5/24-5/28: Nong Khiow and Muong Ngoi Neua

The first bus out of Muang Sing was at 8AM, but then I would miss the 9AM bus to Nong Khiow. So I decided to hitch hike at 6AM, and pretty quickly caught a ride, getting into to Nam Tha by 7:45AM. It took about six hours to get to Nong Khiow . Besides the torture of bad roads and uncomfortable conditions, I really like the travel days, for I see so much of the beautiful Laos country side.

Iguanas, or monitor lizards for sale at a restaurant on the bus ride to Nong Khiow

Nong Khiow (well, some of it)

View of the Namou River

My guest house, right on the river - my bungalow is the bottom middle one

Nong Khiow town, on the other side of the river from where I stayed

I met two nice couples, one from France and the other from England, who were heading up river the next day, so I decided to join them . We took a boat for one and a half hours up the Namou River to the village of Muang Ngoi Neua.

Water buffalo on the river

Often things don't turn out to be as expected, but the boat trip scenery surpassed my expectations. The scenery was breath taking. It wasn't just the mountains and river, but life along the river - fishermen, villages, cows and water buffalo.

View going up river

Boat landing at Muang Ngoi Neua. I ended up spending a lot of time in the river, swimming across the river a couple of times a day to cool down.

There is not much to the village of Muang Ngoi Neua - a bunch of bungalows over looking the river, and this one-lane town above . There are no cars here - the only way here is by river. There is electrical power from 6 to 10PM only. I walked this lane at sunset, and it seemed like the entire village was out, sitting on their steps while the kids ran up and down the lane.

Grand mother and baby

A boy holding a gutted big lizard

Louisa and Joe from England, Anna Laura and John Philip from France

The two couples left after two nights, and I stayed another day

Pig to market

I went an a walk for about an hour east to the village of Ban Na. It was a beautiful butterflied lined path through the forest and rice fields.

Bridge over a small river near the cave

rice terrace laundry

View on the walk

Ban Na village laundry

Ban Na village child

Three girls making faces

View on the way back

Vanessa from France - we met on the bus ride back to Luang Prabang.

Butterflies and boy (my favorite photo)

There are so many butterflies along the river. They hang out on the river bank. The kids run through them.

I am starting to feel the time pressure that going to Turkey has put on my customary slow pace. I will head south now, stopping in Vang Vieng and Vientiane, before continuing to Cambodia.

5/21 through 5/24: Luang Nam Tha and Muang Sing

The bus from Luang Prabang to Luang Nam Tha was supposed to take 7 hours, but it took 10 - lots of road construction, as well as a truck accident stopping all traffic both directions for about two hours. I only stayed in Luang Nam Tha one night, heading north the next morning to Muang Sing, which is located one and a half hours north of Luang Nam Tha, on a little peninsula of Laos bordering Burma and China (only 14 miles from the Chinese border) - the land of the Hill Tribe people. I stayed two nights in Muang Sing.



It has taken me a little time to get back into "travel mode" again, after 4 weeks with a planned itinerary with my students in Vietnam. It's funny how quickly I lost it.

My view from my guest house balcony in Muang Sing

Muang Sing is in the center of a large valley, with about a ten mile diameter. There are nine different Hill tribes living in this valley.

I spent two days on a little one-speed bicycle, riding dirt roads (and often pushing my bike) to the Hill Tribe villages. On the first day I road to the northeast, then turned off on a dirt road about 9 miles from the Chinese border, where I walked and pushed my bike for about four hours. I went through three Yao villages, two Akha villages, and one Tai Lue village.

Yao village kids - the girl in the middle could count really well to ten in English. I spent a long time trying to get her to say "eleven." I had lunch at this village - noodle soup of course. The older women had a laugh teaching me how to season the soup.

Yao village laundry

Akha village, where a bare-breasted old women offered me an opium pipe.

Akha laundry

So, my first impression of Muang Sing was a little bit of a disappointment. I thin k from the description of my friends, I imagined a jungle setting. But then, a few hours into the bike ride, and having fun meeting the villagers, a little voice inside me asked, "What are you open to?" and then I realized I was merging back into "travel mode."

Day 2 in Muang Sing:

Early the next morning I went to the morning market

Bare-breasted Hill tribe women trying to sell some type of animal

Hill tribe women

Live snakes or eels for sale

And dead stuff too

Tomato sales woman

Mangoes, mangosteens, and rambutan for sale out of the back of a truck

On my second bike ride, I headed southwest, where I road through 3 Tai Lue villages, 3 Nai Neua villages, 2 Akha villages, and one Lolo, one Tai Dam, and one Hmong village.

Second day morning bike ride - Hmong village laundry

Little monks on bikes

Inside a Buddhist monastery

View from a Akha village

Akha village

Akha village baby

Akha village still

My afternoon bike ride was about two and a half hours long: 2 Tai Lue, one Hmong, and one Akha village.

Happy pigs in a Tai Lue village

View on the way down from the Hmong village

I got lost on my last bike ride, which is not that surprising, ending up on a dirt path to no where. I had a really nice two days on the bike in the villages. After getting lost and having to rush back into town to return my bike before closing, I was so happy. I am so weird that way. I didn't even realize what was happening, just, all of the sudden, I was happy. I don't understand it.

5/18 through 5/20: Luang Prabang, Laos

5/18: I arrived in Laos, in Luang Prabang, after a 50 minute flight from Hanoi. Luang Prabang is located at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, which creates a peninsula where the majority of the town is situated.

Being a history teacher, I feel pretty naked, not knowing anything about Laos. So here's a little history on Luang Prabang: There has been a thriving culture here since 500 BC. The first Lao kingdom was founded here in 1353. Though the capitol moved to Vientiene in 1545, Luang Prabang remained the source of monarchial power. In 1887, after a destructive attack by the Black Flag wing of the Chinese Haw, the kingdom chose to accept French protection. The French allowed the monarchy to remain. In 1975, with the communist Pathet Lao in control, the monarchy was disolved. The last king and queen were imprisoned in a cave, and due to inadaquate food and medical attention, they died there between 1977 and 1981.

Luang Prabang is not what I expected. It is very cute, with French style architecture and manicured gardens.

Here is the front of my guest house - Xieng Mouane Guest House

My balcony

The view of my garden

Tourism has taken over this sweet, little town. You can dine right on the Mekong (and eat pizza or maybe even French food, I don't know - I don't eat there).

I eat here, near the morning market

Noodle soup for breakfast

Morning market (mangosteens only 60 cents a pound)

H'mong night market

The first day I just walked around, getting my bearings. I have to learn how to travel again, having had all my days planned throughout the Vietnam Evergreen School trip. I climbed the hill in the center of town, where Wat Pa Phon Phao is situated. This is the top of Wat Pa Phon Phao.

View of Luang Prabang and the Mekong River from Wat Pa Phon Phao

Another wat - I don't know the name. There are wats and orange robed monks everywhere.

Monks in front of the National Museum

5/19: I rented a bicycle and saw a lot more wats.

Monk laundry

I got lost (to be expected) and ended up going the exact opposite direction that I had intended, though I did run into this little waterfall, so had a little "cool down." It is so hot here. It doesn't actually feel so hot, but I have been sweating from every pore in my body.

Wat Pu Si (an unfortunate name)

The walls of Wat Pu Si are painted with two rows of pictures - the bottom row showing all the images of hell, and the top row show images of the life of Buddha.

Wat Xieng Thong, the oldest wat in Luang Prabang, built in 1560. It remained under the King's patronage until 1975.

Dragon head

Young monk ringing the bell

5/20: All day tour

In the morning we headed up river to the temple cave, but first we stopped at a traditional village. The village is situated on the banks of the Mekong. At its center is a beautiful wat, surrounded by traditional houses, but the entire water front is taken up by little tourist stalls, selling weavings.

Mekong view

Entrance to the cave

In the cave

This cave has been a place of worship since the 8th century, but only became Buddhist in the 16th century. It received the patronage from the king for 400 years, until the communist take over in 1975, when the king and his family were imprisoned, never to be seen again.

There are two water buffalo on that boat!

Afternoon tour to the waterfall

On the way back to Luang Prabang, we stopped at another village. Again, there are people everywhere trying to sell their weavings to the tourists. .

This must be a good source of income for the villagers, but its impact on culture concerns me.