• Luang Nam Tha

    02Mar
    Categories: Around The World, Laos Comments: 0

    Luang Nam Tha (LNT) was a place that we originally had really been looking forward to. Our guidebook described it as a good jumping off place for trekking. While in Luang Prabang we heard a tip that this time of year wasn’t the best time for trekking in that area, which was confirmed as we settled into the town and became suffocated by the smoke caused by shifting agriculture practices of the hill tribes (and is what prompted us to take advantage of the good conditions in Muang Ngoi). Even though we didn’t trek we still found some ways to spend our time. Here are a few stories from our days in LNT.

    Both first and second nights we ate dinner with our new acquaintances, Dave and Rita. With their passion for food we found ourselves seeing Lao food in a different light. We tried things we wouldn’t have known to have tried and would not have appreciated them for what they were. Our second meal was one of the best we had in Laos and also was one of the most entertaining. What started as one hill tribe woman selling bracelets and hats soon multiplied by 5 and we were surrounded by bracelets, hats, purses, belts and Akha women dressed in their traditional outfits. At one point they had a hat for a baby on John’s head and were using sign language to show us how we could produce a baby to wear this hat (no, this did not give us any ideas). And for the third time in Laos John was subtly offered drugs. We were laughing hysterically through this scene and were only saved by our meal which finally arrived. This feast consisted of sticky rice, Laap, Jeow, and shittake mushrooms in a oyster sauce. If Dave were writing this post he would tell you more detail about these dishes but you will have settle for our links.


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    After talking with some other travellers we decided spend one of our days on a motor scooter headed for the town of Muang Sing. The 140km round trip drive was really nice as you went in and out of the national protected areas and past many roadside villages. We won’t waste your time describing the town of Muang Sing but 10 km past was where the real excitement was–the Chinese boarder. Unfortunately they wouldn’t let us put our feet on Chinese soil but we were able to snap a quick photo before the Laos guards encouraged us to turn around.

    On our first full day we hiked up through a creek with a series of small waterfalls. Although the water level was low it as a very serene place to spend some time and also watch the local kids fish for their dinner. The bike ride out was very nice and had great views of rice paddy fields which prompted us to come back the next evening to watch the sunset. We got more than just a sunset as the local kids’ curiosity drew them over to us. We remembered we had a small stash of balloons still in our pack and spent the next 45 minutes blowing up balloons and playing with the kids. It was an authentic and organic experience and the kids and families seemed genuinely appreciative of our presence. We took pictures of them and they pulled out a camera phone and took pictures of us. As we played, the sun dropped behind the mountains, the darkness started to settled in and we knew it was time to go. It great as we rode away on our motorbike and the kids chased behind saying their thank yous and goodbyes. Definitely a highlight of the day.

  • Transportation

    02Mar
    Categories: Around The World, Laos Comments: 1

     Transportation in Laos is somewhat unpredictable and always an imgp4979adventure. We left Muang Ngoi and took a quick one hour trip downriver to Nong Kiew on a boat stuffed with travellers. There was no possible way to get any more people on this boat (we’re guessing the Laotians would disagree). The ride was pleasant enough and once back on shore we quickly found our next mode of transportation–the bus to Oudomxay. We were told the bus was leaving, “right now,” so we hurried up to get some snacks and use the toilet. It ended up leaving about 45 minutes after “now.” Something was lost in translation… One of the coolest and craziest things about Lao busses is that once every regular seat is taken, they pull off a stack of plastic chairs from the roof rack, line the aisles, and continue putting people on imgp4981board. We had real seats next to a cool Aussie couple, Dave and Rita, who are organic farmers we connected with quickly. Dave is also a chef and his love of food was something we shared in common.

    We arrived in Oudomxay after a short four hour ride. The next bus we needed to catch to Luang Nam Tha (LNT) looked rather full as we pulled into the bus station. The first few people on our bus (we were at the very back) managed to run over and get the last seats (the plastic chair seats) on the bus. We weren’t too concerned and had already figured we’d be staying overnight waiting for the bus the following day. What we didn’t anticipate was Dave’s travel skills. He went around and figured out who else on our bus wanted to go to LNT. Then, he found a mini bus driver who agreed to take the seven of us there for relatively the same price as taking the local bus. This was the best possible situation. We watched the overcrowded, non air conditioned local bus sit in the bus station for 15-20 minutes, and finally pull away as we went to eat a late lunch and relax a bit before taking off. We left about 45 minutes after the local bus and ended up arriving about 10 minutes ahead of it. It only got sweeter as we booked the last room in our guesthouse and then walked down the stairs only to bump into one of the couples who had sprinted for the local bus ticket booth and got some of the last seats. It was one of those moments where you wanted to rub it in, but we have been on the other side of that before and know that you just don’t always win (okay, we do have to admit we gave each other a big high five when they walked out).

    Our next bus ride was two days later and also an adventure. This was the most packed we have ever been on a bus–there were three people in plastic seats (including John) one person sitting in the aisle on top of three bags of produce and two people standing for the four hour ride. The roads were quite curvy (side note: this bus was so full John was hearing the wheels scrape the wheel well as we turned each corner under the weight of all the imgp5094people) and the woman in front of Erin vomited about every 15 minutes. She threw up into little plastic bags and then tied them and threw them out the window. She was obviously prepared as she had a whole stack of bags. We felt bad for her, but it was also pretty funny. Even as we pulled into the bus station and parked, she had one more heave in her. Thankfully, Erin didn’t feel sick at all and kept the iPod cranked loud enough to block out the retching sounds.

    We truly know that buses in Lao are probably tame in comparison to the stories we have heard about transportation in Africa. We have that to look forward to as we arrive there on March 9!

  • One Hundred and Fifty

    02Mar
    Categories: Around The World, Laos Comments: 0

    “Are you going to be our guide?” we asked Xiong (pronounced Song). “Yes,” he replied with a big toothy smile. With that and the fact we were the only two signed up, we were sold on doing a two day trek in Muang Ngoi. Xiong was professional but friendly and sincere and we immediately took a liking to him. On the morning of our 150th day of international travel, we set out on a 16 km hike that included an overnight home stay in a local village.

    Here are some of the things we particularly enjoyed:

    - Xiong singing songs. After five hours of hiking and chatting we asked if Xiong would sing us a local Laos song. At first he refused, but then he said he would sing if we sang a song. We kicked it off with a little James Taylor, “You’ve Got a Friend,” and he responded with a song about a man who wanted to marry a woman, but didn’t have the money for the wedding ceremony. We swapped songs back and forth for a bit and then Xiong kept hiking and singing and we just followed the music.

    - Playing with the village kids. Xiong told us it would be a good idea to bring balloons for the kids in the village. It turned out to be a great idea and we spent a light headed hour blowing up balloons. It wasn’t the first time the kids had been entertained by tourists and their balloons, but it was still fun and they got a kick out of it. John also brought his foot badminton and frisbee (the jelly flyer) and the older kids enjoyed those more. Additionally, he got in on the foot volleyball game that is so popular in SE Asia, but was confused by the ever changing rules.

    - Learning more about Laos. On the second day we passed a group of women walking to the fields for work. They said something to Xiong and after they passed we asked him what they had said. They said, “Hello. We are very poor.” This prompted a conversation with Xiong about the level of poverty in which the local people live. Xiong said that many of the villagers look at him as being rich, but from his perspective his “riches” are a burden. He has many bills to pay and although he can pay them with his salary, there’s not much left at the end of the month and his time is not his own. He felt that the life of a villager was better in most senses–people work when they want to (which is most of the time, really), the villagers are given land (they do have to pay taxes that equate to about $.25 per year) and have an abundance to eat. Some of the more well to do villagers even have satellite TV! Their life is a very simple one, but he sees the value in the simplicity. The one drawback is health care. There is a medical volunteer in each village, appointed by the government and given a bit of training and compensation, but it’s very basic.

    Even though Xiong is financially in a better position than many Lao people, he still isn’t able to make enough money to travel. He has never been out of Laos and if he wanted to get married right now, he wouldn’t have enough money for the ceremony (the equivalent of about $3000 USD). We didn’t get the feeling he was asking us for money, it just came up as a part the conversation. Another reminder to us what a privilege it is to be able to see other parts of the world.

    - John trying to pound rice. One of the jobs in a family is to pound rice using a foot leverage device that looks similar to a teeter totter. Let’s just say it looks easier than it is. John gave it a try and did fine for the first two hits and on his third, missed the center and sent rice flying. The woman working the pounder was gracious, but we’re pretty sure inside she was thinking, “you idiot!”.

    - Big spiders in the bathroom and cockroaches under the pillow. Enough said. Didn’t really enjoy this, but we had to mention it.

    - Dinner with the family. We enjoyed our evening time with the host family which centered around dinner. The man of the house, Bon Ping, spoke a little English so we were able to ask questions and have some dialogue. Of course, you can’t go through an evening meal without John’s beard being a topic of conversation. They got a real kick out of it and we once again heard the phrase, “John same, same monkey.” I guess monkeys look the same in every country. John also came up with some really good questions which saved us from an entirely awkward meal.

    - Kayaking. The last leg of our journey was a two hour kayak downriver back to Muang Ngoi. It reminded John of his trips down the Illinois River in Southern Oregon, minus the rapids. We were surrounded by huge limestone mountains covered by jungle. It was a beautiful and relaxing way to spend the end of the trip. We even cooled off with a swim in the water as we floated along.

    Xiong has our contact info and has talked about visiting his uncle in Fresno. We told him if he gets all the way to California, he has to come to Oregon so we can take him on a trek. A trek and a homestay in this area of Laos is something we would definitely recommend to anyone in this part of Asia.

    We were in Muang Ngoi for a total of three nights. Besides the trek, here are a few other things we found to do there:

    - We enjoyed a great hike with Rebecca out to a cool cave that went really deep and then on to a local village.

    - Sitting on the sand by the river reading.

    - Eating deep fried banana pancakes and sticky rice with banana, coconut milk, and sugar.

    - Floating down the Nam Ou (the river) in inner tubes.

    - Sunrise hikes to a view over rice paddies.

    - Listening to a group of very loud Lao women who had too much lao-lao (Lao rice whiskey) banging on a drum and singing at the top of their lungs. It was distracting as we were trying to have a conversation over dinner, but hilarious.

    Muang Ngoi was a very relaxed and simple place. There are no motorized vehicles, you can only get their by boat, the scenery is stunning, and they only have electricity for 4 hours a day. We enjoyed the pace of life and the peaceful environment and were glad to have stumbled across this town.

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