Mekong Longboat
The next morning we were all sitting in a longboat going down the Mekong on our way to visit an ancient hillside cave housing a small Buddhist temple. The boat sped down the river past well-tended vegetable plots and thickly-forested slopes. In the distance there were fantastically shaped hills, their curved contours resembling those of the mountains in old Chinese scroll paintings. I had assumed that the Chinese artists used to paint mountains that way due to some artistic convention; now I found out that those dreamlike views actually existed.
The narrow cave was dimly lit by flickering white candles, its ceiling and back swallowed by the darkness. An array of bronze Buddha statues, incense sticks and petals had accumulated haphazardly within it through countless acts of individual piety.
“You put some money in that bowl and light an incense stick,” Noi said.
I placed a note in the bowl.
“That’s not enough,” she said. There was a harshness in her voice that I hadn’t heard before.
I put another note in the bowl. When I reached my hand towards the incense sticks she snapped again, her tone even sharper.
“Not this one! That one!” I looked at her with surprise.
Noi spent our return trip at the back of the boat, talking to Lily.
Yet after dinner, when we had all retired to our rooms, I walked up to Noi’s room and knocked lightly on her door. There was no answer. I knocked again, a bit more forcefully this time.
“Yes?” I heard her say tensely.
“Can I come in?” I asked, and then a couple of seconds later added:
“Just for a minute.”
“Okay.” Her voice was mellower now.
I opened the door and walked in. Noi was lying in bed, tucked under her blanket. Only her head on the pillow was visible. She looked impossibly beautiful. I could see in her eyes an odd mixture of attraction and apprehension. I sat down at the side of her bed, my face diagonally above hers. Her hands moved under the blanket, drawing it slightly towards herself.
“Can I kiss you?” I asked, almost whispering.
* * *
This is an excerpt from Returning to Carthage, available from:
https://www.amazon.com/Returning-Cart...
The narrow cave was dimly lit by flickering white candles, its ceiling and back swallowed by the darkness. An array of bronze Buddha statues, incense sticks and petals had accumulated haphazardly within it through countless acts of individual piety.
“You put some money in that bowl and light an incense stick,” Noi said.
I placed a note in the bowl.
“That’s not enough,” she said. There was a harshness in her voice that I hadn’t heard before.
I put another note in the bowl. When I reached my hand towards the incense sticks she snapped again, her tone even sharper.
“Not this one! That one!” I looked at her with surprise.
Noi spent our return trip at the back of the boat, talking to Lily.
Yet after dinner, when we had all retired to our rooms, I walked up to Noi’s room and knocked lightly on her door. There was no answer. I knocked again, a bit more forcefully this time.
“Yes?” I heard her say tensely.
“Can I come in?” I asked, and then a couple of seconds later added:
“Just for a minute.”
“Okay.” Her voice was mellower now.
I opened the door and walked in. Noi was lying in bed, tucked under her blanket. Only her head on the pillow was visible. She looked impossibly beautiful. I could see in her eyes an odd mixture of attraction and apprehension. I sat down at the side of her bed, my face diagonally above hers. Her hands moved under the blanket, drawing it slightly towards herself.
“Can I kiss you?” I asked, almost whispering.
* * *
This is an excerpt from Returning to Carthage, available from:
https://www.amazon.com/Returning-Cart...
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