Huay Xai - Muang Sing

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ok, am gona try make his brief as im seriously behind...way harder to access internet in Laos than i expected!

sooooo....

from chiang mai in thailand, took bus over to border then got small boat over the river to cross to laos...all very easy, apart from the boat breaking down halfway over & our driver trying to paddle us the rest of the way (was never gona work) & then having to be rescued by another boat & towed rest of the way!! but safely arived in Huay Xai.

decided to head over to to north of Laos to Muang Sing, having to stop over in Laung Nam Tha due to issues with transport in laos (of which we were to discover time & time again...basically, much waiting & unforseen circumstances occur)
In Maung Sing...beautiful, pituresque scenery & many different hill tribes living in the area...fascinating stuff - even just spending time seeing them all do their stuff in traditional clothes, etc at the crack of dawn at the morning market was great! interesting things sold there too...cow's head & various other animal parts! plus much yummy veggies, fruit, cakes, baguettes (from good ol french colnial days) & rice whiskey...still to be tried!
wandered around the area & made friends with lovely women from an akha tribe...ended up helping them carry their goods home in true akha style...baskets on heads...really hard work & they live so far & travel through mucky fields, puddles & streams, everyday! hats off to them, one afternoon was enough! anyway, with much sign language & laughter (no chance of english) we promised to see them again the next day as it was getting dark & they were concerned we wouldnt get home in time...how sweet!

hired bikes next day & cycled through many different tribal villages, each differnt in their own little way & fascinating. found one of our little akha friends along the way who led us to her village...trekking over & through lots of andom stuff...check out the entrance to the village..a gate with a, well, basically a stuffed dog to keep the bad spirits out & protect the village. yuk!
anyway, so hung out with the akhas, she dressed in full akha gear (very becoming) while the kids played, the men lazed about, smoking opium & drinking rice whiskey, leaving the women to do the hard work (typical of everyday life in the tribes it seems). much fun was had by all!

then headed to a yao village, different tribe, different costumes, no time to explain.

then seeing as we were so close, we decided to to cycle the rest of the uphill to CHINA!! yes, we got as far as the border for china, but were unable to cross. chuking it down with rain, really hard to get there, but we perseveed! nice to say that i have now officially cycled to china : )

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