After a few too many days in VV (due to some upset tummies) we finally made our way up north to Luang Prabang. The drive was long, but at least it allowed us to see a little more of rural Laos. We passed village after village on our six-hour journey.

It was time to get out to the hill tribes we'd heard so much about, so we went looking for a guide. Much like Vietnam, it had become abundantly clear that we were not going to follow the tourist masses; when a man approached us on the street offering to escort us back to his home village, we jumped at the chance. It was only a two-day trek, so we figured it would be easy- ha! We're still aching two months later!!

Our guide really down played the extent of the walking that we would have to do. The heat was incredible, which doesn't make for healthy walking conditions, and we're apparently more out of shape than we wanted to acknowledge; we've learned our lesson now…not that that's likely to change anything in the future! Anyway, as it turned out we had to walk up three small mountains to get to the village where we were spending the night. In total we walked close to 50km mostly up and down mountains in the two days. The villages were very cool and very remote! We were waving Lara and Ryan on through much of the hike there, telling them we'd be fine living here on the mountainside if only they'd send a little food and water once in awhile.

For the first time since I had been in Morocco, I got to meet my dinner out in the field. It turns out that Asian chickens, who have spent their lives running freely, are quite gangly, gristly, and generally unpalatable…especially for someone like me who has a hard time with odd meat. Through most of dinner, Cheryl was kicking me under the table and muttering under her breath, "Eat the damn chicken! Seriously, you have to eat the damn chicken!" I ate the chicken.

We had tea and "smoked" with the chief. And then we turned in for the night. The next morning, when we inquired about "bathroom habits", we were pointed down a hill. As the saying goes, when in Laos… That's when we learned how aggressive pigs could be! Not thirty seconds after doing up our pants, we heard a loud chorus of snorting rushing towards us. We did the only thing we could do in such a situation, we ran and watched from afar, both horrified and awed at the spectacle. Huh, it's an interesting take on sanitation.

The new year was fast approaching, so it was time to get back to the city.