Thursday 26th and Friday 27th December, 2019 – Vang Vieng
The road to Vang Vieng had many potholes and was busy.
On the way, we noticed young men and women dressed up in traditional costumes going to a funfair. We stopped and had a walk around. We met a local who spoke english and he explained that people were celebrating the Hmong New Year. (the Hmong are an ethnic group in East and Southeast Asia living mainly in Southern China, Vietnam and Laos)
We were looking forward to Van Vieng and its reputed idyllic scenery, unfortunately the weather was not with us. We had grey sky and low clouds blocking the views. It was slightly better the day we left…
Saturday 28th , Sunday 29th December, 2019 – Luang Prabang
Rediscovered Luang Prabang with pleasure. The town is a mix of Buddhist temples, french colonial buildings and top cuisine. It is easy to fall under its ancient charm and chic refinement. The centre comes alive in the evening with its night market where you can find souvenirs, local handicrafts and street food. We simply strolled along the streets, relaxed at cafes and enjoyed the atmosphere.
Monday 30th December, 2019 – Nong Khiaw
The Hmong New Year celebrations are still going on and we saw plenty of people (mainly women) dressed up in their bright costumes going on about their daily lives, going to markets… or parties, enjoying the festive season.
Nong Khiaw
Nong Khiaw is on the Nam Ou river and surrounded by impressive forest clad karsts. It is a base to go trekking or up river to more remote villages only accessible by boat. There are lots of caves in this part of Laos, many, like Tham Pha Tok, an enormous cave near Nong Khiaw , were used by villagers to hide during the second Indochina War.
Tuesday 31st December, 2019 – Udomxai
Woke up to low clouds this morning but they started to clear by 9:30 am and we went on a short hike to a viewpoint one hour away.
After a light lunch we took the road to Udomxai, two and a half hours away. The road was good initially but we soon hit stretches of unpaved road made all the worse by lorries trundling up and down with heavy loads. The Trans-Asian Railway project is under construction in northern Laos and we have been criss-crossing its path all along the way from Ventiane.( the aim of this project, financed by China, is to link landlocked Laos to Asia, Europe and beyond).
Some of the scenery and people met on the way:
Wednesday 1st, Thursday 2nd January, 2020 – Luang Namtha – Vieng Phuka
Celebrations were going on last night with music playing late and fireworks being set off. All day today we saw people, families having lunch outside their front door, at roadside open-air restaurants etc…
We went to a small village 3 km outside Vieng Phuka where women wear black indigo tunic and skirts with a pink border and sash as well as silver necklaces. They belong to the Lanten ethnic group, originally from southern China. The women also do bamboo paper which you can see drying on frames near the river. The process involves making a sort of pulp mix from bamboo and spreading it over a cotton cloth stretched over a frame and letting it dry in the sun.
Friday 3rd January, 2020 – Huang Hay – Border crossing with Thailand.
We decided to cross into Thailand today so made the last push to the border. We were dreading it as we had some problems when we did enter Thailand the first time from Malaysia. ( Thailand introduced some more stringent customs rules for temporary import of vehicles a couple of years ago, but it is not uniformly applied). In the end it went pretty smoothly and we were through !
