Luang Namtha. We turned left at whoop whoop ville and headed straight for where the fuck are we. Luang Namtha is at the very top of Laos, in fact it's so close to China we could see the border in the distance. Yesterday we left the sanctuary of our $8 per night guest house and headed off on our home stay at a local village. The village was not just 'down the street', it was a drive, kayak, hike etc... away.. Oh! and everyone will be pleased to know that I've finally washed my hair. After staying in the jungle, by a fire for the night, I braved the non-existent water pressure and lukewarm water and became clean once more. God knows why though, the old lady's at the night market tonight kept touching my hair, I was slightly concerned they may chop it off to make bracelets!!!!! Also the only way to get enough internet in this town is to sit in the corner of the restaurant with the laptop tilted at a 30 degree angle, even then it's dodgy - OMG.
Morning markets at Luang Namtha.
Frogs anyone? Tom didn't know quite where to look when two boys bought in a whole pig that had just been chopped up into little bits.
Ready for the river again. Note the boys shirts, they're all very proud to be wearing their 'Cambodian Angkor Beer T-shirts'. We bought dad one as a present, ha ha ha.
Emily declared that after yesterday there was to be no more, hiking, kayaking, cycling, mountain bike riding - actually I don't think she even wants to walk anymore.... You would think after nearly 20 years of marriage Ian & myself would be able to work as a team, hmmmm, not really. We turned in the wrong direction, got beached on rocks, ran into rocks and got very wet. However we didn't capsize, thankfully for Ian or there would be no more sexy time on this holiday!
One of the many villagers we visited.
Inside our hut... There were kinda mattresses and blankets. Kids were thinking I was a bit special making them pack their thermals - who's the clever one now hey!
The floor and walls were very rustic and provided lots of air flow. Luckily the mats covered some of the missing floor. Every time someone moved, rolled over or even spoke the floor moved up and down. It was like sleeping on a trampoline. Then there were the animals.... we had ducks, pigs, chickens, cows, dogs, buffalo, more chickens, goats.....
Note the corrugated iron around the supports - this is to stop rats.
Dinner - every meal comes with sticky rice, I'm happy to never see sticky rice again.
The next morning, after a wonderful nights sleep, yep I really am funny, we visited more hill tribe villagers.
We eventually made it back to Luang Namtha and our $8 guest house suddenly seemed to be 'not that bad'. Although the shower head is over the toilet seat and the towels supplied are so small and thin they will only cover either the bottom half or top half of you at any time. However the lady at the front desk has to leave her post every now and then, so I keep sneaking in and stealing more towels...
The lady's from the hill tribes come down at night and try and sell you bracelets.
