This lady doesn’t do this for a living, as some do. This is for cooking for her own family (she’s a neighbour of my in-laws).
At this time of year, it’s usually possible to cross the river at this spot without getting wet much above halfway up your calves.
At other times of the year, a donga (a sort of boat) is the only way to cross. Even the donga is impossible when the river’s really in flood, from time to time during the monsoon. You’d just get washed downstream, capsize, and probably drown.
This is actually the same spot as Heaven is a Place on Earth – there was a bit more water at the time I took that shot, but not so much that you couldn’t wade across.
©Clive K Semmens 2005