Up bright and early to leave the hotel:
Past the now-familiar wooden houses:
Interspersed randomly with much newer, more expensive, brick/concrete houses:
To the first waterfall of our tour:
Then back on the bike where you could see across the plateau for miles:
To access the second waterfall, we needed to conquer a “10km trail”. We were feeling adventurous and set off enthusiastically. I have to point out that Karin was brave enough to do the driving, me having proved that further practice was needed before I’d be let loose on uneven ground. It was fine for 8km, then got progressively worse (“we must be almost there, though”) until it was so rutted we got off and pushed in places. We convinced ourselves that the trip had been worth it, although in reality we both knew it hadn’t.
Having decided to wade to the middle of the river, I slipped a little on the way back. Two young Lao girls by the bank, looked over and kept asking something. We assumed they were checking I was OK so nodded, smiled and repeated “Yes, thak you, thank you.” It was only as I was putting my shoes back on that I realized they were alternating “Sabaidee” (“hello”) with various demands, such as “Money”. Pointing to my bumbag, the older girl looked at me expectantly. “No, sorry”. Then another “Sabaidee”, followed by pointing to my hairband. I considered giving it to her, but I didn’t have another with me. This was a good decision I realized as I contemplated it afterwards, as it’s generally considered unwise to give them anything (else they start to associate tourists with money and stop going to school and pursue the tourist dollar instead). It struck me how young these people start chasing it.
Negotiating the rutted trail on the way back, we slipped. Nothing major (as we were going 4kph max, in fact, it would have been quicker to walk, which we duly did), but it shook us a little and we (the royal “we”, of course!), proceeded even more cautiously. Seeing the main road was such a relief and we calculated it had taken us over two hours to do the detour. We made a decision to not bother again.
Passing through villages on the way to the next waterfall (I’m driving now), the satellite dishes looked incongruous next to the wooden huts:
And more amazing views:
I was enjoying it. I’d never been on a motorbike before I came to Asia, but as the region’s main form of transport, it had been difficult to avoid. Now here I was cruising through the countryside (albeit at less than 40mph!)… to the next waterfall:
What do you mean? Look closely. See, the water is there on the right-hand side. OK, admittedly it would have been better if there’d actually been more than a trickle, but you can’t get too picky about these things 😉 And the views made up for it:
Back on the bike (for some reason, Karin suggested she drive again):
And then I saw something I’d not seen yet in Asia – people out for a run. There were a few runners around the lake in Hanoi, but nobody out on the streets. I looked closer to make sure they were actually running just for the sake of it (the sweat gave it away), and noticed that they were running in flip flops. Seriously. I caught myself before another first-world brain thought – of course they’re running in flip flops, they’re the only footwear they have…
Every tourist wants to get off the tourist trail. But there’s a downside to this – you feel intrusive. And so it was with the ethnic village. It was marked on the map, but clearly had very few visitors.
We wandered down the street, wooden huts with dusty floors and children playing naked outside (only the younger ones, who often don’t seem to have any bottoms on):
It didn’t feel right. I don’t know whether they got money for being signposted, but I felt like I was invading their privacy. We left.
And then we found the best waterfall of the day. Not marked on the map. Just followed signs from the road and stumbled across this beauty:
Then I noticed there were locals. With baskets. Having a wash, and washing their clothes. Oh my goodness, we’d inadvertently stumbled across bathtime:
I averted my eyes. Some were obviously self-conscious. Maybe about their bodies, but I think mostly about the fact that they had to come to the local waterfall to bath. Not exactly an en suite. Back on the bike, further down the road we found another path and realised we were now looking at the same waterfall from downstream:
It was part of a resort. A very expensive resort, from what we could see. And I was dismayed to see an elephant. Surrounded by tourists (who, at least, weren’t riding it). I wondered whether they realized that they were partly responsible for it being there – if no tourists want the “elephant talk”, then there’ll be no elephant. My heart sank just a little bit.
Random stuff from today:
Bridges here worry me. Maybe my first-world standards are way too high, but I know that at some point a bridge like this will collapse and, whilst the chances are minimal, I don’t want to be on it when it happens:
On the other hand, they do bins really well – I like the way they hang, so don’t actually touch the ground. Or maybe I just like that they’re different:
Today’s wildlife review is particularly picturesque. A beautiful butterfly. Not big, but beautiful:
And another:
And a fantastic red-headed beetle:
That also revealed a pillarbox-red underbelly:
Cigarettes here are 64p for a pack of 20. Most Asians I’ve met smoke. Maybe it’s a working-class thing like the UK. And whilst this seems cheap, they also earn a lot less – the average Laotian survives on $1.25 a day.
And finally we arrived at Tad Lo where we were to stay the night. Found a really nice homestay, ordered dinner and the lights promptly went out. Electricity cut.
Night, night 🙂