Beautiful Northern Laos and a water sloshing new year!

We left Luang Prabang on a local bus to Nong Khiaw as the Mekong is just too low to ride the boat upriver. A real shame as it is considered to be some of the best scenery around. But getting stranded hours from anywhere, and having to camp down in a storm with a load of whining tourists (as happened to some people we met) did not appeal, so the rickety local bus it was. We had the ever present vomiting locals but thankfully the journey was relatively short and the distraction of the amazing countryside was really something else.

Laos is truly one of the most beautiful and pristine places we have seen. Words cannot capture how awe inspiring the landscape is... towering karste mountains with swirling misty covers, where dense green forests cling to the steep valleys. You could get lost for weeks if you chose to. In Nong Khiaw, we crossed the bridge to the neighbouring village of Sophoune (which the Lonely Planet refers to as Muang Noi but no one else does) and found a place to stay at the basic but adequate Bamboo Paradise. Nang, our 11 year old host immediately befriends Roisin and before long we are having our hair braided while Tevo plays petanque (boule) with her brothers. Roisin and Tevo have been making friends all over Laos. This is the kind of people they are. Open, friendly and totally unassuming. They really are wonderful people here and they love children more than anything.

One afternoon, I met a man (from Hawaii) called Marco who is married to Chan, a Lao woman and they have 3 daughters. His eldest, Marika, is nearly 7 and Marko tells me how difficult it is for her as she has so few friends of her own age living in the village. Marika speaks lao and english and Roisin is overjoyed when they are introduced. Marko invites Roisin to stay for dinner, so we give her and Tevo some much needed space from each other and take him to dinner over the bridge. The next day, Chan invites both the children to stay for the day and Lee and I have our first child free time in over six months. Can you believe it... we actually have a babysitter for the day! Well before you can say mines a lao lao, we are off on a walk up the valley to explore the caves where the Pathet Lao hid out from US bombing during the Indo China war. We had a brilliant time and although a hurt my leg trying to swing across some steep bamboo ladders, we ended the day in great spirits having a drink and some food with some fellow travellers (who are somewhat more friendly to us when we do not have the kids with us.... charming huh!).

Roisin and Marika were both devastated when we said we had to leave but we promised to return in a few days. We set off on a small boat up the Nam Ou, one of the biggest rivers in the north east of Laos to an old village called Muang Noi (which the Lonely Planet calls Old Muang Noi just to confuse everyone). Once just a subsistance village, bit of farming and a bit of fishing, its now home to some very nice guesthouses and is a great base for trekking and trips further afield. As I was still fairly lame from the bamboo ladder incident, Lee took off on a solo trek and enjoyed some more caves and visited more remote villages up in the valley.

Next day we took a day trip with lovely german couple called Rolf and Renee, and our competant guide Humphan. Putting along the Nam Ou even further, we visit another cave (very long dark and spooky with lots of stalactites and stalacmites) and we do some net fishing catching a few lunchtime treats for everyone. Then its off to a village, called Muang Sien. They do not speak Lao here, but another language called Kamut (sp). The village is amazing. Basic but so clean and well looked after. All the children run out to see us, and not one asks for money or anything. Just full of smiles and wanting to touch Tevo and Roisin. I explain to one of the older women that they are twins (faf fairn in Lao) and demonstrate a big fat tummy and not being able to walk. They find it very amusing. We go up to see their small school, recently built by donated money and sit at the teak desks looking out into a steep misty valley... now there is an excuse for gazing out the window if ever there was one! We buy some of their rather unique handicrafts, a kind of embroidered table runner and then head back to the river for lunch. Crossing a spirit bridge, I ask the boys if I can take a photo. All the local children are so pleased they all line up on the bridge to be in the photo. I show them the digital image... they seem happy as we leave, waving and smiling. Down at the beach the boys have cooked up the fish, so while all the pescavores tuck in, Roisin, Tevo and I scoff the sticky rice dipped in soy sauce. Then it is back to the boat for some more fishing and a little swimming before returning back to Muang Noi.

The next day we head back on the morning boat to Nong Khiaw. The Lunar New Year is almost upon us (14th April) and each of the villages compete in a boat race. They are all out in force practising their stroke. They are lean mean rowing machines! Back in Nong Khiaw, their team are the reigning champions and have been practising for weeks already. I suspect they may win again. The children get to spend their last few hours here with Marika and her family while I enjoy some of Chans amazing cooking and then it is time to leave, so many tears it is heart breaking.

Our original plan was to head to the remote east from Nong Khiaw and then south through Laos to Cambodia. However, the children have been very tired of travelling just recently. We have just hit our 200 day marker and its showing in the children. They keep making friends and then we move on which is very traumatic for them. They want to stay put for a while and we have decided to make some compromises to accomodate them. After all, this is their trip too and Angkor Wat will still be there in years to come. So after some lengthy and emotional chats we have decided to return to Luang Prabang for the Lunar New Year. The children have made friends there and its an easy place to be and relax and recharge. We are planning to succumb to the well worn travellers trail down through Vang Vieng and then onto Vientiane before returning to Thailand to make our way down to Peninsular Malaysia. We are planning to find a place to stay put there, perhaps rent a house for a month or two.

For now though, we are loving Luang Prabang and the children are now fully armed with water guns for the daily sloshing that wandering about town involves. Our guesthouse is a bit of a childrens gathering place and the kids are in their element with daily water fights and football. They love it and it is not a hard life to be here in this amazing world heritage town. So for now, we are staying put and plan to say goodbye to the year of the rooster (that is me!) and welcome in the year of the dog in this wonderful town.

The lunar new year begins in mid April (this year it is the 14th) and practically the entire country comes to a halt and celebrates. Houses are cleaned, people put on new clothes and Buddha images are washed with lustral water. In the wats, offerings of fruit and flowers are made at various altars and votive mounds of sand or stone are fashioned in courtyards. Later, the citizens take to the streets and douse one another with water (but like our own fireworks celebrations, children start this early just for the fun of it!) which is appropriate because April is the hottest month of the year. It is particularly picturesque in Luang Prabang where it includes elephant processions.