We slept hard that night, but it wasn't enough to get us in shape for the hike we took on Day 2 in Laos. It took a minivan at least an hour on a bumpy dirt road to get us to the Nam Khan river, which we needed to cross before we could begin our uphill trek through part-jungle, part-slash & burned terrain.
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| This woven bridge was soft but strong |
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| Our ferryman |
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| A millipede of some kind |
We visited two
villages inhabited by ethnic minority groups: The Hmong were originally
from southern China and began to migrate into Laos in the 1700s. The
Khmu are indigenous to northern Laos. Neither group is Buddhist, and Lao
is not their first language.
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| Slash and burn - a way of life here |
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| Ok, there is *some* plumbing |
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| The exterior wall is woven, like the footbridge above |
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| Who's a good puppy? |
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| Mother and baby, no bond stronger |
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| She was happy to pose for the strangers |
These
people must farm mountain rice and hunt/gather what they can from the
jungle, or they don't eat. Drinking water, from rain and the river, is
'filtered' through dirt. There are no markets, no electricity, no roads,
no vehicles, no plumbing. The Lao gov't is trying to get them to move
into the cities so they can get public housing, education, and other
essential services.
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| I love bananas |
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Especially when their leaves give us shade - we hiked with these
|
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| Finally, it's dense enough for the knife to come out |
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| This bird was hunted and will soon be a snack |
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| Will he share with his friends? |
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| Beth had their attention, even with no language in common |
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| About to try out a bow and arrow |
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| All this land was densely forested just a few decades ago |
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| I guess that's one way to get kids to go to school - push the amenities |
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| Back down to the river |
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| Water buffalo do it all year long |
