Laos Day #3 - A Restful But Another Busy Day

27 January 2010 Wednesday - I enjoyed a 12 hour sleep, Duang ended up sleeping 14 hours - no matter where you are there is nothing as soothing for sleep than than the sound of gentle rain on the roof. In Luang Namtha it is even better because the rain keeps the roosters quiet. I always thought that roosters crowed at the break of dawn - it is true, but from this trip I learned that they also crow at 1:00 A.M., 2:00 A. M., 3:00 A. M. - anytime that they choose. It is a little annoying but adds to ambiance of staying in a woven bamboo cottage over looking the Namtha River - a sort of Lao village experience but absent the requirement to bathe in the river like the real villagers.

I got up at 7:30 A. M. 7:30 A. M.? 12 hours of sleep? Yes! The sun sets early and there was no TV in the cottage. Just like when camping, you tend to follow the sun in the hours that remain awake. I had an excellent breakfast of pancakes with sweet condensed milk on them. I enjoyed a glass of fresh orange juice - freshly squeezed just before I was served it. Just like in Brasil, fresh orange juice is squeezed from several oranges and is not poured out of a wax box, out of a frozen can of concentrate, or poured out of a plastic bottle. It is 100% real juice - one of life's pleasures for sure.

I remained in the combination dining room-reception area-tour booking office and worked on my journal. So many different and interesting things have happened that it is an effort to maintain the journal but it is necessary to capture the moments accurately. Maintaining a journal is also an effective means of slowing you down as well as getting you to relax. As Duang sleeps, I use the "down time" to write and in the process my body is recovering from the previous day's efforts.

On this morning Mr. Thone, The Boat Landing's General Manager joined me at my table. He speaks excellent English and was involved in the early formation of the Boat Landing Guest House and Restaurant in Luang Namtha. He was extremely helpful in making arrangements and advising us about the area. After bouncing around and smelling exhaust gases from our "taxi" all day the previous day, I had come to the conclusion that our planned day to the market at Xieng Kok was just not feasible. I didn't know about Duang but I knew that I didn't and perhaps could not stand another 2 hours additional travel each way in the back of the small truck from Muang Sing to Xieng Kok. There was a Toyota tour van parked in the parking lot while I was speaking with Mr. Thone. It was very similar to the vehicles used to transport up to 11 tourists on guided tours in South East Asia. Mr Thone indicated that I could hire the van and driver for the day. The cost would be $130 USD for the day. I thought about the cost and hesitated. I then thought about the probability of returning to Luang Namtha in the future, the costs involved in returning and so forth. I then decided to go ahead and hire the driver and van. Duang joined us and we had a long conversation with Mr. Thone.

Upon our arrival at the Boat Landing Guest House and Restaurant, we had noticed an orange camper, I believed it is called an "Overland" in Europe, parked in the parking area. We didn't pay it much mind believing that it had something to do with the nearby vacant government building used for boat tours when the river runs higher starting in June. The Namtha River was approximately 4 meters (12 feet) below the elevation of the guest house facilities. From watching people cleaning and playing in the river, it appeared to currently be about one meter deep (3 feet) maximum. We learned from Mr Thone that in 2003 the river had rose so much that there was 1.3 meters (4 feet) flooding the facilities. The rainy season makes a very big difference in the river's height as well as flow.

After awhile I noticed that there were people staying inside the vehicle. Eventually a man and a woman left the van and entered into the restaurant. It is strange but you seem to be able to quickly assess people just by observing them for a short period of time especially if they are unawares. Duang and I saw many tourists who seemed to have bad attitudes. We both came to the conclusion that these people were "jai dai" - nice people with good hearts. As we headed back to our room to prepare for the remainder of the day, they said "Hello" to us. We stopped at their table and quickly were engaged in very animated conversation. Jurgen and Helga are not tourists - they are "travelers". When I worked in Malaysia, a bunch of us guys would head out into the countryside on our only day off from work often not really knowing where we wanted to go. We developed the philosophy that we were "travelers" - travelers go places and do things that "tourists" don't. Well Jurgen and Helga were definitely "TRAVELERS" - they left Germany 6 months ago and DROVE to Laos on their way eventually to Australia. They had traveled through Turkey, Iran, India, Pakistan, Tibet, and China. They plan on traveling another year. As we spoke with them of all things as well as matters great and small, our initial impression of them was reinforced. Besides being extremely interesting people, they are very nice people. We informed them of our plans to go to the market in Xieng Kok the next morning and invited them to join us for the day. They accepted and wanted to know how much the trip would cost so that they could share the costs. I told them the cost but told them that whether they came with us or not we were going to do it. I told them that they could pay only what they cared to and that I was not going even count what they pay. I did not want to taint our friendship based upon a judgement of how much they would help. I kept my word and I am content with that.

We went to our cottage and picked up our gear for the day. We had hired our taxi and driver from the previous two days for the afternoon. We picked up our lunch at the hotel restaurant - sandwiches and home made banana bread wrapped in banana leaves - no wax paper or plastic to clutter the environment. Since the leaves were biodegradable, there were no qualms in tossing them over the side of the Taxi truck as we bounced along once more on a dirt road headed for another village.


Our first stop of the afternoon was at Soptud Village, a Lanten settlement. Part of the dirt road was being repaired and we came upon a large compact roller parked on the side of the village road. Small children were clamoring all over the large machine pretending that they were working. A friend of mine back in the USA involved with worker lawsuits sometimes comments on the lack of safety equipment shown in some of my photographs - such as no safety harnesses, and no hard hats. Well this crew violated even more safe practices - no sturdy work boots, no safety glasses, and for one little boy - NO PANTS. On this trip we came upon many young children, mainly young boys, without adequate clothing. Fortunately the weather was warm during the day although night temperatures went down to the high 50s F (14 C).

One of the villages that we visited was a Khmu settlement called Baan Sopsim. As so often occurs on our travels, interesting things were going on in the village just about where ever you were willing to look. We stopped in the center of the village in front of some women with their daughters - busy embroidering and caring for babies. We quickly attracted some of the village children - curious and to a certain degree cautious of foreign visitors. For most of the children it was not very long before their curiosity exceeded their caution.

We heard noise from across the road and we crossed over to investigate. Underneath a low thatched lean-to structure attached to the side of one of the homes, several Khmu men were busy fabricating knives and spear guns. It was so interesting that I will dedicate a separate blog entry just to the "village blacksmiths".

The remainder of our afternoon was spent in visiting a forest cemetery and silk weavers in the Thai Dahm (Black Thai) village of Baan Pahsak. Again there is too much information and photographs to share in this edition of the blog and will be subjects in future blog(s).

Laos Day #2 - Long Journey Back to Luang Namtha

It had taken us 2 hours to go from Luang Namtha to the market at Muang Sing. We finished our market visit around 9:00 A.M.. Since we had hired the "Taxi" and driver for the day, we were free to explore the countryside during our return trip to Luang Namtha. As it turned out, our return trip took 5-1/2 hours!

The weather forecast for the day was a 80% probability of precipitation. Duang at sunrise was concerned that it would rain. I assured her that it would not rain until 3:00 P.M. I don't know why I gave that prediction, but I believed it without reservations.

After some early morning fog, mist and somewhat threatening sky, the day turned out rather good. There was some sun light, and cool temperatures - just right for travel.

Outside of Muang Sing, at the village of Baan So, we came upon farmers preparing the fields for a second planting of rice. Just as in Isaan, the primary rice crop is planted in July and harvested in late November. Some North West Laos farmers with reliable and abundant sources of water, like some in Isaan, plant a second rice crop in January. These farmers were using the same type of "iron buffalo", Kubota - after the Japanese company that builds and markets them, to smooth out the ground in the flooded paddy. Duang shouted out to the driver to pull over and stop so that I could take some photographs. She got out along with me to stretch her legs. Besides being able to photograph these types of activities, stopping and walking a ways gives you the opportunity to listen, smell, and closely observe aspects of daily life. Several workers passed by us either riding bicycles or walking along the road. They seemed as curious about us as we were about them - the main difference only being that I had cameras to take their pictures.

Our driver quickly understood that I enjoyed photographing people. He willing stopped whenever we came upon something or someone interesting - Monks on bicycles, men working in rice paddies, workers harvesting broom plant, Hmong villages, etc, etc. It ended up being a fantastic day with the rain holding off until 2:30 P.M. just as we entered the hotel reception area after our long day on the road but 30 minutes earlier than I predicted.




After photographing the men preparing the rice paddies for planting, we drove to Ban Singhyuan (sp?). In Ban Singhyuan we encountered a crew of workers working in a very large watermelon patch. The driver pulled over and stopped. I hopped out with Duang right behind me. We joined the workers out in the middle of the patch or more aptly "field". The workers, a mixture of men and women ranging in age from approximately 15 to 45 years old, were trimming the vines by pinching off "runners" with their fingers. This would increase the productivity of the vines. Some of the workers were delicately picking up the vines to dip the flower blossoms into a clear watery liquid contained in the inverted top half of a 1.25 liter recycled soda plastic bottle. The vines were cultivated much like cultivated strawberries - planted in plastic covered long furrows of soil. The vines grow up and out of small holes made in the top of the plastic. As a furrow was completed, the crew moved over to the next furrow to repeat their activities. Although it was still early in the morning, temperature around the plastic sheeting and dry compacted clay soil was rapidly rising. The workers were very friendly as well as sociable - the younger women joking about wanting to find a foreign husband. I have written about farm workers making between 100 baht ($3.00 USD a day) for garlic workers near Maehongson and 150 baht ($5.00 USD a day) for rice workers in Isaan (Tahsang Village)so I was interested in knowing how much Lao farm workers were paid. They told Duang that they make 120 baht a day.


Our next stop on our trip back to Luang Namtha was a Yao village called Ban Namai. The Yao people migrated from China and are typified by the large red fluffy trim on woman's jackets. The Yao, also known as Meo, people are well known for their cross stitching and embroidery. Duang and I had purchased some Yao textiles during our trip to Chiang Rai two years ago. Upon our arrival in the village we were besieged by women with textiles and handicrafts for sale. It is often difficult when there are so many people trying to earn some money. You want to help but there is only so much that you can do. We ended up buying a beautiful piece that had an embroidered butterfly and flower motif. The young man who had made the piece has gone to school in China, speaks Chinese, and speaks rather good English. The piece 31 inches by 50 inches cost us $42 USD. We bought some smaller items and having felt that we had done enough for that village's economy, we beat a hasty retreat.




We stopped in the Tai Dam (Black Tai) village of Ban Nong Bua. We found a woman who was weaving cotton underneath the shade of her home. I watched for awhile and took some photographs. Duang and she entered into negotiation over some of the woman's work so I left to tour the village on my own. In the end Duang had purchased two hand woven and sewn Tai Dam shirts for our one year old grandson for $1.00 each and a man sized traditional shirt for $6 USD. I went down one of the side streets of the village and encountered women wanting to sell me textiles. I turned and although I did not run, I walked fairly fast to another part of the village. In this part of the village an addition was being constructed to one of the homes. The men were using lumber levers to lift a part of the house onto stones for a better foundation. I lent my weight if not expertise to the operation and the house was easily lifted and placed. The construction effort was a family effort by husband, brothers, grandfather, and sons. Aunts, grandmother, daughters, and wife were occupied in cooking food on wood fires for the construction crew. I was there for quite awhile and Duang finally found me. She had been worried about my fearlessness to discover things in these villages.

In Ban Tin That, we found workers harvesting broom plant. Throughout the district broom plant has been cut and is laying out in the sun to dry in huge fields, alongside the roads, and inside the villages. Broom plant is a reed with a large soft head. The reed stems are bound together to form a handle and the fluffy heads are swept across surfaces to clean them. We use these types of brooms in our home as just about everyone else does. The harvested broom plant is exported to China, turned into consumer products for domestic consumption as well as export. I had walked out to the workers alone and after engaging them in conversation well beyond my verbal and pantomime skills I called out to Duang for assistance. Of all the workers we encountered on our return trip these workers were the most friendly as well as the youngest. They were gathering up the broom plants that had been cut three days ago. The cut plants had laid spread out in the sun to dry out. The Chinese companies pay 1,200 KIP ($0.14 USD) a kilogram for raw material but 2,000 Kip ($0.24 USD) a kilogram for dry product. These workers were gathering the dry plants and bundling them together with strips of bark to create sheaves that were then hauled over to a small spring scale to be weighed and loaded onto a large truck. I joked to the workers about all the plant going from Laos to China so that China could send it to America. I learned that these workers make less money, 80 Baht a day, than farm workers in Isaan. Duang is able to talk to most of the people so we learn a great deal about their life and work. She is not able to speak to some of the minorities such Akha who speak only their languages and not Lao.

We stopped at a Hmong Village several kilometers outside of Luang Namtha. It was rather new and did not have a name. Children were headed out into the forest with woven bamboo baskets on their back. The children gather firewood to bring back home and food for the family meal. It is a constant wonder to me to see small children making significant contribution to the family welfare. Children too young to go off in the forest, contribute by caring for their baby brothers and sisters. Spend some time in these back waters of SE Asia and you soon realize that childhood is a luxury that is affordable to very few people.

That night it rained most of the night. We slept very well to the gentle sound of rain on the wood shingles of our cottage and the lack of roosters proclaiming their presence. We slept 12 hours after our journey in the pickup bed taxi truck. A great way to end a great day.

Muang Sing Market - Laos Day 2

We awoke at 4:00 A. M. Tuesday morning, 26 January, to be able to leave the hotel at 5:00 A. M. for our two hour journey to the market at Muang Sing. The market opened at 7:00 A. M. and I wanted to be there to get the full experience of the place. Before going to Luang Namtha, I had done extensive research, much like I do for all our journeys, to determine places, peoples, and events of interest to visit. Visiting the markets at Muang Sing and further on to Xieng Kok were on my list of priorities for our trip.

Muang Sing is a sort of link to my past. Just as I had read and heard in elementary school about exotic venues such as Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, when I was young I had read a book about a famous American doctor in Laos during the late 1950s, Dr Tom Dooley. He founded a hospital in Muang Sing and was well known for his humanitarian efforts in Vietnam as well as Laos. He was a vehement anti-Communist and is known to have assisted the CIA in their efforts against them. His contributions were to in the arenas of publicity and propaganda. Just as I was able to visit Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu, I, as an adult, would be visiting the area of Laos that Dr. Dooley had written about.

Muang Sing is located in a broad river valley created by the Nam La River and is about 7 miles from the border with China. The area still produces opium, approximately 4 tons a year but much of it is consumed by the local minorities such as the Akha people. Young people in the district also consume heroin and amphetamines. Sometimes they sell narcotics in the market to falangs (foreigners). I had been approached in Vientiane about buying drugs during my last trip to Laos a year ago. I was not approached to buy opium, heroin, or even amphetamines, I was approached to purchase Viagra! Fortunately I have no need or interest for such "medication" so I was not interested. The same remains true on this trip - no need or interest for drugs or any variety. However some tourists do go to the area for recreational drug use. Posters in hotels and restaurants in Lao as well as English ask people to refrain from such activities.

We had hired the same "taxi" and driver that we had employed the previous day. The two bench seats in the pick up bed were about 6 inches wide and not heavily padded. The sides of the pick up bed had several small pads attached to it but hardly enough to make a two hour trip reasonably comfortable. Anticipating comfort issues, I had requested the driver the evening before to place a saht, woven reed mat, on the floor of the bed.

We set off for Muang Sing in a heavy mist typical of the weather in Luang Namtha at this time of the year. Seated on the bench seat, I was unable to see much of anything due to darkness and mist. Duang quickly decided to lay down on the saht and rest if not go back to sleep with the spare tire laying on the floor as her pillow. We bounced along the rough paved road out of Luang Namtha towards the NPA (Namtha Protected Area). The NPA is 2,224 square kilometers of preserved heavily forested lands which is home to tigers, elephants, leopards,and gaur. We took Highway 17A through the NPA to get to Muang Sing. The NPA is heavily forested with large towering trees on each side of Highway 17A, a 1-1/2 lane wide paved road.

Many small villages are situated alongside of the highway just like we encountered last year along Highway 13 to Luang Prabang. The drive was very rough. I toughed it out for about an hour on the bench seat before I joined Duang on the floor. It was interesting to watch the sun rise over the mountains of the NPA. Duang was concerned that it would rain. Before we had left home I had printed the long range weather forcast for Luang Namtha. The forecast for the day was for 80% chance of precipitation. I told Duang that it would not rain until 3:00 P. M. We had driven 1-1/2 hours and encountered only one other vehicle on the road. During the final 30 minutes of our drive, as we approached Muang Sing, traffic picked up and we saw about 6 other vehicles.

As we drove along the valley floor there were many more villages. These villages were more established than the mountain villages with concrete and brick rather than wood or bamboo structures. As the sun rose, the valley villages came to life. Women were outside of their homes starting the fires to cook the morning meal as well as warm up the family. Night time temperatures had gone down into the 50s Fahrenheit. The fresh smell of the rain forest was gradually replaced by the smoke and smell or wood or charcoal fires.

As the sun rose, our trepidation and fear of speeding along a dark, narrow, and winding road through the forest eased into an overall weariness of bumping along rough roads in the back of a very small pickup truck.


Muang Sing is not much to see and even less to write about. It was destroyed during a battle between Royalist and Pathet Lao troops in 1962. The town was rebuilt to a small extent after the 1975 revolution.

The market was very interesting. We arrived just as it was opening. The market is comprised of several buildings. Two of the buildings were permanent shops, similar to those that you encounter throughout South East Asia, that sold a variety of goods. Another building contained several restaurants where people went to have their breakfast. There was a very large open sided structure where fruit, vegetables and some clothing items are for sale. There was another building where meat was for sale. On the paved area around the vegetable and meat buildings, people had placed tarps and blankets to sell their produce. At one end of this row of vendors was the chicken vendor. She had 6 large woven bamboo baskets with 5 to 6 chickens underneath each overturned basket. These must have been hens since there didn't seem to be any fighting - just protests. There was a rooster but he was not caged. he was tied to a string around his foot with the other end of the string tied around a rock. A little toddler kept getting into trouble much to my amusement by constantly moving the rock. With a few snaps of his mother's fingers to his forehead, he was eventually dissuaded from his fun.

I was very impressed with the quality of the produce. The tomatoes were especially beautiful. They were nicely rounded and bright red - even to me and I am color blind. I found out later that the produce comes from China - a mere 11 kilometers away.

There was some excitement when a new pickup truck arrived at the market and set up a sound system. The government telephone company was selling cell phones and SIMM cards. There was a big demand for them.

The meat market section of the market was also very busy. Four separate hind legs of water buffalo were suspended on ropes from the rafters. Men were busy cutting portions from the legs as selected by the many customers. In the two hours that we were at the market, three of the hind quarters were completely sold - down to and including the hoof. I have a photograph of a man leaving the market with the lower leg and hoof slung over his shoulder. I know that it was water buffalo by the hoof and the severed head leaning up against the end of the counter.






We had not had breakfast until we arrived at the market. We found a booth selling bread, fresh French bread, and a pastry similar to what is called "Bear Claw" in the USA. Rather than spreading butter, jelly, or even peanut butter on the bread, the vendor cut the bread open and drizzled sweet condensed milk on the inside of the bread. We bought one loaf of bread the size of a Subway 12" sandwich and one Bear Claw for 5,000 Kip (around $0.60 USD). Duang bought some small diameter bamboo tubes filled with sticky rice and coconut cream called "Kao laam"- 10,000 Kip ($1.40). With two bottles of water we had a great breakfast that we ate in the back of our taxi pickup truck. So good a breakfast and so delicious that Duang went back and bought another french bread and Bear Claw for me.

It had taken us 2 hours to get to the market from Luang Namtha but the journey back took 5-1/2 hours to get back to the hotel. But that is a different story - a blog for another day.