Luang Nam Tha, Laos

We headed on a public bus across the border into Laos. A pretty straight forward day despite the border and the bus wasn't half as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm really surprised that they got all our bags on the roof rack (and that stayed on!) and pretty shocked at the amount of fruit and veg that the locals were taking across the border- the bus was packed! We all arrived in Luang Nam Tha relieved to be in one piece and out of China.

Luang Nam Tha is a really relaxed village stretched down a single main road. It's full of guest houses, restaurants, and tour booking offices and with all that Western backpackers which was really nice to see. Its hot hot hot but there's great food and fruit shakes and plenty to do. Some of us hired bikes for the day and cycled through great scenery and little villages. We were headed towards a waterfall but missed the sign post so it was a 20km detour but nice all the same. A great day but exhausting in the heat and then on the way back we were drenched in a down pour so It was time to call it a day.

There is something for everyone here- cooking courses, trekking and kayaking. I went on a day of kayaking down the Nam Tha. It was great fun and not too strenuous as we went through small rapids. The guide was in the back of my kayak so we did some upstream rescues aswell when some of the kayaks tipped over and people got stuck in trees! Lunch was provided, local style as we ate using banana leaves as plates. The company we used is promoting eco tourism so we visited 2 villages that they support. It was a really interesting insight to Lao life as we walked through the stilted houses with the animals walking around and went inside one of the houses. The locals spoke a different language and the interestingly, the women after they marry shave their eye brows and wear their hair in a bun to indicate that they are not available.

Luang Nam Tha has been a great break from the chaos of China and everyone is loving Laos so far. Unfortunately Pete is still stuck in Lhasa and now all the government offices which he is waiting to reissue his permits have closed due to a Yoghurt festival (!). Looks like he won't be able to join us for at least another 2 weeks now.