I've had 3 fantastic days trekking with 2 local guides and just me in Nong Khiaw, we didn't see another falang (foreigner).
The scenery is spectacular, so much space, so clean and so peaceful.
We have hunted and gathered as we went, I've eaten flowers, fruits, squirrel! truffles, giant grass hoppers but declined the centipede. We've sang folk songs as we cut our path through the forest, we've crossed perilous tracks, been attacked by leaches, I finally realised I'm not butch but I didn't cry.
Loved staying in the villages, one Laos leu, one Khmu and one Hmong, the Laotian people are so generous, gentle and welcoming. I learned that a smile says a thousand words and children don't earn their pants until they are roughly 3 years old in this part of Laos!
The families we stayed with prepared delicious food all local grown or hunted and made the 3 of us very comfortable dens, I insisted in being in the middle! There was a lot of snoring, teeth grinding and other unusual noises, but it was very snug and warm, yippeee.
One morning we had a health clinic sitting around the fire, mainly older people of the village came for advice. Lots of back and knee pain (which I recommended using chilli chopped and mixed with vaseline as a topical pain killer), lots of osteoporosis for which I recommended eating fish bones, there's no diary here and some chest pain for which all I could suggest was stop eating salt! a major ingredient in the Laotian diet. There no healthcare in the village, the nearest is 3 hours away by foot and boat and after my mini GP surgery I think this would be a great place for me to set up, all I need is a translator and a generous drug company to supply some simple medicines.
Life seems pretty tough here to me, electricity has only just arrived, people work incredibly hard living from the land and the choose of husband or wife comes from the village which only have 50 families. There's no privacy, on day 2 Phoud, the guide said we really needed to wash, so it was off to the tap, the water was icy cold, I screamed loudly but only on the inside! standing covered in soap in my undies with everyone laughing at me. Everyone I met seemed very content, Phoud informed me the population is growing and people do not leave the village in search of a different life. The children were free, there's no crime, the communities were strong and self-governing, people helped each other, shared everything and we so graceful. Mmm, I could spend more time here.
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