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Published: June 18th 2008
Loas
In Luangnamtha there were acres and acres of paddy fields, most farmers and their families live at subsistence level meaning that the rice they harvest is kept for themselves. Although a precarious way of life many of the locals we met seemed fairly happy with their lot, although I bet they had the occasional bad back - it looked like hard work!! Its been a while since our last entry, once again we seem to have done alot. Here's a shortish summary.
After the scariest flight ever I have decided I want to do the rest of the trip overland. Flying is horrible! Well it is if you use internal flights in China. I swear our pilot was drunk!
Stepping off the plane near Jinghong I kissed the ground and was thankful to be alive. When I stopped trembling I noticed how beautiful it was. the landscape had completely changed. Big hills with vibrant green colours everywhere. And its HOT
We are hear in the wet season which is fine as the rain is only for an hour or so in the day and is quite refreshing. The only problem is that it brings the bugs. Which means cockroaches. Which is not nice. At all.
In the past week I have seen more bugs and spiders than I ever thought I could cope with. Well, when I say coping.......
Jinghong was really cool but we were only on a stopover. Then a bus to Mengla on the border of Laos, another stopover then a bus to Luang Nam Tha in Laos.
Laos is
AMAZING. Luang Nam Tha is the nicest little town, everyone is really laid back and friendly but everything is done in their own time. When you order food at a cafe and they dont have it they wont tell you, you just see them going out on their bike to the shop to buy it. Its brilliant.
All the houses are mini farms so you see chickens and pigs wandering round and miles of rice fields.
We are now in Luang Prabang which is more touristy but still gorgeous. Its full of temples and the monks are really friendly, you see them wandering around in orange robes. at certain times of day the temples are full to the brim and you can hear the chanting and see people with candles sat around a giant golden buddah.
There is still a lot of french influence here which means great restaurants and red wine! Mmmm, quite expensive though because obviously they have to import it.
We ate at a restaurant last night which does trditional Laos food. This involves a communal dinner of three courses, the main one being a whole fish cooked in a banana leaf. You eat it with
Laos
The main road that ran through the rice fields of Luang nam tha was awash with over a dozen types of butterflies, some as big as birds. This one was courteous enough to sit still whilst I took his picture. loads of dips and vegetables wrapped in a lettuce leaf. Yummy.
After a few drinks we went to the local club which was an experience. There was a band on and everyone does line dancing. We were made to feel welcome by a group of local girls who were tiny and kept giggling at us. Everything shuts here at 11.30pm though to try to keep the town nice and stop it becoming a big party town for tourists.
Wow I am really prattling on but its midday and I cant handle the heat outside so I've got time to kill.
Yesterday we went up to the waterfall which was stunning. There are bits that are safe to swim in like little pools and it was nice to cool off so we messed about there for a bit. I braved jumping off a ten foot hight into the pool but nearly drowned and swallowed loads of water. Wont be doing that again. Steve was loving it though, jumping off everything, hence why he lost his glasses.
We have just finished doing an elephant ride. They are really cool! Ours was the leader of the group and looked like the mean
Laos
This is me testing the water of the main waterfall in Luang Probang, moments after this photo my glasses became a casualty of the river, never to be seen again. Fortunatly I had a spare pair. old one in dumbo. We treked into the jungle (more giant spiders) and took the elephants to the river for their bath, a bit scary when you're sat on it. Then when you get back you feed them bananas. Loads of fun I would highly recommend it.
Hope I havent bored you too much
Helen x x x
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Sarah
non-member comment
Wow!
Wow, what an amazing photo of a butterfly! Looks like something out of a wildlife book!! Looks like you are having an amazing experience!