May
31, Thursday
There was also a shop on site and I could not resist
buying a woven silk table runner that could also be used as a wall hanging.
There are mulberry bushes in this region and they raise their own silk
worms.
It's a long day; 7 to 8 hour drive to cover 230 km, so you can imagine the road conditions.
Gone are the divided and paved highways, it is more like a dirt track at times.
The views are amazing along the way however, deep valleys and craggy mountains
A small village hidden in a valley
Agricultural fields wherever they can clear land and plow fields, mostly by hand
It poured rain almost all day and nothing to see out the window but clouds.
At one of our rare stops, there are vehicles filled with cattle, probably being taken to market
I did manage to get a few pictures along the way, although many of them were too blurry to keep.The lens kept focusing on the rain drops on the window instead of the scene beyond it.
The villages are poor, but there is electricity
We have a good driver and I feel safe despite the road conditions, but at least we are driving on the “right side” of the road again in Laos.
Corn fields on the side of the road
♪ ♪ "A long and winding road" ♪ ♪
A small village on the banks of a river. A flood would definitely wipe them out.
Lots of agricultural fields in the valleys, and they use a rotto tiller not only to prepare their fields, but hitch them up to wagons to motorize them! I'll try to snag a better picture later on.
The cows have invaded the tiered and irrigated fields; hopefully they have already brought in the crop and the cows are munching on the left overs.
A huge pot bellied pig running for cover in a small town we pass
As we near Vang Vieng, the houses we see start looking a bit more solid and modern
I want to frame this picture. This is Laos.
We checked into the Khampoui Guest House, which were not impressive at all, not much better than Huay Xai as far as little cottages. (Our instructions said we would be staying at Thavisouk Resort; apart from the nice pool that goes with the hotel next door, this is definitely not a resort.l
At least our side of the cottage has air conditioning and a small fridge that worked; Mike and Karsten had neither on their side. After dropping off our luggage and changing, we walked the few blocks into town for dinner at an organic restaurant where Violet and I sampled some Mulberry wine. Much too sweet for my taste and for some reason the program “The Waltons” came to mind… the two sweet old sisters who served “papa’s cordial” which was actually made of mulberries!
Good night John Boy !
This morning, after breakfast on the verandah and
checking out of the Thong Bay Guesthouse
(which I highly recommend to anyone travelling to Luang Prabang) we go to
visit the Traditional Art & Ethnology Centre. We learn about the many tribes of Laos and
their beautiful crafts (weaving, embroidery, etc).
“Laos
occupies an area of 236,800 square km, slightly larger than Uganda and slightly
smaller than the United Kingdom. (Now that was surprising) It stretches 1,162 km from north to south
with terrains ranging from mountain ranges over 2000m high to the Mekong river
valley at 70 meters above sea level. In
northern Laos, ethnic minorities are actually the majority of the populations.”
We are driving from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng today. We are
up in the mountains and into the clouds.
It's a long day; 7 to 8 hour drive to cover 230 km, so you can imagine the road conditions.
Gone are the divided and paved highways, it is more like a dirt track at times.
The views are amazing along the way however, deep valleys and craggy mountains
A small village hidden in a valley
Agricultural fields wherever they can clear land and plow fields, mostly by hand
It poured rain almost all day and nothing to see out the window but clouds.
I tried reading the
little “Indo-China” booklet that Intrepid gave us, but it is like reading while
riding in a roller-coaster: up, down,
around, turn, turn, etc.
I did manage to get a few pictures along the way, although many of them were too blurry to keep.The lens kept focusing on the rain drops on the window instead of the scene beyond it.
The villages are poor, but there is electricity
We have a good driver and I feel safe despite the road conditions, but at least we are driving on the “right side” of the road again in Laos.
Corn fields on the side of the road
♪ ♪ "A long and winding road" ♪ ♪
A small village on the banks of a river. A flood would definitely wipe them out.
Lots of agricultural fields in the valleys, and they use a rotto tiller not only to prepare their fields, but hitch them up to wagons to motorize them! I'll try to snag a better picture later on.
The cows have invaded the tiered and irrigated fields; hopefully they have already brought in the crop and the cows are munching on the left overs.
A huge pot bellied pig running for cover in a small town we pass
As we near Vang Vieng, the houses we see start looking a bit more solid and modern
I want to frame this picture. This is Laos.
We checked into the Khampoui Guest House, which were not impressive at all, not much better than Huay Xai as far as little cottages. (Our instructions said we would be staying at Thavisouk Resort; apart from the nice pool that goes with the hotel next door, this is definitely not a resort.l
At least our side of the cottage has air conditioning and a small fridge that worked; Mike and Karsten had neither on their side. After dropping off our luggage and changing, we walked the few blocks into town for dinner at an organic restaurant where Violet and I sampled some Mulberry wine. Much too sweet for my taste and for some reason the program “The Waltons” came to mind… the two sweet old sisters who served “papa’s cordial” which was actually made of mulberries!
Good night John Boy !
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