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Published: August 26th 2008
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Luang Prabang
....I could feel at home here!!!! So I finally got over my Mekong boat trip by spending a relaxing day or three in Luang Prabang. This place is a real old world French colonial era town and has been categorised as a world heritage site (the complete town) since 1995. It is by no means a big town and the prices are by no means aimed at the backpacker but nonetheless I thought it was well worth the stopover. The perfect place for catching your breath after a death defying boat journey! (And doing laundry!)
To be honest the first day or two here were spent at doing nothing much more than sauntering! Coffee here....beer there....glass of wine at the place over there.....that kind of thing! Yes I did a Ferris Bular! But after the bit of R&R it was time to hit the road again. This time back northwards again, 3 hours by road to a place called Nong Khiaw. Nothing much more than a staging post along one of Laos main road routes (take the word "main" with a pinch of salt when talking about the Laos road network - you will be lucky to have tarmac. Think of it more as a collection
Meung Ngoi Neua
The sights helped ease the pain of barefoot trekking of potholes that guide you from one town to the next).
The scenery around this part of the country is (to me at least) breathtaking. It is dominated by huge Karst mountains and meandering rivers. In the dry season the waters are meant to run crystal clear but as to be expected they now run a murky brown. Thats what you get for travelling in rainy season! I stopped overnight here and did a very easy walk out to a small cave a few KM outside the village. There were are few people heading to a village upriver the next morning so I decided to head up there while there was a group going.
The next morning I caught the boat (yes...I know I said I would never get on a boat again but in Laos you do not really have a choice!). So off I went for another 1 hour 15 minute journey north to a village called Meung Ngoi Neua. The scenery during this boat journey was great and it was amazing to see life carry on for the local people along route who use the river (NAM OU) as their lifeline. It is their transport
Boating up the Nam Ou
but at least the boat wasn't busy this time....I couldn't have taken another trip on a crowded boat!!! network.....their laundrette....their supermarket (they like fish)...their shower room....and I have no doubt that it is their toilet for that matter).
Ever bend of the river we took we could see more children play by the rivers bank. And when they caught sight of a boat passing it just provided an excuse for them to show off by climbing and jumping into the river from whatever high ground that they could find! Needless to say that in this remote part of the world anything more than a birthday suit is overkill in the dress department for many of the children. Life is just too simple for the need for cloths.
In Meung Ngoi Neua we did our own treks to nearby caves where you could swin in crystal clear waters that flowed from a spring within the cave.
Because this whole area is completely cut off by land from the rest of the country and only accessible by river, no vehicles have ever reached Meung Ngoi Neua. It makes for a pleasent change from places like Bangkok and Beijing. Mind you without any vehicles the need for tarmac has never arose either so the roads around here are no
Nong Khiaw
I could have breakfast here every morning! (and trust me it wouldn't be for the taste!) more than mud tracks and rivers need to be crossed the old fashioned way.....by getting wet!
which leads to horry story number two....I mean days to remember number twenty three!
On the second day 3 of us trekked (alll of which had to be done barefoot by the way as the mud was too high for any boots and when you walked into it with footwear on you were almost guaranteed to walk out of it without!) to another village (Huay Sen) which was about a 2.5 hour walk from where we were staying. Along the route we waded through 2 rivers that the track crossed. They were not too difficult with the water not coming up far above the knee. As we were approaching Huay sen we could see dark clouds coming in fast and hear the thunder rumble in the distance. This, we knew, meant trouble so we stepped up the pace so that we could find some shelter in the village before the monsoon rains. We got there just in time and as we sat having a coke the rains began. And then the thunder....and lightening. And with every passing minute the time between light and thunder rumble shortened and shortened until after about 10 minutes the light had not even stopped before the sound of the rumble had begun. At this stage the locals had brought us into their house for safety (The highest one in the village as it turn out!) and we were all sitting on the floor waiting and hoping that it would pass quickly.
And when it did we wasted no time in saying our thank you's and beginning our 2.5 hour barefoot trek back. Time was against us as the sun sets early in this part of the world. But when we started walking our dirt track was now resembling a muddy river and the relatively gentle river we had crossed earlier was now more of a raging torrent that left the knee high waters tickling my chest hairs. After a few minutes of humming and hawing as to wheter we could actually get across and another few minutes devising our strategies we eventually went for broke!
-----HOLY SH*ITE BUT THE NEXT MINUTE IS YET ANOTHER ONE THAT I WON'T FORGET IN A HURRY .....OR WITHOUT COUNSELLING----
But we did it, we got across and everybody and everthing was intact. Again we didn't waste time in congratulating ourselves. We had a long way to go and at least one more of those rivers to cross. Just over two hours later and a lot of energy lost we arrived back in Meung Ngoi Neua and the guest house.
I felt it a perfect opportunity to over exaggerate so I climb to the top of the stairs where the other two people we were with (and who had wisely stayed behind) we sitting. In the best amateur dramatic style you are ever likely to get me to do, without saying a word I drop to the floor (I am now soaked to the skin...full of dirt and my foot is bleeding from leeches). I whisper in a beaten voice......
"water.....................................water".
I repeat a second time...
"water..............water!"
One of them begins to move..........I whisper again.....
"BEER Lao.............BEER Lao!"
Hey, I needed to settle the nerves!
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Rachel
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11freedays
Hi Aidan, Well I can only have a minor boast in comparison to you and your big adventure but I'll give it a go anyway!!! I finished up work this evening and am heading to southern France/northern Spain on hols on Friday, yippee can't wait for some sunshine or some "not rain" would be good enough at this stage! Glad to hear you're still having a great time, talk to you again soon. Au revoir, Rachel.