The rain is not good for everyone

We just got a report from a friend in Luang Namtha that they have had enough rain for now and they would like it to stop, thank you very much!

A friend from the Boat Landing Guest House sent an update of the situation in Luang Namtha over the past few weeks.

He included a photo of the reception/restaurant area as well. As a comparison, here is a picture of the Boat Landing in February when we visited. The arrow shows the part of the building in the next picture.



The Boat Landing on August 9. The water peaked at 1.75M over the banks (about 5'9").

Apparently, the water receded after about 36 hours, and the guest house was able to clean up and re-open soon after. However, the water started rising again a few days ago, but has yet to breach the banks again. A few people were not so lucky and drowned trying to save livestock and other possessions.

One wonders if the flooding would be as bad if there wasn't so much wholesale removal of the jungle canopy in the surrounding mountains to plant rubber trees. Nature's way of absorbing water is being removed, so it runs straight into the rivers instead.