Posted by Anita
Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:41:00 GMT
Location: Luang Nam Tha, Laos
The next morning we discovered why every one was in bed “so early” last night - they all get up just before sunrise (about 5am). If it was just the people walking past we might have been able to sleep through it, but there was a particlularly malevolent duck situated somewhere beneith my ears that would emitt the most peircing volley of quacks at completely random intervalls.
While we were waiting to get on board the boat we had the opportunity to watch all of the village children wading around in the river catching tiny little shrimps with really big nets. And a couple of pigs were being loaded onto a boat which was quite amusing. Judging by the squeals, it seemed they were under the impression that they were going to be tortured to death.
Just as we got to a village called Na Lae the motor made a bit of a funny noise and the captain told us that the motor was broken and we would have to catch a “taxi” (converted truck) the rest of the way to Luang Nam Tha. The Lonely Planet Guide has a warning that most boats don’t like to go past Na Lae regardless of which direction they are travelling in unless you are paying at the destination. Jack and I being perhaps a little naive got our bags and were ready to go on the taxi. Our companions however were quite adamant that we had paid to go by boat to Luang Nam Tha and we should be going by boat or getting 1/4 of our money back (having only come 3/4 of the way). After a length of time with both parties arguing in broken english it was decided that the captain would try to fix the boat or find another one for us.
As it turned out he was able to fix the boat and have us going again within an hour. We also picked up some more cargo - a couple of sacks, a young girl and a piglet (who was more relaxed about travelling in boats than the grown pigs were).
When we dropped the cargo off. A woman from the village put both of the sacks we were carrying (weighing probably 60kg or so together) into a sling supported by her forehead and proceeded to walk up the steepest set of muddy steps to the village. We were all very impressed.
The next little side trip was to get a huge plank of wood - about 12m x 75cm x 2.5cm, into the river presumably so they could pick it up and take it back to make another boat. It took all of us minus the two other girls to shift it.
We finally made it to Luang Nam Tha at about 6pm and after having cold showers and a very nice group dinner were very pleased to be climbing into bed.
Posted in Travel | Tags laos, Nam, River, Tha, travel | no comments
Posted by Anita
Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:25:00 GMT
Location: Kam Khon Village, Nam Tha River, Laos
The next morning our boatmen arrived and we departed from Huay Xai at about 8am. The boat was pretty cool, long and narrow with a thatched cover for our bags in the middle and was powered by a toyota engine which looked like it came straight out of Anita’s old car.
Going down the Mekong to the Nam Tha was pretty cool but nothing compared to when we turned up the Mekong. For one thing the water seemed to be a lot clearer, and it is a much smaller river so you are much closer to the action on either bank. It was really neat to watch the locals fishing and the bullocks basking in the river.
Going upriver there were obviously areas that had to be navigated that were flowing down quite quickly (rapids) and, given the length of the boat, it wasn’t easily manouverable so the captain at the back would point the boat in the direction it was meant to be going and the boatman at the front would make finer adjustments with the paddle.
It became apparent fairly early on that we were not the only paying cargo and the captain was also acting as a sort of floating petrol station stopping at a number of the villages where people would come out with various containers and fill them up. It was quite an eye opener to see the way they transported the fuel around, I saw people using water bottles and even plastic bags.
Most of the houses in the villiages that were on the river bank were really picturesque. The thatched huts on stilts and the bamboo fences. Only very occasionally were there houses made of concrete or anything permanent. Around and underneath the houses there were chickens, dogs, cats, ducks and occasially pigs. The children from the villiage would come down to the river and wave franticly as we went passed. When we stopped they would come close and stare at us as if we were aliens.
After lunch on the first day the propeller hit one of the many sticks that were floating down the river and fell off. The boatman managed to paddle us to shore where there was another boat tied up. He went ashore and was soon off with the owner of the boat to get a replacement propeller shaft.
So we had a bit of time on shore. Jack, Philip and I decided to climb the path we saw the man come down from. at the top was a collection of huts constituting the mans dwelling and his family. They were very friendly, offering us some of their food and watching us - I don’t get the feeling they get a lot of visits from foreigners.
When the Captain returned I think he was a little concerned about the time lost as he had eggs for dinner and candles. We started a cooking fire but as it turned out he had the boat running within about 15 minutes so the fire wasn’t required. A good thing, as the fire wasn’t very big.
I think the whole episode must have caused us to be quite alot later than the captain had planned as it began to get dark shortly after departing our stop. As it got darker heaps of bats came out squeeking and flapping around, it was really quite something. We continued on in total darkness for about an hour or so. The boatmen having to navigate the rapids with a torch and a spotlight.
With darkness it was obvious that most of the villages that we were passing had no electricity as with most of them the only light you could see was firelight. One village at which we stopped had a generator. We all thought this was our stop but were disappointed.
When we finally arrived at the village we were to stay (at sometime between 8 and 9pm) the village was silent - everyone was obviously already asleep. It was pretty much the same as the other villages we had passed - no electricity or running water, we were quite pleased we had thought to bring a torch with us.
In the village pretty much everyone had a loom under their houses where they weave the skirts that all the ladies here wear. So they brought them out to sell to us before dinner. We were quite glad that Philip and Marie-Jo (the french couple) bought some because although they were quite beautiful we didn’t have alot of use for them. They looked like alot of work to wear because everyone wearing them seems to have to adjust them all the time.
Dinner was really very good. It was like an omlette made with some really tasty green things and chilli and the most delicious sticky rice I’ve ever tasted. We think it had corn or something in with it.
Our hosts then rolled out matresses and pillows for us and we all bedded down. we were pretty tired so went straight to sleep and only woke once when there was a particularly violent downpour that shook the whole house. Others in our little group were not so lucky as we heard the next day.
Posted in Travel | Tags laos, Nam, River, Tha, travel | no comments
The next morning we discovered why every one was in bed “so early” last night - they all get up just before sunrise (about 5am). If it was just the people walking past we might have been able to sleep through it, but there was a particlularly malevolent duck situated somewhere beneith my ears that would emitt the most peircing volley of quacks at completely random intervalls.
