Saturday, June 7, 2008
History:
The difficulty of navigating the river has meant that it has divided, rather than united, the people who live near it. The earliest recorded civilisation was the 1st century Indianised-Khmer culture of Funan, in the Mekong Delta. Excavations at Oc Eo, near modern An Giang, have found coins from as far away as the Roman Empire. The first European to encounter the Mekong was the Portuguese Antonio de Faria in 1540 The first systematic exploration began with the French Mekong Expedition led by Ernest Doudard de Lagrée and Francis Garnier, which ascended the river from its mouth to Yunnan between 1866 to 1868. Their chief finding was that the Mekong had too many falls and rapids to ever be useful for navigation. From 1893, the French extended their control of the river into Laos.
Map of Mekong River in 1715
The members of the French Mekong Expedition of 1866
Bridges:
There are a total of 4 bridges that are built across part of the Mekong River. The first two is known as first and second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge. The third bridge is located in Champasak province, in Laos. Unlike the Friendship bridges, this bridge is not a border crossing. Cambodia has one two-lane bridge located near the city of Kompong Cham, on the road linking Phnom Penh with the remote provinces of Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri, and further away Laos.
1st bridge, Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge: 1170-metre-long bridge with two 3.5 m-wide lanes and an unfinished single railway line in the middle
2nd Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge: It connects Mukdahan to Savannakhet. The two-lane, 12-metre-wide, 1600-metre-long bridge opened to the general public on January 9, 2007.
3rd bridge: Pakxe Bridge
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakxe
Dams:
There are a total of 8 dams built across parts of Mekong River in Western China, namely (from the oldest to the latest) Ganlanba Dam, Mengsong Dam, Manwan Dam, Dachaoshan Dam, Gongguoqiao Dam, Jinghong Dam, Xiaowan Dam and Nuozhadu Dam.
Dachaoshan Dam, completed in 2003
Biodiversity:
There are many type of fishes, reptiles and mammals in Mekong River and the following are some of the unique fishes, reptiles and mammals.
Siamese giant carp, Endangered
Giant Mekong Catfish, Endangered
Irrawaddy dolphin, Rare
Fishing Cat, Vulnearable
Smooth-coated otter, vulnerable
Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060601/cth6.jpg
Myth:
Balls of light are observable from time to time rising from the water's surface in the stretch of the river near Vientiane or Nong Khai. These are sometimes referred to as Naga fireballs. The locals attribute the phenomenon to Phaya Naga, Mekong Dragons.
Naga fireball (in purple circle)
Source: http://www.moohin.com/trips/nakhonphanom/payanak/150/big.jpg
Close up picture of Naga fireball
Source: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pantawee.dk/images/payanagafire1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.pantawee.dk/pajahist.asp&h=167&w=230&sz=10&hl=en&start=28&um=1&tbnid=PbaRow5OOySYfM:&tbnh=78&tbnw=108&prev=/images%3Fq%3DNaga%2Bfireballs%26start%3D21%26ndsp%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox%26sa%3DN
Unidentified 5:44 PM
