These babies are the reason you always, always check the area before sitting down. Weaver ants don’t officially “sting” you. They just bite you, and then spit formic acid into the bite. It hurts like hell. This photo was taken at Khone Phapheng, the largest waterfalls on the Mekong. A weaver ant dropped out of a tree, and promptly “bit and spit” Kat. My friends at Wikipedia tell me that colonies can have as many as a half a million workers. Picnickers beware! -w

We coaxed our homestay hosts to let us set up our tent in their yard rather than sleep in the room they have set aside for guests. For us, it’s cooler and better mosquito protection. For them, it’s a modern marvel. The family gathered to watch our house unfold and the kids pitched in immediately to help. Even with blow up thermarests, silk sheets and down sleeping bag, they thought we would be much more comfortable inside. Instead, it was a glorious night for stargazing through the tent mesh. And by morning, the down blanket was a delight. -k.

The next morning we continued pedaling down the west bank of the Mekong. We startled several kids, not used to having “falangs” on their walking route. Some of them even ran away from us. It was a Saturday, so many families were hanging out together under their simple wooden homes, built on stilts

We passed a man, sitting on the bank, high above the Mekong, mending a fishing net. The early morning light was fabulous, so I turned around and pedaled back. I asked if I could take a photo, and positioned myself so I could capture his silhouette. Kat turned back as well, and snapped some photos of the same fisherman, with his face glowing in the morning light. Two different angles of the same moment in time. -w

Morning light bathes this fisherman as he weaves his net. His hands dance in a well-worn rhythm of his craft. There is a certain serenity to him as he performs his hook-loop-and-twist, loop-and twist. -k

There used to be a road from Wat Phu all the way to the temple complex at Angkor Wat. But that was a long time ago. Few tourists get to this small site compared to the granddaddy, Angkor. But for what Wat Phu lacks in grandness, it makes up for in location and intimacy. The site isn’t officially open until 8:30am. So if you ride you bike there in the early morning light, and slip through the unlocked gate, you only have to share the site with locals setting up stuff to sell the tourists later in the morning.

I’ve always thought it is better to be alone at a small site, than to be surrounded by the masses at a big one. Once the climb the many sets of stairs lined with giant blooming plumeria, you are rewarded with a view back toward the Mekong. Many of the Buddha statues are “dressed” in robes, so a flash of orange is the norm when you approach a temple opening.-w

Water is life, and the natural spring in the rock at the Wat Phu complex at Champasak has been venerated since the dawn of time. The spring was before Buddhism, before Hinduism, and dates back to a time when Animism was the belief of the day and pure water was considered sacred. I watched the local vendors fill their bottles for they day. They indicated to me that some drips were only good for bathing, others were for drinking. They had work to do and were quickly on their way, but once they filled their bottles, they made sure mine was properly placed to receive this holy gift. -k.