Nong Khiaw to Luang Nam Tha

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The bus leaves at 11.00 to Udom Xai, then transfer to Luang Nam Tha. We had time for a leisurely breakfast, so went back to see Doon. Corry was so impressed with the Green Chicken Curry he had it for breakfast and Isabella and I shared a Lao garden breakfast, dill omelet, eggplant sauce, chili sauce and steamed broccoli. They made us some sandwiches for our trip.

We left closer to 11.30 than 11.00, the bus was a real mini bus, but the seats were so close together I couldn't get my legs in, we squeezed in and got there on time, rather windy road, and poor condition in places. It was misty and drizzly along the way, first sign of any rain in our trip.

Along the way there were lots of girls in traditional dress, they looked gorgeous. A guy from Malta convinced the driver to stop and we took photo's. I talked to a young guy with really good English, and it was January 1 on the Muong calendar, their new year. All along there were celebrations, a nice distraction.

We changed buses at Udom Xai. Despite 21 seats, there were 30 on the bus, so we only had two real seats for the six of us. We were told we would be there by 6.00, but got in at 7.30. The road is in terrible condition, being rebuilt currently, and a dusty dirty trip. It was so uncomfortable, and at times became very painful not being able to move. Had I known the trip was this difficult I don't think we would have come here.

We had one stop on the second trip, at this point we were only about 20km from the Chinese border. They were selling all sorts of weird stuff, including small furry things, bats, root vegetables and nuts. Not a lot appealed, but the nuts were ok, even though I have no idea what they were. The vehicles were now Chinese rather than Japanese or Korean, the road construction was being done by the Chinese. the area is really mountainous.

We got to the chosen guesthouse ok, and went out to dinner, by this time 8.45, so a rather late dinner for the kids.

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Photos

Lao Garden Breakfast
Dill Omelet, Eggplant sauce, Steamed broccoli, Sticky Rice

Meoung New Year
Girls in traditional dress for New Year Celebrations

Celebration Day
Meoung New Year

Comments

[Cindy Taylor]

Merry Xmas
Sending lots of love and Xmas wishes from the Taylors xxxxx