A Simple Life

We settled into a family run bungalow, the friendly owners, the playful little children, and the puppies drew us in to this spot, and of course the five dollar price tag. Once we took our backpacks off, it was a major relief, we had been traveling for three whole days to reach this spot and we were ready to stay put for a few days.

Trekking, tubing, kayaking, and fishing were all popular activities in this town, but without an ATM our lack of funds drove us to stick to the free options (meaning hiking, exploring the town, and hanging out at the bungalow watching the massive thunderstorms). We took a hike one day along a path that followed the banks of the river for awhile, then meandered through several tiny villages. The first village was a cluster of wooden homes on stilts with woven bamboo walls. It seemed as though a town meeting was happening as we passed through, or maybe it was just lunch time, because the whole town seemed to be gathered in the center of the village, except for one lone guy taking a shower at the public well to the side. A few kids turned to stare with big grins on their faces, yelling 'Sabaidee!' As we kept strolling on this hilly path, we passed people farming on some of the hillsides, unfortunately most Laotian farmers still practice slash and burn farming, leaving some of the landscape burnt, brown, and barren. And again, everyone we passed gave us a warm smile and yelled to us from the tops of the nearby hills, really reinforcing the friendly, unjaded personality of the local people.

After the sun came out and a blister of my foot started to form, we retraced our steps back to Nong Khiau. A group of young boys carrying a banana leaf stuffed with something to show us what they were transporting, and one of them opened his cupped hands to reveal a bunch of crawling black beetles - considering how big the banana leaf was they had enough to prepare a bug feast for twenty people!

We had some wonderful food while we lazed around this town, Lao red hot and green curry (with sticky rice), and there was also a great Indian restaurant so we revisited some old favorites. The best restaurant had hammock seating, cheap mix fruit shakes, the best curry, and the owner's three year old daughter may have been the cutest girl ever. She was the perfect marketing tool - she would lead you to your seat, bring you menus, pretend to take your order, and since she loved us, she kept us company for hours on end.