Back to Laos

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Finally it was time to leave China. With almost four week it has been the longest visit to one county so far. My Laos visa was ready and my Chinese visa was due to expire.
On the sleeper bus to the border I got some new company, two girls, from the US and Australia and a guy from Sri Lanka. The two girls are living in Kunming and teaching English language. Traveling to Laos is a possibility to renew the Chinee visa.
Already during the bus journey toward the border I was looking forward to come to Laos. I had been to Laos two years ago and had only good memories from that time. Soon we came to hilly lush-green countryside, passing small stilt-house villages with children playing at the side of the road. The people started looking different, their feature becoming more soft, and the children smiled and waved at us all the time.
Passing the border was no problem at all. Even for the guy from Sri Lanka, arriving with no visa for Laos and one day overstay for his Chinese visa. The Chinese border officials turned a blind eye and at the Laos border he was issued a visa on the spot, lucky guy!
We changed our remaining Yuan into Kip, which means we all got a rather large pile of bills. We felt rich, and soon we realized that we were rich! What a difference to China...
The first night we stayed in Luang Nam Tha, the provincial capital. The next day the US girl left us to move on to Luang Prabang. She wanted to attend the uppcoming full moon festival there. Almost everywhere in south-east asia the full moon around end of October, start of November is a public holiday. Buddhistic festival take place, many similar to a Thanksgiving at the end of the rice harvest. The rest of us decided to spend the festival in Muang Sing, in the north-west of Laos. During a day in Luang Nam Tha we discovered what 'Lao Traditional Massage' is. One of the best things I ever had. The girl did some kind of lymphatic squeeze out combined with foot massage, hand massage, head and face massage, and streching to me, not always pleasant but the body is like new afterwards!

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Photos

Misty Mountains
The northern part of Laos has got lots of hills and mountains. The valleys are only sparsley populated.

Rice at Night
This picture is a long exposure at a rice field in the late evening.