped) Look at the grace of this young girl, utterly in charge of her boat *********** Bixa ~ during November 2006 I trekked with my friend 'M' in Laos. First we had a full week staying at Siem Reap to see some of the temples at Angkor Wat. Most people stay for only 2/3 days but I did not want to be in a rush and I particularly wanted to visit some temples that were relatively far away from the tourist hotspots. After this we flew to Luang Prabang where we started our trek. It was a very easy one. We were driven to remote areas where we were able to walk, with guides, through indiginous forests. I long to return. It's hard to think of anywhere that could be more beautiful (although the Himalayas are close). We travelled a lot in long-tailed boats. They are not easy to control even though the Laotians use them all the time. There are many unexpected currents in the Mekong and its tributaries and the going can get quite rough (and thrilling). On one occasion we crashed head-on into a bank; no-one was hurt The steps down to the tourist boats were in Luang Prabang. I will post a thread featuring my two week trek in Laos. A typical river scene: Once again, the landing steps at Luang Prabang.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2010 21:26:27 GMT
I also have some longboat pictures from Luang Prabang. I must go looking for them when I get back home.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 20, 2010 3:00:11 GMT
It's so beautiful to see an area such as that, where the people who live there coexist gently with their surroundings.
And you're right about big old clumsy us, when those little children are so gracefully one with their boats.
As far as I can tell, none of the boats in your photos have motors. Is that correct?
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Post by spindrift on Jul 20, 2010 8:23:57 GMT
The larger tourist boats (as in the last picture) do have motors. In fact all the boats I went in did have motors (such as the one showing my 'ungainly' companions. It is the villagers who tend not to have motors on their boats. Most of the areas I visited in Laos were completely unspoilt by development of any sort. There are many different tribes living in the hill and forest country; they seem to co-exist peacefully. We were taken into the real backwoods where people had never seen money, grew all their own food and wove fabric for their clothing. It was an enlightening and wonderful experience for me and I would like to repeat it, but for longer. During the rainy season the rivers flood but during the dry season the water levels fall. Villagers take advantage of the rich deposited silt to grow their crops on the river banks. As they live in forests it is next to impossible to clear land for agriculture but so easy to use the waterways. I had never seen this method of agriculture before and I was amazed. Here is a picture of a typical river bank. Of course, when the rains return, the 'fields' are washed away. Not everyone has neat and tidy rows of vegetables ~ I was able to photograph these plants close-up because we took a boat from Luang Prabang across the river to see a series of caves that, from ancient times, had been excavated below the river and contained Buddhist artefacts. We took torches with us. The atmosphere was incredible entering a place that had been venerated during untold centuries.
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Post by curt on Jul 23, 2010 1:03:29 GMT
Longtails in Thailand use anything from a single cylinder lawn mower engine, up to a V8 ! Here's a not-so-classic version:
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 23, 2010 2:30:24 GMT
Spindrift, I love your pictures and your explanations. It's funny to think that most of have never seen that kind of agriculture, which is surely one of the oldest forms of it.
Ha ha, Curt -- at first I thought that was a picture of sw Louisiana! Interesting barge and very clever adaptation of the motor there, although the phrase "severed spine" occupies my consciousness.
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Post by curt on Jul 23, 2010 8:27:37 GMT
Spindrift, I love your pictures and your explanations. It's funny to think that most of have never seen that kind of agriculture, which is surely one of the oldest forms of it. Ha ha, Curt -- at first I thought that was a picture of sw Louisiana! The longer I live here, the more I sense the flavor of the SE swamps! ;D
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Post by spindrift on Jul 23, 2010 8:32:46 GMT
Bixa - I do believe that the banks of the Nile are/were used for agriculture in this way. I'm not sure that this happens now since the construction of the Aswan dam. I have heard that the dam has caused a huge disruption in the natural flow of things because there is no longer the annual flood coming downstream enriching the soil with silt. In fact, the silt is piling up, underwater, at the dam walls which can only lead to trouble.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jan 14, 2012 16:47:04 GMT
When I get my slide-scanner, I'll post my picture from Koh Phi Phi (before the tsunami). Now? I also have some longboat pictures from Luang Prabang. Now? Here's a not-so-classic version: Not showing anymore.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2012 17:13:43 GMT
It is part of my ten-year posting programme.
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Post by Kimby on Jan 26, 2012 23:10:52 GMT
K2 is on the "accellerated program". Mine is a 20 year plan.
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