Limpid Waters, Unforgettable Sights
Northern Laos, Laos
Known as the Dza-chu in Tibet, in China as the Lancang Jiang and in Thailand called Mae Nam Khong the Mekong is one of the world’s longest rivers, coming in at number 11 in terms of length. It provides work and sustenance for countless millions of people as it winds south through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam as well as opportunities for exploration for travellers to the region.
Background
From its source in Qinghai Province in China the Mekong flows south and southeast to the South China Sea, a distance of 4,200 km. Earliest known settlements along the river date to around 2100 BCE, at Ban Chiang in Thailand with the earliest recorded civilisation being the Khmers of Funan in the Delta.
Antonio de Faria was the first European to come to know the river and a map of 1563 shows a river in the place the Mekong runs. Some Spanish and Portuguese expeditions pushed a little upstream but it was the Dutchman Gerrit van Wuyshoff who reached northern to Vientiane in 1642. By the mid-19th century the French had arrived and the first systematic exploration began with the French Mekong Expedition of de Lagree and Garnier in 1866-68; they made it as far as Yunnan in China.
Capitalising on their knowledge the French extended their colonial control through the region but the wars of the mid-20th century saw its decline in co-operative use.