Lao Here We Come!

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Sleeping that night with visions of Laos still in our heads, we were off to Chiang Khong & the Thai/Lao border. About 3 hours later there it was and as the animated French Canadian, Eric, put it..."the Mighty Mekong--the most important river in all of SE Asia!!!" No armed guards, one wooden sign and an exit stamp, 30 baht for the boat & we were off--Jesse, Eric, Tomanko & I in our little ferry boat--Lao land in sight!

I somehow managed to barter a bit at the border & ended up only paying 32 dollars instead of 35. Guess the baht to dollar conversion didn't quite translate & I think the guard gave up. And once again, no hasseling, no stress, but at the same time no chorus of hello, hello, hello from the children. Boohoo!

Six guest hostels later we finally threw down our bags & then a few beers & watching the sunset over the Mekong. NOt a whole lot kicking in the little town of Huay Xai, but we did have a great dinner & hilarious conversation with Eric & Tomanko & all decided to head via bus to Luang Namtha tomorrow & eventually Muang Sing in the far north of Lao near the Chinese border for a few days of trekking & hill tribe visits.

Somehow the Canadians missed the bus & we ended up in a private minibus--price, same, same. Some charades, frowns & laughter & the Madam of the BAP Guesthouse shouted, pointed & threw us on a bus wishing us good luck with a chuckle. What a great feeling! About 10 minutes of paved road took us out of Huay Xai & then the billowing rough, red dirt roads hit. For the next 8 hours we alternated between clouds of loose dirt engulfing the bus as we 1/2 rolled, 1/2 sank up & down the roads and patches of pavement. The Lao are undertaking quite an engineering feat constructing a road cutting through mountains that will eventually connect Thailand to China for a trading route. Arriving in Luang Namtha our group all hopped aboard a modified pick up truck with two bench seats on either side of the truck bed & heading off toward Muang Sing. Jesse & I, standing on the tailgate, hung on the back end of the truck for dear life, BUT we were rewarded with spectacular views as we traveled about 2 hours through a protected forest area and terraced hillsides.

The town on Muang Sing is definitely just a tiny, tiny, tiny dot on the map kind of town with one main street, post office, bank & market and a few guesthouses complete with my all too favorite bird...the rooster! What an obnoxious beast running around making a god awful noise & no, rooster don't only crow at dawn. They seem to truly enjoy the sound of their voice & squawk about untill they exhaust themselves around noon!

Dinner with two Israelis that evening, Maayan & Chen & Jesse & I polished off our night by wandering into a Lao disco of sorts. We immediately befriended a local who thought it very important that we chug beer in 50% increments. I even got to practice my superstar dance skills with our new buddy and supposedly dabble in traditional Lao dancing. What a night!

None to thrilled to be awake the next day & comtemplating buying a machine gun to take care of the roosters, I spent the next day checking out town & preparing for a our trek tomorrow. Woohoo!

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