Having found a room for the night and recovered slightly from our exciting journey up the river we headed out for dinner to Delilah's, a little restaurant on the opposite side of the bridge. We not only bought our dinner but ended up buying a 2 night trip into the surrounding hills to include trekking, kayaking and an overnight stay in a hill village.
We met our guide Dith ( pronounced Deet) early-ish the next morning and after buying books and pens for our soon to be hosts, we set off on our trek through rice paddies and over many a stream.
We were soon immersed in the glorious countryside and could almost forget about how hot and humid it was.
We arrived several hours later at our first village, a settlement in which all 3 types of the indigenous Laos people co-exist, Lao-lum, Hmong and Mon-Khmer. After greeting a group of the village people we were taken to have lunch at the Chief's cousin's house as the Chief himself was out working. We were pleasantly surprised by our tasty lunch and Dith informed us that the trusty Delilah had catered for the occasion. After a kip on the wooden boards of our host's hut we were then subjected to the obligatory 'buy our weaving' session, which we tried to politely decline but got the distinct impression that our refusal to purchase anything didn't go down well. We were glad to leave and felt disappointed that even though we had chosen a 'Fair Trade' company which gives 25% of the price we pay directly to the village people we were still expected to shell out for more pieces of rag.
We continued our trek in the hot afternoon sun and with very little shade and a steady climb into the mountains it proved to be hard work.
Dave's trek was well and truly made when we stumbled across another snake, this time a lively green fellow which we believe to be a Green Pit Viper.
Being a highly venomous creature Dave had to get as close as possible to it and had a quick touch of its tail as it slithered way, bloody nutter!
We had a few stops along the way to admire the scenery, wash under a fresh water stream and of course to take the obligatory group photograph.
At around 5pm we arrived at our village for the night and were shown to our beds by this village's Chief, a basic but comfortable looking hut. After around an hour relaxation Dith arrived to come and show us around the village, Payong. The sun was setting and most people were arriving back from their day's work in the fields. We didn't get too far on our tour around the settlement as we were invited to sit down and drink with a group of the older men from the village who were knocking back the local Lao lao with gusto and were obviously already feeling the affects of their alcohol intake.
We spent a fantastic hour accepting glass after glass of the rice whiskey, being fed snacks and fresh pineapple and finally being hit up for cigarettes. We gave into their pleas for smokes and were shocked when we found that 2 packets only cost us the equivalent of 72p.
We left them puffing away on our very unhealthy gifts and ran back to our hut to avoid the fast approaching rain. We were then treated to some of the Chief's culinary delights, including a delicious egg plant and chilli paste, a bamboo soup and the staple sticky rice. With no electricity supply up in the village we ate by candlelight and when our candles reached the end of their lives we shuffled off to bed for some well-earned zeds.
The next morning we were awakened by the sounds of village life all around us, cockerels crowing, pans clanking, children's neck bells ringing!! The Chief's youngest son seemed to have been adorned with his very own bell and was aptly nicknamed 'Goat boy' by Dave. I think he was prone to going walkabout and this bell helped to identify his whereabouts.
After being treated to a feast for breakfast we set off through the village, waving goodbye to our hosts on our way; although most of them were other wised engaged, particularly these kids.
Our morning trek took us across more paddy fields and then onto more forested areas which turned out to be the perfect hunting ground for those dreaded leeches. Dave, Hannah and I managed to avoid the little suckers but poor Paul made up for that with a total leech count of 5. The humidity had increased significantly and by the time we made our way through the mud to our river destination we were all sweating buckets.
The next leg of our journey began here, as we made our way down the river in a small wooden motor boat and through some areas of rapid water which were deemed to big for us to tackle in our Lao kayaks. When we saw how shallow the sides of these boats were we couldn't help but agree with the last statement and wondered exactly how were were going to stay out of the water. Dith decided that he should share the paddling with the 2 girls and leave the boys to fend for themselves as we made our way down the river. A few rapids later we were, amazingly, still in the kayaks and we paddled our way onto a small island so that we could try our hand at fishing the traditional Lao way. Dave and Paul proved to be naturals and managed to net some real monsters!
Thankfully we didn't have to rely on their haul for our lunch and we ate like kings once more courtesy of the good old Chief. Re-fueled to the brim we powered down the remaining 45 minute stretch of river back to Nong Khiaw. We waved Dith goodbye and patted ourselves on the back for remaining in the Lao kayaks all the way down the river. We checked into a guest house and relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon, before heading out for dinner and some sunset drinkies. We toasted a great couple of days, some unforgettable experiences and new friends.
We met our guide Dith ( pronounced Deet) early-ish the next morning and after buying books and pens for our soon to be hosts, we set off on our trek through rice paddies and over many a stream.
We were soon immersed in the glorious countryside and could almost forget about how hot and humid it was.
We arrived several hours later at our first village, a settlement in which all 3 types of the indigenous Laos people co-exist, Lao-lum, Hmong and Mon-Khmer. After greeting a group of the village people we were taken to have lunch at the Chief's cousin's house as the Chief himself was out working. We were pleasantly surprised by our tasty lunch and Dith informed us that the trusty Delilah had catered for the occasion. After a kip on the wooden boards of our host's hut we were then subjected to the obligatory 'buy our weaving' session, which we tried to politely decline but got the distinct impression that our refusal to purchase anything didn't go down well. We were glad to leave and felt disappointed that even though we had chosen a 'Fair Trade' company which gives 25% of the price we pay directly to the village people we were still expected to shell out for more pieces of rag. We continued our trek in the hot afternoon sun and with very little shade and a steady climb into the mountains it proved to be hard work.
Dave's trek was well and truly made when we stumbled across another snake, this time a lively green fellow which we believe to be a Green Pit Viper. 
Being a highly venomous creature Dave had to get as close as possible to it and had a quick touch of its tail as it slithered way, bloody nutter!We had a few stops along the way to admire the scenery, wash under a fresh water stream and of course to take the obligatory group photograph.
At around 5pm we arrived at our village for the night and were shown to our beds by this village's Chief, a basic but comfortable looking hut. After around an hour relaxation Dith arrived to come and show us around the village, Payong. The sun was setting and most people were arriving back from their day's work in the fields. We didn't get too far on our tour around the settlement as we were invited to sit down and drink with a group of the older men from the village who were knocking back the local Lao lao with gusto and were obviously already feeling the affects of their alcohol intake. 
We spent a fantastic hour accepting glass after glass of the rice whiskey, being fed snacks and fresh pineapple and finally being hit up for cigarettes. We gave into their pleas for smokes and were shocked when we found that 2 packets only cost us the equivalent of 72p.We left them puffing away on our very unhealthy gifts and ran back to our hut to avoid the fast approaching rain. We were then treated to some of the Chief's culinary delights, including a delicious egg plant and chilli paste, a bamboo soup and the staple sticky rice. With no electricity supply up in the village we ate by candlelight and when our candles reached the end of their lives we shuffled off to bed for some well-earned zeds.
The next morning we were awakened by the sounds of village life all around us, cockerels crowing, pans clanking, children's neck bells ringing!! The Chief's youngest son seemed to have been adorned with his very own bell and was aptly nicknamed 'Goat boy' by Dave. I think he was prone to going walkabout and this bell helped to identify his whereabouts.
After being treated to a feast for breakfast we set off through the village, waving goodbye to our hosts on our way; although most of them were other wised engaged, particularly these kids.
Our morning trek took us across more paddy fields and then onto more forested areas which turned out to be the perfect hunting ground for those dreaded leeches. Dave, Hannah and I managed to avoid the little suckers but poor Paul made up for that with a total leech count of 5. The humidity had increased significantly and by the time we made our way through the mud to our river destination we were all sweating buckets. 
The next leg of our journey began here, as we made our way down the river in a small wooden motor boat and through some areas of rapid water which were deemed to big for us to tackle in our Lao kayaks. When we saw how shallow the sides of these boats were we couldn't help but agree with the last statement and wondered exactly how were were going to stay out of the water. Dith decided that he should share the paddling with the 2 girls and leave the boys to fend for themselves as we made our way down the river. A few rapids later we were, amazingly, still in the kayaks and we paddled our way onto a small island so that we could try our hand at fishing the traditional Lao way. Dave and Paul proved to be naturals and managed to net some real monsters!
Thankfully we didn't have to rely on their haul for our lunch and we ate like kings once more courtesy of the good old Chief. Re-fueled to the brim we powered down the remaining 45 minute stretch of river back to Nong Khiaw. We waved Dith goodbye and patted ourselves on the back for remaining in the Lao kayaks all the way down the river. We checked into a guest house and relaxed for the remainder of the afternoon, before heading out for dinner and some sunset drinkies. We toasted a great couple of days, some unforgettable experiences and new friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment