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I'm now in Nong Khiaw, but last I wrote we were still in Huay Xai.
The slow boat to Pak Beng departed late and was overfilled, but once away was peaceful with lush mountains and quaint villages on either side. The next day to Luang Prabang was longer, even more packed, and the views didn't change much. Still, I had time to read an entire borrowed book, have a nap, and witness the boat get flagged down like a bus by locals.
Luang Prabang is indeed a wonderful little city, with an enticing mix of traditional Laos and colonial French influences that encompasses food, language, culture and architechture. I took a cooking course, jogged to the top of Phu Si mountain to take in the sunset, went to a disco them bowling in the middle of the night, visited some temples and checked out the architechture, conversed with locals who wanted to practice their English at Big Brother Mouse (which it turns out is not a totalitarian Disney figure) and swam around, in, and under the breathtaking nearby waterfalls, swung off ropes and jumped off rocks. And I ate, a lot.
After my third night, I said goodbye to what remained of my jungle and slow boat friends, jumped into a cramped minivan (apparently functioning aircon means your ass gets narrower and four people can share three seats) and headed to Nong Khiaw. I decided not to jump on the boat straight to Muang Ngoi Neua and spend a night there, visiting the nearby caves where villagers hid during the second indochina war, giving away books to children and relaxing with new companions (there's nothing like being literally stuck to each other for three hours to bring people together).
More goodbyes and promises to meet up or stay in touch (I hope to keep at least some of them), and on to the nowadays touristy but undeniably charming an peaceful, boat-accessible-only Muang Ngoi Neua. From here, there's easy tracks that lead past stunning rice paddies framed by sharp mountains to even more remote villages.
I came to South-East Asia seeking culture shock, or a least some broadening of perspective. So far I had been suprised, amused, overwhelmed, and perhaps challenged, but never shocked. Seeing children use a bird with a string attached to its feet as a kite, then butcher it by attempting to untangle it out of a tree with a machete, well, consider me a little unsettled. Still, I'm not here to judge and my motto, since I read it in the bacpacker magazine, is "accept, accept, accept", so here's to cultural differences.
Tonight I hope to get on a bus heading East from Nong Khiaw to less-visited Sam Neua (the afternoon bus I wanted to take never left Luang Prabang) and Viang Xai.
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