kayaking on the Nam Ou

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I took a one day kayaking trip through Green Discovery guided tours out of Luang Prabang for $34 US. We spent the day on the Nam Ou (Ou River). There were 5 in our group, a couple from the Netherlands, Roland and Rhonda, and a couple from England, Nick and Rachel. Our guide was Sack and the helper was Oun.

We drove an hour and a half out of Luang Prabang before putting the kayaks in the water. We encountered several rapids - in the grade 1 to 2 range. Most of the rapids were during the morning portion of the trip. I was in the lead kayak with Sack - since I had more experience than the others, he did try to make in fun for me, trying to catch the strongest part of the rapids. I was soaked more than once, but kept my balance. I wasn't enthusiatic about the sit-on-top kayaks at first, thinking that they lack manouverability because you can't use your knees as effectively. But for the circumstances they were great, I was constantly soaked by water splashing up over the deck but the day was so hot, that it was a pleasure to be wet.

We also ended up as a rescue boat for the other two couples - they tipped several times. No pics because my camera is not waterproof and was safely stored away. I will have to try to find a waterproof disposable.

We were served lunch on a beach alongside the river. Check out the traditional Lao meal, sticky rice, mushroom omlette, fried chicken with mixed vegs, fried tofu with mixed vegs and a spicy green chili dip - similar to what I had on the trek out of Louang Namtha. Though this time I didn't bother with eating with my right hand - its just not comfortable and I look unco-ordinated.

The children played around us until we finished lunch - they were given the leftovers and cleaned-up quickly.
We walked up to the village, a Hmong village, to look around. We tried to visit with the shaman, but he was away in the mountains collecting herbs. The Hmong build their houses directly on the dirt, unlike the Khmu who live in one room houses on stilts. I also included a picture of hops and chilis drying along the road - they use the hops to make Lao beer. You see bright red chilis drying along the road as you drive through villages throughout Lao.

There is also a pic of me taking a swim (the photographer did not know how to use my zoom) and of a gold mining operation on the river (although they use a motor to bring up the river bottom, the operation wasn't much of a step above panning for gold). We also saw other people panning for gold along the river sides.

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