Rocks, rapids and rosy sunsets

19 February
Last week we took a few days out for a "holiday within a holiday" and went up north to Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi, small towns on the banks of the Ou River. We've done this trip before. It starts with a 3 hour minibus journey.
Interesting developments from a year ago were fleeting views of the nearly completed Chinese Belt and Road Initiative railway bridge over the Mekong which will link China with Vientiane and beyond in a couple of years' time. And the massive hydroelectric dam - one of seven across this river financed by China  - which is now finished. Interestingly, leaving aside the environmental and social considerations, the huge reservoir which has replaced what was a once pretty valley of rice fields and rocky riverbed, is spectacular! It's a bit like driving along the shores of Loch Lomond. Plenty of potential for tourist gold there.

New Nam Ou reservoir

The dam itself - in passing

Nong Khiaw is a cheery little town bisected by the river and dominated by a vast concrete bridge connecting the two sides. Everything is called "Riverside ...".

Nong Khiaw - the morning view from our riverside bungalow

 

Trevann found a guitar to play at our regular breakfast cafe

The mountains are stunning but they looked a lot drier and browner than they did last year. It's been exceptionally dry.

Amazing to watch the trees "breathing" as the sun hit the tree line. The cloud formed and disappeared within 5 minutes while I watched.

Gone! 

The boatmen cram as many passengers in as possible for the 90-minute journey up to Muang Ngoi. It's not very comfortable!

Twisting round to grab a quick photo is not easy. And we were scarily close to rocks and rapids at times.

And at one point we all had to disembark and walk across a sandy island because the river levels are too low for us to get through the rapids

Some passengers managed to get lost but we found them all in the end and set off again.

Muang Ngoi is beautiful. Until recently it was only accessible by river so there are no cars or lorries. There is an exceptionally dusty road connecting Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi now but it's so unpleasant to use I suspect it sees little traffic.

The riverside land is obviously very fertile

I like these fence-cum-hedges.

A little bit of solar thermal. I wish there were more.

Nice to see a few birds, even if they are just mynahs.

Milking time for buffalos

Transport for boys.

We stayed one night in Muang Ngoi then set off back downstream.

Remnants of American military activity in northern Laos during the Vietnam War are still much in evidence. Bomb casings are common. We passed this metal canoe made from a seaplane float I think. 

Speeding back down the river.

It's a land of great beauty

17 February 2020
The mountains are beautiful, the people are beautiful, the sunsets are beautiful, even the brooms are beautiful!

The last couple of weeks have been peaceful but now we're gearing up for the return to the UK at the end of the month. We're slightly anxious about the risk of bringing Coronovirus with us. Laos hasn't had any cases yet but given the proximity to China and the large numbers of Chinese visitors it's inconceivable that the infection hasn't got here. And the journey through Bangkok is risky as well. We're considering whether we should self-isolate for a couple of weeks somewhere rather than go home to Ben and Ellie. Probably overly cautious. We will decide nearer the time.
In the mean time, we've done a few things - visited LEOT (Lao Educational Opportunities Trust) school to celebrate donations given by our friends in the UK, I've been to a mushroom-growing workshop, and we've been on a holiday-within-a-holiday up north to Nong Khiaw (next post).

Trevann organised some acoustic music events at a pub in Poole last year and raised over £600 to pay for two hand-washing stations for rural Lao schools. The project is being organised by LEOT, where our friend David works, and these are some of the older students.

I love the way the patterns on this snake are reflected in the temple artwork.

Temple offerings on sale in our local shop. They love their glitsy decorations. The single-use plastic message is slow to be taken up - but is getting there.

A lovely yellow frangipani.

Work on the flood defences over the river continue. They seem to scoop the stone out of the river and pour it into gabion cages. It looks a bit industrial at the moment but will quickly green over.

I had a tour of the Green Mango permaculture farm. Here's Patrick showing us the bunny-powered manure-production unit. They've found it to be much more efficient than just composting.

Squash and local corn growing well - although the land is terribly dry following 5 months of no rain.

This is the village mushroom hut, containing 1000 sawdust-filled bags from which the white oyster mushrooms emerge.

It's just a hut on the back of this lad's house. Wath speaks excellent English and showed us round the process. The villagers are Khmu hilltribe and - curiously - Christian.

Starting to crop.

Lindsay and Sufi from the US and I had a go at filling the bags and starting the culture.

Then lunch of course!

In the morning we walk 20 minutes to buy our breakfast baguettes from the woman on this street. On this day she was joined by a row of "dorkmai" sellers. Every temple celebration is accompanied by these conical marigold and banana leaf decorations

It was visa extension time so we trekked out to the new police and immigration headquarters in their smart new building on the edge of town.