| Laos 2006 - North |
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| We start this trip again at Namkong Guesthouse - but just to take a picture. |
| We stayed instead at the new Namkong Hotel - same owner as the guesthouse. Rooms are aircon and very comfy, starting at 800 baht. These days it's more my style. No rats thank you. |
| Scenery along the Mekong at Chiang Kong. Huay Sai in Laos can be seen across the river. |
| Boat to Huay Sai - 20 baht |
| Arrival in Laos - immigration and currency exchange (good rates) |
| The slow boat ramp in Huay Sai - this is how most backbackers start their Laos trip |
| The boats can hold up to 80 or in extreme cases 150 people, but it's a good opportunity to meet your fellow travellers. |
| Meanwhile there are buses from Huay Sai to all over the country - if the road is passable that is. |
| The road to Luang Namtha was (in April 2006) heavily under construction and very dusty. After a few rains it turns to mud and can sometimes be impassable. This time it took 8 hours to Namtha. |
| Rural scenery - almost all rice fields - around Namtha |
| I found these animals in a cage at a restaurant, and later identified them as "Palm Civets" - an endangered species. |
| Informational poster like those found all over the country. The sign says something like "Love your life, love your family, if you're not naughty AIDS not looking for you, etc." |
| Like most of interior Southeast Asia, Northern Laos many trees are burned to the ground annually as part of the agricultural cycle. Recently many older forests like this one have been burned down to make way for rubber trees. It's a controversial method of introducing new industry in the wake of opium erradication. If you ask me it's mostly just for show, and anyway rubber trees take about 7 years to start producing rubber - what are these people going to do meanwhile? Also has anyone thought about the efffects of errosion among other issues? |
| The road between Luang Namtha and Muang Sing is remote and lined with many mixed mountain tribes. The road is very good quality due to Chinese funding, but the people along the way are typically very shy. We rented a mototrbike and went to Muang Sing for a couple days and then back again. It is about 58 km and takes about 2 hours, or if you want you can make it take all day and there is a lot to see. |
| On the way we stopped at this market where people were just squatting on the ground with a few tubers and leaves for sale. I knew we were in a pretty poor area when the kids all gathered around the motorbike to look at themselves in the rear view mirrors. |
| In Muang Sing, I found two posters relating to opium use and the dangers to local people and oneself. |