A Xishuangbanna trip down the Mekong River in Yunnan Province, China

Episode 4 — A floating Lotus Blossom wanderlust Pussycat Tale

A Pussy Cat Tale

Lady Donga Diaries

Words & Pictures — Lady Donga

Meow 212

Dear readers — welcome to episode four which continues from episode three — Meow 210.

Well after midnight — the smilingly rizzy (2023 word of the year that refers to romantic charismatic) Dai Lady, Ms Lotus Blossom had just arrived at my human Seaspray D’s bamboo shack with a baseball bat to exterminate rodents keeping him awake with their gnawing noises — nibbling on his bar of soap in the bathroom.

To calm his Musophobia (fear of rodents) Ms Lotus Blossom placed the baseball bat to one side and proceeded to massage Seaspray D with her rather large feet (she walked gently on his back).

Within seconds Seaspray D was off to a rodent free dreamtime — Lotus Blossom had calmed his farm — and Lotus Blossoms of loving serenity sprouted from his back after her every step.

Seaspray D’s narration will take over from here dear readers:

The roosters cockle doodle doo woke me early, just as golden beams of solar origin penetrated gaps in the wall of my bamboo shack abode.

Wild pigs could be heard grunting outside.

There were snoring sounds beside me and when I rolled over — there she was dear readers — Ms Lotus Blossom fast asleep beside me.

Lotus Blossom’s mouth was so wide open, I could see that her pulsing heart - jingled her esophagus to a steady deep throat rhythmical beat.

Beside the bed on the floor three dead rats lay close to the baseball bat that had brought their rodent lives to a sudden end.

“Phew, it’s warm, I need a shower” I mumbled to myself.

The gnaw marks where the rats had nibbled on the soap were still visible as I enjoyed an early morning shower — as shower simultaneously bathed by golden rays that spilled through the thin bamboo slat walls from Mother Nature’s natural power generator up above.

‘Well, if it wasn’t for the rats chewing my soap — and Lotus Blossom’s Pied Piper Baseball bat interjection, I would never have experienced the pleasure of that wonderful massage’ — I reflected.

Ms Lotus Blossom certainly had a beaut technique — despite her rather large feet.

As I was washing the shampoo from my eyes, I felt a pair of gentle hands soaping my back.

Mmm…I could get used to this I pondered, and as I turned around Ms Lotus Blossom was washing me down like a treasured family jewel — and I was purring like a wee kitten!

Puurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr 😊

Naturally, I returned the favor and scrubbed Lotus Blossom’s back before retreating to the bedroom to get dressed for the day.

Lotus Blossom soon joined me, got dressed, grabbed my hand, and hustled me off to the dining area.

Her sisters smiled from ear to ear when they spotted us and very quickly served up an assortment of dribbly sticky rice banana breakfast treats.

Lotus Blossom had offered to take me on a Xishuangbanna tour, and soon we were off, ripping through rice fields that painted our scene green.

The road gently unfolded before us on a downward slope that made easy work for our Honda Motor bike transport.

And there it was dear readers, the mighty Mekong River (known in Yunnan as Lancang).

This river of love begins at Lasaigongma Spring in the adjacent province of Tibet — winds its way through Yunnan — South into Laos and Burma — then East between Laos and Thailand — then south into Cambodia before spilling its muddy waters through Vietnam and into the South China Sea — an almost 3000-mile dribble, flow, and flush from start to finish.

Quite some journey hey dear readers!

Meanwhile, the end of our road brought us to a boat tied up at the jetty with a ramp in between — where Lotus Blossom skillfully drove our Honda right on board — her large foot choosing lower gears as she did.

Our boat soon cast off from the jetty and we were now cruising the Mekong with a current that meandered between rather high mountains either side of the river.

Lotus Blossom and I sat on a bench enjoying the view — and were soon served lunch by a waitress adorned in a local tribal costume.

While we were eating our sticky rice treats accompanied by this and that — the same waitress who had served us performed a traditional dance routine that was really a joy to watch.

Later that afternoon before the sun slipped off to sleep behind the nearby mountains to the west, our boat tied up beside a jetty on a small island in the middle of the Mekong River.

We were very close to the China — Laos — Burma Border dear readers, where bandits and Narco warlords ruled from their clandestine hideaways in the hills.

It was eerily quiet here — scary, but peaceful at the same time.

The boat crew offloaded cargo and reported to us that our boat had engine trouble, and we would need to stay on the island that night for repairs — before returning to our port of departure upstream.

Fortunately, there was accommodation on the island and somehow Lotus Blossom managed to secure a rather large bedroom — a huge king size bed — protected by mosquito nets that hung from a high ceiling.

After another scrumptious dinner of sticky rice balls stuffed with bamboo shoots, vegetables, and freshly caught Mekong River fish — we were again entertained by the local Indigenous dancers.

We were both pretty weary after that, so headed back to our bamboo bungalow palace.

And yes, dear readers, Lotus Blossom was soon on top of me again — walking gently up and down my back, my thighs, my calf muscles etc — kneading away any worry or stress that may have lurked there.

And yes, soon I was in the dreamland dreamtime once again.

However, noisy outboard engines ripping along the Mekong River woke us some time after midnight.

We heard gun shots, some yelling and screaming from the boat — and then there was a loud knock at our door — the door was thrust open and someone turned on our bedroom light.

The sudden light in our eyes after being in such a deep sleep was blinding.

But when we were able to eventually see — we were shocked!

Standing before us were three-armed menacing pirate types.

Bandits!

Lotus Blossom Screamed….

Stay tuned for the next episode…sometime soon!

MeooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooW for now dear readers

Until next time

With Love — Lady Donga Diaries — © Meow 212–2024