A Nibble of Northern Laos

Laos is beautiful. It's full of never ending hills and rivers - although so far we have only followed the hilly road which follows the river so the rest may be a dump and flat.

Our first port of call was Luang Namtha in the north. From the border this is a 7 hour bus ride through a national park of solid forest which may or may not feature tigers. We saw no tigers. Tourists are made welcome in the town by a row of boards advertising the kinds of activities tourists like to do. We chose to rent a bicycle and go kayaking although not simulateously.

The kayaking is done on the river Namtha because everywhere else is too dry. We had a 2 person kayak to ourselves which was initially faulty and kept spinning in a circle. Eventually, we persuaded it down some rapids and through some trees. It's apparently severely more technical in the wet season, but it's still a giggle when it's not too treacherous.

Our guide stopped us to tour a couple of small rural tribe villages, of which there are lots in Laos. The first village was a "Lanten", or "Indigo", tribe - thus named for their dyed clothes and handicrafts (which were swiftly presented in case we may wish to purchase any). They live in bamboo houses with earth floors and have recently begun to enjoy TV and mopeds and whatnot. The tour, while giving some interesting insights, felt a little too personal though; as the people were just in their homes getting their stuff done.

The second village was of the Khmu tribe, who build houses on stilts up the side of hills. They have cooking hearths in the wooden houses made of flame resistant termite nest material, which is pretty cool; and a little ironic that termites end up protecting the wooden houses.

We took the rented bicycles around some nearby gnarly paths through some more villages to a classic Russian style dam and a watertrickle. Really though, what was striking while riding is the fertility of the land. The fields are full of grain, trees are full of bananas, rivers are full of fish and streets are full of babies. In fact, there were more babies, puppies, kittens, chicks and piglets than even Kath had time to say "aww" at. Rumours say surplus puppies, from the untrimmed hounds which roam the streets at night, are shipped off to Vietnam or to the local Chinese restaurants for delicacies. But that can't be true... right?

Next was a shaky bus ride to Luang Prabang. Shaky because the road is unfinished, but still used. Shaky because of bad timing for a vomiting bug for Kath. Shaky because we arrived in town 10 minutes before the nationwide midnight curfew and our booked guesthouse was locked tight. Everything turned out OK though. We lost a few days to illness, so spent a while relaxing and rediscovering cake and baguettes (the tasty legacy of French rule).

To burn off the bagels we did a 60km bike ride to the rather stunningly dramatic Kwang Si waterfall with its pools of azure loveliness. En route we rode through numerous villages which, like the rest of Laos, seem to be almost entirely under construction with every third house being built into classic European style digs painted in primary colours.

Luang Prabang itself is a really chilled out riverside town. You can grab a super cheap vegan street buffet, climb the hill in the middle of town to see Buddha's footprint, browse the mile long night handicraft market, watch a cool movie at L'etranger cafe or listen to Tom Waits at the Icon bar (although the owner would like it if people requested some other music from time to time - it has become a little bit of a Tom Waits mecca). Or you can just eat lots of bread.

Anyways, Laos is beautiful. And hilly with rivers. And bread.

- Jon