Laos continued....

Greetings loved ones.  I have much to report on the continuation of my Laos adventure. I think adventure is the perfect word to describe this amazing country. 

After Luang Prabang, I travelled alone to northern Laos.  I decided to take a boat to Nong Khiaw- a ride that was supposed to take approximately 6-7 hours along the Nam Ou river.  I arrived first thing in the morning ready for some amazing scenery.  They guided the passengers down to the rivers edge and pointed for us to board the boat.  No.... this must be the boat that will TAKE us to the "real" boat I thought.  It was a long, skinny boat with two wooden benches facing each other.  The best part... they tried loading 24 of us in this tiny vessel.  I just sat there- preparing to just go with the flow.  A few people spoke up-- exclaiming how there were too many people on this tiny boat and it was very uncomfortable.  The captain of the boat smiled and said he did not speak English.  Of course he didn't- I would not if I were him.  Then the German man told him that he would understand if he threw him over the boat-- the captain just smiled.  After about an hour of waiting on the boat they started unloading 4 people.  Yup, they had too many people on the boat.  You have to have a serious sense of humor travelling in Laos or you will absolutely loose your shit. 

After about two hours on the river, the motor made a very loud bang and died.  We floated to the shore where we all got out of the boat to wait.  We did not know how long we would wait- as there was no communication between the two staff and us foreigners.  I felt incredibly lucky though-- we happened to wash up on the shore hosting the most beautiful tree.  I climbed up to the base of the tree and took a small nap under its magnificence.  Two hours later a part arrived; they fixed our boat and we were off.  We got on and off the boat many times due to low water- we had to all pile in the back of a pickup truck once and had to hike a short ways another time.  The boat was then able to get through the low water and meet us on the other side.  The trip was sooooo unbelievably beautiful.  Luckily it was a full moon because we cruised in the dark for about 1 1/2 hours with no light.  Of course the boat has no light- where is the fun in that??  But we arrived safe and sound after 11 long hours of travel.  I could barely feel my ass and my back had about 30 new knots- but I was happy I did it.

I left the next morning for an hour boat ride to Muang Ngoi.  A small village only accessible by boat.  I enjoyed it, however it was still on the tourist track.  I needed more remote.  The next morning I hiked about 2 hours to a very small village with my friend Mohammad- a friend I met on the long boat journey.  Mohammad is from Iran.  The first and probably the only Iranian that I will meet on my travels.  It was so interesting learning about his country.  We became really good friends.  I am his first and only American friend and he is my first and only Iranian friend-- pretty cool.  We stayed with a Laos family that operates a home stay.  It was amazing!!  A friend of his had recently hunted a deer so I got to eat venison.  I was in heaven!!  They prepared beds in their small bamboo home and charged less than $1.00 a night. There are so many pigs, roosters, chickens and ducks in the small villages.  Roosters woke me up almost every morning in Laos - even in the city!! 

The next morning Mohammad and I got up bright and early and started the hike back to the bigger village around 6:30 am.  Got on a boat for an hour, took a 4 hour bus ride, immediately boarded another bus for 5 hours.  I was exhausted when I arrived Muang Namtha!  I took a day of rest in Namtha and signed up for a three day trek- I was scheduled to leave the next day.  I was a bit nervous to go on this trek, as this is the first real hike since my knee surgery.  To make matters worse, my hiking boots were in Bangkok- good place for them:)  I was unable to find suitable shoes in the city so hiking in my chacos was my reality.

There were 4 other people on the trek-- an Australian man, an English man and a couple  from Oregon.  They were all lovely people.  The Oregon couple and I hit it off really well.  They tried recruiting me to move to their beautiful state:) We had two guides- Pit and Ponn.  Ponn became my trail angel.  I always hiked in the near- as I liked to really take my time on the trail and Ponn was always behind me.  The trails in Laos are nothing like the trails in America.  You know the nice switchbacks that get you gradually to high elevations-- nope-- you just hike straight up and straight down in these jungle mountains.  Ponn made me two lovely bamboo trekking poles.  I got a nice blister after the first day. I was holding onto that thing for dear life!!  The first night we slept in the jungle.  It was so much fun!!  We ate off banana leaves and had the most amazing meals.  Every meal was served with sticky rice- a staple for Laos and an assortment of other veggies and meats.  I laid in bed the first night- body aching- feet aching- wondering what I got myself into.  Twisting my knee in this jungle was not an option; not exactly the easiest evacuation plan!  The second day was even more elevation gain and loss.  We travelled through a few villages ending up in a darling village along the river.  We had the best time hanging out with the kids and watching all of the animals.  

It was really fun hiking with Ponn- he had been a guide in this jungle for over 10 years.  I would hear him hiking behind me- then poof- he was gone.  He went to collect some plants for our meal, got the banana leaves for our tablecloth and chopped down some bamboo to make us each a shot glass.  The last day my feet really took a beating... so many blisters.  I was still in great spirits- it just felt soooo good to be out in nature again for many days.  Literally in the middle of nowhere.  I love it so!!  My fellow hikers all commented on how impressed they were at my speed and lack of complaints considering the state of my poor feet.  I gave Ponn a nice tip and a huge hug at the end of the trek.  He was my support, my doctor and good friend.  I am so happy and relieved that my knee did great.  It has to start getting ready for Nepal...yippee!! 

And now you wonder, where am I??  I am back in Thailand- oh how I missed this country!  I will post again soon with more.  Sorry for the long and rambling posts...  Sending lots of love and hugs.

The long boat ride

A sweet family I met in the village on the trek

The beautiful tree that I was so blessed to hang out with while the boat had some issues.

My sweet American friends bought me a rose for Valentines Day.

So much for the most beautiful feet in the world....

Ponn and I