Hello Laos!

7^th November 2012

It's our last day in Thailand! We were up at 6am to get ready and have breakfast – the hostel manager made everyone banana pancakes which were pretty nice once I'd removed all the banana. We then made a two minute walk to the boarder crossing, took a long boat across and waited at immigration which is really just a small booth. It took a while to get our visa and we had to do it separately to the group – apparently as there was no room for us on the bus leaving Chiang Khong we couldn't officially be a part of Stray. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be as our tour guide told us what to do but be advised if you're ever thinking of going with Stray, they will clear off and leave you in a foreign country.

Which is exactly what they did next. Everyone boarded the bus and left Rory and I in Chiang Khong to find and pay our own way to Luang Namtha. After spending just under £1,000 on our bus passes, I was pretty miffed that we had to do this, especially as seven seats on the bus were taken up by Stray staff – our tour guide, our local guide, the bus driver and four trainee tour guides. If this was any sort of reputable business in the UK the trainee guides, who are for all intents and purposes on holiday as they haven't done any real work, would have gotten the public transport, allowing the paying customers to get to their next destination, something which every person should be guaranteed if they are not hopping of the bus.

We eventually found a mini-bus that would take us to Luang Namtha for 90,000Kip each, about £9. This isn't too bad but we were supposed to leave at 10am and didn't actually set off until 11am which woulnd't be that bad if we weren't trying to catch up to the Stray bus! When we did get going it was at a painfully slow pace and the driver stopped at whim to buy fruit and snacks for himself. We even stopped off to pick up his girlfriend and her chickens. No joke, she had a box of baby chicks which sat behind me chirping as we made our way along the windy and pretty dangerous roads of Laos. Nobody sticks to their own lane here, they overtake on corners and they don't seem to mind when they almost crash into another vehicle! Despite this erratic driving we met the Stray bus in Luang Namtha and went to our accomodation for the evening – a homestay in a Laos village.

The village was quite big with around 200 families but they'd never participated in a homestay before so while they'd obviously seen foreigners, they'd never had any stay in their village and homes. We split up in to three groups and met our host families. We were staying with a woman and her daughter and they spoke absolutely no English. I think that while they were very excited and pleased that we were staying, they were being quite nervous and they mainly just watched us and smiled at us. We've found that a lot over here; everyone is very friendly. As we took a tour of the village people came out of their houses to say hello and to wave at us. The children were fascinated with us, they were a little shy at first but after a while they were following us around, waving, shouting hello and just being kids. While some thing feel very different here, it's nice to see that some things are the same, if not better. The kids all looked genuinely happy, they weren't stuck in front of the computer or television, they were swimming at the river, catching fish, playing with their animals and each other.

One of the women must have taken a shine to me because she began wrapping me in traditional dress, which was both flattering (I think, maybe she just hated what I was wearing?) and also very embarrassing.

After our tour we had a swim in the river! Laos culture really stressed the importance of modesty and women can't swim in bikini's or even swimsuits so they wear sarongs. I brought my own from home but little did I realise that when it gets wet it goes see through! The children were all laughing at my spotty swimsuit! After that embarrassing incident we had dinner – our first meal in Laos and it was actually really nice. The rice here is called sticky rice and you roll it up in a ball and dip it in the food. The left hand is for rice and the right for a spoon or chopsticks, if needed. 

When we were full to bursting we went to our neighbours house where everyone drank Lao Lao, a rice whisky made in Laos which is meant to be really strong! After a few the host had had enough so we headed back to the river where we lit a campfire and just chilled out under the stars, which are amazing here - I've never seen so many!

Sleeping in the host families house was pretty interesting. All the sleeping mats and blankets were new as we were the first to stay and we had a mosquito net and despite sleeping on the floor I was pretty comfy. Just as I was preparing to sleep I head a very loud noise which I was assured was just a gecko! Talk about getting back to nature!