Children play in coconut groves, fishermen ply the waters in little skiffs, women in sarongs gather at sunset to bathe in the river. A few French colonial buildings survive, including a hospital converted to a charming hostelry, the Auberge Sala Done Khone. The capacity of the area to absorb tourists is certainly an important concern for the future. On the positive side, Baird says, tourism may be the one savior of the Irrawaddy dolphins, which probably number less than 100 from the thousands that once inhabited the Mekong. Baird, who arrived in Laos 10 years ago, has helped organize fishermen to take tourists out to view the dolphins and compensate them for nets they must slash to free any which are entangled.
Legends abound about the endearing dolphins, their rounded faces set in what seems like a smile.
Cambodians relate how a beautiful maiden, forced by her parents to marry a slimy python, leaped into the Mekong to commit suicide but was instead transformed into a dolphin. Along the Mekong, there are stories about the dolphins saving people from crocodiles and taboos about killing and eating the animals. They want them to be there for their children. E-mail this story to a friend.