It was a truly amazing day! The village tour was fascinating. We were taken through 2 villages on foot by our guide, who explained how people in rural Lao villages live… brace yourself for Discovery Channel interlude….

The Lao are divided into 3 ethic groups, depending on what altitude they live at: Lao (river people) ; Khamu (lower highlands); Hmong (upper highlands/hill tribe). The first village we visited was a Khamu village. People are subsistence farmers, growing rice in a rotating fashion on land for which they need governmental permits to use. From the age of 5, children have to work as well, on the fields, or carrying water etc. Fruit and vegetables are generally picked from the surrounding jungle. The men go into the jungle every few days to catch wild boar and birds. Buffalo and cattle are kept, but are more a source of money from trade than a food source. The villagers believe in ancestral spirits that take care of you (specifically each person is cared for by their deceased father or mother. Once the next generation dies, the ’spirit minders’ are released from their duties and can then go and be reborn again.) Each village also has a Doctor Spirit who is able to communicate with the spirit world and from whom villagers will always seek advice first, before trying anything Western. I was really amazed by the similarity with Southern African beliefs and customs!

The Hmong village was 200m further up the mountain and while the houses looked a little different, the rest of the village and way of life was the same as the Khamu. What really struck me was how phenotypically different the people looked in the different villages and that despite their proximity to one another, there is no intermarriage between peoples of the 2 villages. (End of educational interlude!!)

The rest of the day was a gentle 3hr hike past rice paddies and through jungle, ending at the top of the Xiang Si Waterfall, which cascades down several drops into beautiful blue pools. We swam at the bottom in one of the bigger pools just before the monsoon rain hit!

We trekked with Green Discovery (www.greendiscoverylaos.com), very good company for anyone else interested in outdoor activities in Laos.

First impressions: Laos is quiet something else, probably the most backward area I have ever travelled in, but it is amazingly relaxed. The people are friendly and it feels like Thailand used to be….

Last 2 wks of holiday, so off to Laos. Taking the ‘air-con bus’ up to Nong Khai (in Thailand at the Laos border) and crossing into Laos tomorrow over the Friendship bridge. Will post pics soon!

The last pic is the result of the way down: halfway we had a flat. Perfect timing, it was getting dark and we had no clue where we exactly were. Luckily after half an hours walk with the bike, we reached the main road where an industrious Thai had set up a bike repair store just there… how convenient! I guess he had seen these stupid farangs (Thai for ‘Foreigner’) before, trying to scale the mountain with rented Automatic city bikes!

Peter did a fantastic job of getting up on the board and pulling some stylish manoevers… it WAS easy after all!! (he also managed to put his back out for the next 4 days though… something about an old injury and a bad boat driver…. old age as well maybe ?) 

I also managed to stand… once… and wave (hand, not water) … for about 3 seconds…. but spent most of the rest of the time swallowing water and trying to keep my head from disappearing inside the massive life jacket.

We both limped home later like 2 wounded soldiers… bodies and pride in serious need of TLC….

The falls themselves were great to see - not hugely spectacular, but not bad for a small island! We climbed to the pool near the top and swam with a bunch of other tourists. I managed to make friends with a few very unfriendly rocks, since the water was far too cloudy to see through… why do I always do things like that??

The trip home was fairly uneventful, and no…. we didn’t visit Tesco on the way back…..