mon day 108

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Today started as yesterday ended by sitting and doing some research on the trekking options around the local area. Muang Ngoi is very small with not many people around that speak English - there are a couple of tour agencies but many places seem deserted as its low season. Hayley found a very good website wiki travel which gave very concise instruction for trekking round this area. So over breakfast we wrote down a couple of pointers and reduced down our big rucksacks to a day sack as only planning on staying one or two nights in a village. After buying some provisions we were on our way. Walking for approx half an hour we made it to some caves so popped in to have a quick look - and payed the entrance fee! Heading on from here along a single track dirt road we made it to Ban na village - about an hour away. Finding a small restaurant and some people that were on the same boat from Nong Khiaw as us we stopped and chatted over a much needed drink - or 2! While we were sat having our drinks a huge bull dozer came powering through the tiny village making the track slightly wider while also trying to flatten it. It was quite a hit with the locals as many came out from their bamboo huts to have a look. Walking through the village took about 5 minutes trying not to step on chickens, ducks, children, pigs and puppies! Chatting with a girl in the restaurant from Switzerland we all headed off to the next village together, following a local who looked like she knew where she was going. The path was a little unclear to Huay Bor village as it was through rice fields and over rivers. As we started walking the wind picked up and the heavens opened - luckily the village wasn't too far. Arriving and walking through we found the restaurant/homestay we were looking for so said hello to the owners and ordered a ginger tea. The owners were very friendly and showed us to our rooms - very basic with a tired mattress on the ground, no electricity so no light bulb but fine for one night. Hayley, Angela and I sat chatting to a nice polish couple who were not stopping for the night but just passing through. Every now and again the locals animals would put on a little display - the pigs and piglets would try to get under the chicken run, so the owner would call out which made the dog and the puppies ( very cute ) run and chase the pigs around the huts while the chickens would flap and get up tight about the whole situation! Very funny to watch it all unfold. We said goodbye to the polish couple and walked out with the owner to see the waterfall and the hydro electric system that they have set up for the village. While walking across rice fields and through a river we had our first introduction to leeches! Not my favourite! Heading back I sat and watched the owner weave a beautiful scarf, which she made look easy but trying to make sense of the loom it must have taken some practice over the years for her to perfect. After getting changed we headed over to the other homestay/restaurant for dinner and met up with a nice French couple who I had briefly chatted to in Muang Ngoi. All opting for the only thing they had on the menu - pumpkin soup! It was very nice and we spent the evening chatting and with the owners who came to join us until the electricity finally gave up ( only one light bulb working anyway!) we then chatted by candle light before heading back across the path by full moon light back to our rooms for the night.

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