Once we arrived in Luang Prabang and caught sight of those spectacular emerald green mountains we thought 'we've got to get amongst them'! So we signed up for a 2 day trek visiting a couple of villages along the way and spending the night in the 'chief's hut' (only fitting don't you think?)
The first village was on the lowlands with the Lao Lum people. The children don't really go to school and stay and look after their younger siblings whilst their parents are out collecting food and planting etc (just as I - Suzanne was expected to do many a time during my childhood!)
This was the Hmong village, these are the poorest of all the villagers and live in the middle hills.Keith was feeling rather hot (with temperatures in excess of 30 degrees I think you'll understand) and resorted to desperate measures to kill 2 birds with one stone, cooling off and a 'hair' wash at the same time!
There are no roads to the Khmu village in the highlands so the ladies troop off to the fields, fill their bags with millet and brave the 6 km trek with bags ranging from 25-60kg in weight tied to their heads - no mean feat I'm sure you'll agree!!
Just such wonderful scenery (the hills and mountains aren't bad either) and not a telegraph pole or a pylon in sight!
Our accommodation for the night. there was an upstairs in the hut and we all slept up there. There was also another room up there and that's where the chief and his wife slept! We were only the second group of westerners to visit this village so every one in the village were intrigued by us. They would stand around us and watch us do everything.
The villagers had lots of animals; chickens, turkeys, pigs, dogs, ducks, goats and cows were freely roaming around, both in the village and in the huts!
The villagers had lots of animals; chickens, turkeys, pigs, dogs, ducks, goats and cows were freely roaming around, both in the village and in the huts!
Yes that's a real life chicken that the boys holding. they carry them around like our kids carry their 'cuddly' toys!
The kids were so happy you have to wonder if they need all the stuff we give them in first world countries, I swear I've never seen happier kids. We also seen some similarities to our past. This kid for example, is sliding down the hill on the remains of a shovel. We used to slide down snow hills sitting on a plastic bag.
I had a tear in my eye when I saw this! It's a home made go kart, check those wheels out! They're made of wood. This reminded me so much of my Brother Ron and I when we used to make go karts out of wood planks and pram wheels (before our Fatha got his hand in his pocket and bought a real one - tight sod).
I thought this go kart was the closest thing I've seen to a 'Flintstones' car . Although technically it's classed as an 'Inyakker' as it only has three wheels.
This is the village first thing in the morning. We were all up early due to the cockerels and what sounded like a pig being butchered with a half brick!!
The kids are very curious of us. They've only been visited once before by westerners so when we were sitting having breakfast they lined up to watch us.
This may look like a visit to the hairdresser or perhaps even some platting going on. Unfortunately, the girl on the right is the 'Nit Nurse' - that means the one on the left is the 'inflicted' - or as they used to say in Havelock Juniors - 'she's got the lurgie'!!! Fortunately we escaped without catching any nits, I know how I avoided it but I think Elvis was lucky!
This little girl has the most beautiful face and she loved me to take her picture then she could look at herself, bear in mind that they don't have mirrors here, so they look at the picture with real curiosity, in fact some of the kids were not convinced that it was them! One little boy ran off crying shaking his head when I showed him his picture - perhaps he thought he looked like Johnny Depp or the likes and the reality was too much!
This is one of our guides Kai, demonstrating how they grind corn to make corn bread and animal feed. Don't look for the electric 'on' switch or the diesel engine - it's all manual labour here!
We left the village then headed down hill for two hours. Then we got into kayaks and sailed through some amazing scenery. The little kids that live in the river side villages would come swimming out to us and jump on board and then show us there dives from our boat. At one time we had so many kids on we nearly capsized!
This is the group kayaking picture - just! Ewan was just about to capsize trying to get in the picture!
The Germans capsized about half way through the trip and spat their dummies out! So that just left the Brits!! This is the Nam Ou river. If all this water has got you thinking about a cup of tea, well tell us what famous river does the Nam Ou flow into and you could be getting a free one.
The two Germans that were in our group had 'escaped' the group photo so here we are: Kai (our guide), Ewan, Elvis, Hodgie and Bandit (our other guide, yes that's his real name!) If you're wondering why we are all wet - it rained so hard in the van coming back we all got soaked!
A free cup of tea to Ginny - yes mango with anything fruit shakes are the business!!
We have a few more days in LP and a few more places to explore - probably for another blog though!!
8 comments:
Not being one to harp on lank :) Pyni or Paul, but do green curries get their color from green chilies or from green cilantro or coriander root? It is really not me asking, but my outsourcer who gets paid handsomely for her researching...she is also extremely competitive and thorough! For instance, today's cup of tea question is the Mekong....but Paul could be right also if he says the Tyne or Wear! I love all the pictures of the little kids. Were you able to take them paper and pencils and see them go wild with excitement? They are so much more blessed than Western kids indeed!
Darn it. I was going to say the Wear anarll.
One of the funniest and most picturesque blogs ever from you guys. Still laughing at the Johnny Depp and half-brick comments. I suppose the noise equates to sharing a room with Marley and waking up to hear the ablution noises coming from the little boys room. Well if you were missing him, you won't be now.
Can you not bring one of the kids back with you, Madonna-style?
Sissy J - does the outsourcer do other work for you for the handsome sum you pay her in salary? Does she clean and iron for you also? Is it possible she started life as a little pretty girl with a chicken in her hand in Laos or somewhere similar - and you brought her into Western civilisation, educated her and then put her to work on a famous search engine?
And weren't the Mekongs the aliens from Dang Dare?
What absolutley lovely kids. We've decided that when Baby Sandersfield is born we'll take a trip out there and come back when he/she is 18. Anything but let him/her turn into a chavvy chav!!
Shirls xxx
Actually Paul, (and I'm going to love it when she reads this!), my outsource does all that and more! You need to get yourself one! You'll never have to clean out your toe jam ever again! Not to mention nosehair-trimming and belly button fuzz vacuuming! You'll never have to worry if your toilet gets backed up. Come to think of it, I don't know how we'd go off vacationing in our rv if she wasn't along to empty the black tank every day. (we,and Keith, don't care to practice the dark arts!) So yes Sandersfields, get yourself an "outsourcer" in time for the baby's arrival and you'll be set. Look around out in the countryside...we found ours wandering the mountains with an alien outfit on!
On a far more serious note, how about those children? I have to listen to my school kids' adventures too. Four wheeling, watching tv, playing computer games while prone in bed all the while chomping on chips! And it's those kids who get bombed?? Paul and Shirley, it's a no-brainer as to where you look as to how to and how not to raise a child.
Keith and Suzanne, I do envy you being able to live amongst such genuinely innocent happy children. This has to be a life-changing experience for you.
Sorry, but I'm still on the curry colour theme (that's colour with a 'u' Sissy J). I've just made a really nice Thai Green Curry. The aim? To find out which ingredient turned the whole thing green.
The conclusion? It wasn't any of the ingredients particularly, so I've worked out it must have been the mould that had formed on the bottom of the pan that hadn't been used (or washed) for several months. Still tasted ok though.
Good job we don't have Health Inspectors visiting, eh Suzanne?
;-)
Hey Paul...did you know that you'd be Pal over in the US? Yanks have something against the letter u. I actually tried to Google it, but got no definitive answer. Would have been a canny cup of tea question.
I'm really encouraged to hear that you couldn't get your curry to turn green using green chilies. But try what our Keith used to do before he got to be a CS in Thailand...he's tell me mam to keep the water that she's steep me da's underpants in....works a treat if you let it stand for a week!
That's me skipping breakfast then.
Hopefully my stomach will have stopped impersonating a washing machine on fast spin by lunchtime.
Is your gut churning cause you're thinking of all those curries Keith's made you in the past? Remember how he'd just smile when you asked him the secret ingredient?
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