From Luang Prabang, Dave and I took a 3-4 hour, 40,000kip sawngthaew trip north to Nong Kiaw, a sleepy village cut into the green, limestone cliffs along the Nam Ou, a tributary to the Mekong farther south. The road was dusty and bumpy all the way, so the face mask I'd gotten earlier (for the awful hack I'd developed idling in Vientiane traffic) was vital to my well-being. Here are photos from the first day...the ride out to Nong Kiaw Village and walks around the village.
Here's day two, my favorite part! Dave and I rented bikes to visit a nearby cave that was used as a hiding place during the war. Then we hurried back to town to take a boat up the Nam Ou with Home and his father. Home's family owned the rustic herbal sauna and massage shop in town. A very bright kid who wanted to go to college, but the family didn't have the money to send him. So he's working at home...learning English and Japanese at a break-neck pace as Nong Kiaw further opens up to falang travelers.
Check out the video on the right of the local boys playing an acrobatic 3-on-3 game of kataw.
No comments:
Post a Comment