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Published: January 28th 2010
Trekking lunch in Luang Nam Tha
Those green things are sticky rice in banana leaves.
It was delicious!Hello everyone!
So, after our trekking adventures in Chiang Mai we went east to the border town of Chiang Khong, where we crossed the Mekong into Laos. We went north from the border to a small town called Luang Nam Tha, where we did some trekking into the Nam Ha National Protected Area. It was quite a bit better than our Chiang Mai tour, as it was 3 days of hiking through lush jungle. We had a blast.
After Luang Nam Tha, we took a "character building" bus ride to Udomaxi. The first 2 hours was on a shared bag of rice, while the second 2 were on a broken plastic chair. They probably crammed 30 people onto a bus the size of a eurovan, but it was pretty cheap. We were in Udomaxi for about two hours before we caught another bus to Nong Khiaw. This is a beautiful little village surrounded by sheer mountains on all sides. It was breathtaking. In the morning we took a boat up the Nam Ou to Muang Ngoi Neua ( we can't pronounce it either).
This was a highlight so far. We stayed in riverside bungalows for about 3 dollars
Jungle!
One of the many views from our trek a night, and ended up staying for 5 nights. There wasn't much to do except go exploring the village, or when it rained, sit in the riverside hammock and read. It was glorious. We also met some wonderful people there. In particular, two from Paris who we hope to go visit.... In all, there were about 10 of us hanging out together. We all left Muang Ngoi by kayak, and embarked on an overnight trip to Luang Prabang. It was over 120 km, so we had boats that pretty much just dropped us off at the best kayaking spots along the way. Definitely the way to travel.
Luang Prabang was also really nice. It is one of the towns in Laos that still has a lot of the French Colonial architecture, so it was beautiful. There are loads of really beautiful temples and stuff, so we were tourists. One night we all decided that it would be fun to go bowling. There was much beer, and then Laolao. It was trouble.
We decided to splurge and took a VIP bus to Vang Vieng. It was expensive, but oh so comfortable. Vang Vieng is sort of a backpackers mecca,
Playing Cards
Our group from our trek so there are a million tourists here. We went tubing yesterday, and the first half km of the river is lined with bars that throw bottles and reel you in. They also all have signs offering Opium, Mushrooms, and anything you can think of. Jenny is doing a two day rock climbing course which is why we're here for a few days.
Either way, that's what we've been up to for the last little while!
Lots of Love,
Andy and Jenny
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Judith Westmore
non-member comment
Emotions
I'm just sooooo jealous! Here we are in Arctic Ipswich and you have all the warmth. Not fair.But I doubt if I would have the stamina to do all the travelling so I'll just enjoy your excellent reports and look forward to the next instalment.