"Eddie I think would be a great idea for you to get out and stay active. You will feel better for it, I am sure cuz."
Charlie was selling the idea of the three of us hiring a long-boat for the day to find a little secluded sandy beach upstream. A lovely idea indeed, but I was feeling under-the-weather still and the thought of being out in the sticky afternoon heat was not a particularly pleasant one!
"Oh, okay then!" I heard myself say cheerfully.
So there we were, Charlie, Jo and I, standing in the silty waters on the shore below the bamboo huts and wooden decks of Muong Ngoi that projected over the grassy banks of the Ou. The long-boats were clustered together around us at their makeshift moorings while naked kids tussled and women washed clothes in the water between them. The bony loval man from whom we had hired our boat untied a rope and our eyes followed it's length until we found our humble vessel: a rickety wooden long-boat that was in a dire need of a lick of paint and ominously held a puddle of gritty water and a sawn off plastic bottle that was clearly needed to bale out any water that was taken on. This was going to be fun... especially when the old wooden paddles themselves were no wider than ten centimetres.... we were not going to go anywhere fast!
Within a few moments the three of us were paddling desperately to make a little progress, orders called out for our companions to swap to starboard or port side paddling! After a frenzy of activity and more than a few beads of sweat we started to make a little progress and somehow managed to keep the boat level enough so as to avoid having water flowing over the surface-kissing edge. We seemed to be crawling at a snails pace upstream but to be honest I was happy to be moving at all given the size of the piddly paddles and the strength of the current. And yet just as all was going well we would aim the bow into a string current that had to be tackled to get anywhere whatsoever and just like that we would find ourselves being swept helplessly around! Comical to say the least!
Having managed against all the odds to make it around a small bend in the river that obscured the view of the village we decided that thee was little option than to make do with the beach on the island we were alnogside. The current here was strong and we had no chance of triumphing over it's might. The hot sun beat down on us as the shallow water rumbled over the stony riverbed. Water buffalo stood dumbly behind us, vacantly looking around, chewing all the time in ridiculously annimated fashion. The sunscream was streaming and we decided unanimously that a dip in the cool mountain waters was needed.
Moments later we were fighting in the strong currents so as not to lose our swimming trunks or bikinis! The water was little more than thirty centimetres deep and yet it was a real struggle. Charlie dropped himself down into the water to be dragged back several feet. Moments later he was pulling himself up with a look of despair on his face.
"My wedding band! Jo my wedding band has gone?!"
The ring that Jo had put onto Charlie's finger seven months before at their wonderful weddding in Devon. Torn from his finger as he was dragged back by the current. He looked desperate with disappointment and moments later the two of them were frantically trying to search through the stony bed for thatt little ring of gold. I held the spot where Charlie had been dragged to as a marker. After ten minutes or so a couple of young boys who were fishing at the water's edge had been recruited and their diving mask was pulled firmly over Jo's head.
"Jo! Jo! Jut look under the water upstream from where I am standing by about one metre... I think that is where Charlie would have lost it. It can't have been swept far by the river" I suggested. She immediately made her way pastme and the point where Charlie had regained his grip on the bed having lost his ring. Ducking into the water she hunted through the rocks. And would you believe it? Moments later she had found that little piece of shiny gold trapped between two rocks, glinting in the diffused sunlight. Unbelievable!
Jo and Charlie rewarded the kids with a great many thank yous and some Laos Kip. They were so sweet and were clearly thrilled to have been rewarded. For the next half hour Jo sat and painted stones for them with her watercolour set. As they waved goodbye to us they walked into the water to make their way to their father who was reeling in nets from his long-boat on the other bank. They chattered to each other eagerly with huge grins on their faces, and one hand raised up high out of the water gripping their stones to stop the colours running!
The day had almost ended in tragedy for Jo and Charlie. Muong ngoi was such a charming village and yet our time there was tainted by my illness and the suspicious mystery of Jo's missing purse. In the end good frtune was on our side and we all felt quite touched by the two boys and the recovery of Charlie's cherished wedding ring.
Unsurprisingly, given the joys of going with the flow, the boat journey home was relatively effortless...!
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