Opium Villages, Mud Fights and Kayaking Delirium

The truck picked Dan, Tim, Denise and I up at 8:45AM from our guest house and drove us into town to get breakfast before heading north of Luang Prabang for a three day trek through the villages and jungles of Laos. It was just the four of us this time with a guide ($45US for all meals and accomodation for the duration) which was perfect!! The first night would be staying at a Hmong Village and the second would be tenting beside a river. We had just spent two days biking around the city (and a 20km bike UP hill to a 'waterfall the day before) and our legs were slightly killed but we were totally motivated for the trekking. Couldn't be THAT hard right :)

A thirty minute drive from hell (I was certain I was going to fly out of the back of the truck!!!) and we found ourselves waste deep in a fast moving river. We had to cross to the other side with our packs on - it was hilarious and next to impossible to keep balance. It would take us six hours to get to the first village, we kept up a pretty good pace stopping to rest a few times and eat lunch.

We came across one village which was the poorest we have seen yet. In most cases the children seem well fed and happy and healthy and there is access to food, clean water and a school. They live very differently from us but there is nothing wrong with the way they live. In this case there was neither of the things that made it okay... The children were really sick (terrible coughs) and they didn't have a school or access to clean water. They had to bathe and get water from the same lake that the cows and chickens used for the same purpose. It was eye opening and totally heartbreaking.

The first night we stayed in a village that was completely cracked out. Everyone was on Opium.. it was totally bizarre. Besides the all night puke fest outside our cabin we had a great dinner and a decent night sleep. Not to mention an amazing dinner that our guide (Huan) prepared for us.

The next morning it was off again, this time only four hours of trekking, with some amazing stops (check Denise's pix..she has some amazing scenery shots). We kayaked for the last half an hour to the spot where we would camp for the night, set up our tents and walked into the village for a snack while dinner was prepared. We sat around with the locals while they practiced their english and tried to teach us how to count in Laos. The guys were drinking Laos whisky.. nasty stuff. Denise and I stayed away :)

Dinner was.. chicken soup. We *knew* that while we were waiting they were killing and cleaning one of the chickens who were running around the village. Um, ew.. but that's what happens so it's okay right? What we didn't realize is that chicken soup meant the entire chicken. Feet, head, bones and ALL. Denise and I couldn't eat after our guide chomped down on the chicken toes and sucked the brain out of the head.

At night we had a bonfire by the beach and the locals sang Laos songs while we tried to compete with our iPod party idea. We lost :) but it was entertaining to say the least.

The next morning we left early for our kayak ride down river back to Luang Prabang and stopped at a waterfall to swim for a few hours. The water is really low right now so the waterfall wasn't as incredible as it could be but it was nice because we were practically the only people there. The water was FREEZING but it was still fun and totally refreshing.

Continuing on we left to finish our trek with a four hour kayak down the Nam Khan river. There were seaweed fights, there were mud fights and there were rapids. At one point the guys completely bailed out at the hardest part of the rapids. Denise and I were laughing so hard at them floating down the river I'm suprised ours didn't capsize as well. Denise and I should be in the olympics for river kayaking.. we kind of kick ass at the rapids :)

The last twenty minutes were perhaps the most delirious of my entire life. Our arms were complete rubber (two to a kayak) and Denise and I could not stop laughing. Mix that with extreme exhaustion and you get silly. We were really glad to hit shore and get back to town.