The simple life

I just might move to Laos. It is so beautiful here, with miles and miles of green jungle, rolling hills, winding cool rivers and hot sunshine. And life is simple - the biggest city is barely 1 million, and there are less people per square mile than any other Asian country. Most people live in small villages in wooden huts with thatched roofs. They eat sticky rice, veggies they grow, a spicy, gingery minced meat dish, and lots of fresh fruit. They smile a lot, talk softly, never wear shoes indoors, have parties to celebrate everything - even the anniversary of a death - and relax. It is a nice life. Simple. ... okay, perhaps a bit too simple and rural for me, I should admit!

I just got back to "civilization" after about 4 days traveling by boat up a small river - the Nam Ou - in NE Laos, staying in small villages. To give you an idea of what I mean by "small village" - it's important to mention that these towns ONLY had electricity from 6-9pm at night! I am not sure if you understand what not having electricity throughout the day and night means.... In the entire town (not camping, but town where people live all the time!), there are no lights - in a dark bathroom at 5pm, midnight, or noon, there is no radio or music, no TV (which I personally dont mind), no hot water from the hot water heater - only shower from 6-9!, no blender for making shakes (fruit shakes are a popular tourist drink here!), no electricity for cooking ... only old-fashioned fire! None for restaurants or stores ... it is crazy. So, that is life in a small town here. Some small towns do have non-stop electricity, but it is a luxury that we take for granted in the West, that is really not so common around the world.

So, my trip started with a 4 hour bus ride with my new friend Helena, a nice girl from Italy via England, then we arrived at Nong Kieu, a little village on the banks of the Nam Ou river, surrounded by hilly, green jungle. We had a nice nap in the shade of our little bungalows overlooking the river. Then we went for a hike and swim in our own private beach on the riverbank! beautiful! And ended the night with a delicious dinner with some fun British people we met at the bungalows.
The next day we took a boat 1 hour up to the next town - Mong Kiuow. This little village is accessible only by boat, set above the river, amid stunning high hills and cliffs covered with green jungle. We explored the town - with one main street, a pretty temple, and a few little outdoor restaurants for the tourists. It takes 10 minutes to walk from end of town to the other! And we found another, nicer private beach on the river to sunbathe and swim. I did a couple widths of the river to get some exercise. That evening we had a candle-lit dinner and saw the celebration of a new house - all the villagers were getting drunk on Lao Lao - a local rice wine that tastes rather like vodka.
The next day we did a little more adventurous hike. After about an hour walk inland, we passed by beautiful green rice paddies with water buffalo grazing and came to another tiny village with wood and thatched roof buildings. We found the only "restaurant" in town, an open-air cafe with simple tables. We had to laugh when we ordered from the menu - they only had about 20% of the items listed, and still my "vegetable soup" was noodle soup with not one veggie - just some lemongrass! And Helena's "veggies with noodles" were noodles with some cabbage! That evening we encountered the same food shortages back in the main village - only cabbage for veggies, no meat, plenty of rice, and only bananas for fruit! that's the other side of the simple life - you eat only what is currently growing and in-season.

That evening we had dinner and Lao Beer with a big group of "single" travelers - 9 of us in total, all traveling alone! - we met in the town. It was fun to talk to people from South Africa, Scotland, Australia, England, Switzerland and Spain! Pretty big mix, all in a tiny village in Northeastern Laos. crazy.

And then we grouped together 7 to share a boat 4 hours upriver, an exciting ride through small rapids on a long, low, wooden boat, stopping at other villages to pick up locals along the way. And had another flashlight night in a bigger town that also had limited electricity.

And today we took 2 buses for a total of 7 hours to Luang Namtha, in the NW corner of the country. Tomorrow Helena and I will do a 2-day trekking trip in the jungle here!