Getting organized
Luang Namtha, Lao Peoples Dem Rep
April 03, 2009
We were able to select breakfast from a long list. Bill chose the French toast and it was very good - made with baguettes. I had fried eggs with Colorado hash - potatoes, onions and pepper. It was really good too. I think we are going to like the food in Laos. We had another banana shake and some tea.
We took a truck/tuk tuk into town for 20,000 kip. We booked a tour for tomorrow - trekking through the forest, visit a village and a waterfall. We were able to exchange our bhat for kip and Bill has been making plans for the rest of our stay in Laos while I am on the blog.
We had lunch at Minority restaurant. I had a salad with leaf lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and a peanut dressing with mayo (not the same as Myanmar) and Chang soda water. Bill had fried bamboo shoots with beef and BeerLao.
We rented a bike with a basket (for me) and a mountain bike for 18, 000 kip ($3). We rode North just outside of town and then went East up a rocky dirt road. It was very rough and hilly, it bounced us around pretty good. At the top we paid the entrance fee and bike parking fee and too the steep climb up to the waterfall.
The water is low this time of year and there was not much of a waterfall. We sat down at the look out, while we were there Benjamin and Caroline (the French couple from the ride from Huay Xai) walked by. We walked back to the bikes via the easy route (no inclines).
The ride back was still very rough, but easier. We had a nice view of farms, native villages, terraces, Luang Namtha, people bathing, kids swimming and naked kids.
We rode to the base of the steep road where the Temple was (on the West side of town). The Wat was not worth the walk up, but it was a nice view of the town and the surrounding area.
We walked back down the road and then rode our bikes across town to the Chinese market. There were lots of veggies, meat, fruit, clothes, shoes and toiletries at the market. We sampled some fruit that looked like cherries. They turned out to be a type of plum and were very good. We tried some fried goods - the one shaped like a Twinkie was sweet and covered with sesame seeds, the round one was also sweet and a bit doughy in the middle, the third looked like a small pie, but was dough with meat and seasoning in the middle. We were able to see a few unusual dead animals for sale too - grubs, squirrel, sparrows and another large bird that we could not identify.
Again we had to pay to park our bikes (I am sure that we were way overcharged because we are tourists) and went to the bus station. There were lots of tuk tuks, but no one at the ticket counter. Back on the main street, we returned the bikes and walked around. I bought some Tiger Balm at the pharmacy, I am hoping that I am not sore for our trek tomorrow.
From our friend Karen back home we have been asked to "impersonate" a stuffed dog named Globetrotting Nigel! Karen teaches a grade 2/3 class and has asked us to send postcards on behalf of Nigel to her class. We are also going to take pictures of Freddie (our travel companion since '99) and send them to the class too. So, we have already started making up some great adventures for Nigel and Freddie!
Bill purchased our bus tickets to Luang Prabang for Sunday April 5th. The bus tickets are $23, a minivan would have cost $466. That is insane! It is going to be 8 - 9 hours of pure bus joy!
We decided to have a couple of drinks before heading back to our Guest House. B ill ordered BeerLao and I ordered a Lao Margarita at Manychan. Sadly they could not make the Margarita, so I had Lao Lao (rice whiskey aka moonshine) instead. Lao Lao smells like tequila, but really just tastes like pure alcohol. My serving was in an aperitif type glass and was 3 or 4 ounces. I also had a soda on the side.
We were seated across from the Night Market and they were starting to set up. After many small sips of my drink the waitress informed me that the Margarita maker had arrived. I was glad to sample the new drink and dump the rest of my shot into the mix. It was not too bad actually. Bill in the meantime had another BeerLao and it all came to $5 or $6. Love it!
After our drinks we went to the Night Market where it was mostly food stalls. I tried a rice wrapper spring roll that was pretty good. The grilled bananas stuffed with coconut were VERY good!
We took a tuk tuk back to the Guest House. We had an extra charge of 10,000 kip for this trip!
We ordered Set #2 from the menu which included Soop - a tangy chicken stew with cilantro, mint and lime, par-broiled collard greens and Chinese cabbage, Mak Gawk - chili paste (tart forest fruit), Moke - duck steamed with lemon grass, galanga, chili, red onion, garlic, basil, shallot and fennel and for dessert - fresh fruit. We had some red wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Champassak, Laos called Domaine Bapro-Delica. The food was fantastic, neither one of us could even finish one glass of the wine.