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Thai/Laos Bornder - Houay XaiJan 18, 2005
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A typical Laten village house - (they could've tidied!)
The Laten Village
Dinner at the Laten Village wth some of the people on our...
| We left Chiang Mai early in the morning and travelled by minibus for 6 hours through the Thai countryside and across the Meekong to get to our first place in Laos. The Meekong River is a huge, and in parts fast flowing river which we crossed on a very narrow boat to reach Houay Xai where our accomodation for the night was awaiting. Our home for the night was a timber hut with a thatched roof. Outside, in front of our window was several ripe papaya fruit ready to be picked hanging from a tree. The accomodation itself was sparten but clean. There was nothing as grand as a flushing toilet but at least there was a hot shower which was great after travelling for 6 hours cooped up in a minibus. As we had arrived in the early afternoon we still had some time to kill so Stacey (our guide) suggested we visit a local Laten hilltribe village. The tribe (who's name escaped me) welcomed us as we arrived and we were almost immidiately free to walk around the 'village' (although even 'Hamlet' almost seems to generous a term for a collection of thatched huts). Although the tribe had almost no possesions to speak of, I have never met a happier group of people in my life (perhaps shopping isnt the answer to true happiness after all). Stacey explained that the tribe were primarily slash and burn farmers but also made their own paper which they sold to pay for things for their school where the children of the village attended, along with the children from 2 other tribal villages nearby. After we had walked around for a while they made us some sticky rice from their paddy field and had cooked us some 'seasonal' greens which they had picked from their garden. All this to be washed down with a demonic home brew called Lau Lau, or rice whisky. I'm not sure why or how they decided it was whisky s it was clear like vodca and tasted like paint stipper. After a couple of thimble-full's of lau lau we bade them farewell - gave them a small donation towards their school and returned to our huts along a v dusty pot-holed road which was the equivalent of the M25. Photo's will be added soon - the internet connection in Laos so far have been about half that of a dial up modem in England. |
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