Nong Khiaw & Luang Namtha

3.2.

The next leg of our adventure would lead us in enchanted villages, nestled in between mountains with rivers running through them. However, we first had to get there. For this, we got picked up at 9.30 at our lodging in Luang Namtha with the local method of transportation: a pickup truck. It was filled to the brink with all kinds of adventurers with their animal companions. The same could be said about our next vehicle, the southeast Asian relative of our long-missed marshrutkas. It was technically built to transport 15 adventurers (including a driver) (at least if you trust the sticker on the back). So naturally, there were 19 of us… You can easily fit another four hobbit-size stools in the absolutely unnecessary space between the seats. The animal companions can go on the top of the mashrutka, otherwise, you waste that space. Despite the limited space the journey turned out to be quite pleasant: we chatted with the German couple who had really interesting travel stories and took one nice break at the top of the hill. Also, the ride was just 3 hours long, which is shorter than the extended version of any LotR movie, so basically nothing.

Nong Khiaw is a magical place full of potential adventures. So just the right place for us. Our first quest was to get to the Sleeping woman-viewpoint on a hill in the middle of the jungle. After an hour's search, we found the right path and climbed up the “steps” or rather rocks leading to the small hut. The view was breathtaking and the perfect scenery to shoot a movie. So, if anyone needs a set for a romantic or deep-thought scene, that’s the place. You just need to mind the gaps in between the logs on the ground and I wouldn’t lean against the barrier, there is no guarantee it will hold. After this successful quest, our hobbit hearts set the next point on the agenda: dinner. Our search to find some authentic local place was less successful. We had another noodle soup in the end.

4.2.

The next day started how the last day ended: a noodle soup. Our original plan was to take a boat to another village. Yet, destiny had different things in mind, as the boat would not go back that day. Instead, we set out to explore a nearby rebel-hiding place: two caves in a cliff set behind a rice field. We need to get ideas in case some part of the German history from the 1930s repeats itself. The way to the caves led us out of the town, past jarring cliffs and lush forests to a small rice farm, where we walked over bamboo bridges to the cave entrance. The first one we explored was relatively unspectacular, compared to our previous journeys into the realms of dwarfs. To find the second cave we followed a small, winding pathway through the jungle leaving the other travellers behind. The light system in the second cave was rather simplistic. But we are brave Hobbits and our courage fueled by magical tunes we headed into the complete darkness of the cave. Our expedition led us to a nice drawing at the end of the cave, to the old financial office of the rebel group (hidden behind a tight gap in the rocks) and we also found another traveller.

After a nice lunch back in the village we ventured on to our next very Brandybuck-like adventure: a kayak tour along the river. The first challenge was getting the brand-new kayak into the water over a makeshift bamboo pier and managing all our stuff in it. We got help here from the owner of the kayak and ten minutes later we were on our way up the river. The view was magnificent. Large cliffs were on either side of us which later gave way to a deep jungle. We met only a few other living beings (sadly we didn’t see a dragon) and with the sun on our backs and music in our ears we could hardly imagine a better place to be (unless the other place has a dragon). One hour later we decided to turn back to also explore the river downstream from the village. This part was even more spectacular, with the jungle-covered mountains set against the setting sun. Now nearly three hours in our shoulders and arms started to yearn for the end of our trip. We were also quite wet as we have not mastered the art of kayaking without splashing water all over ourselves. We need to travel to Buckland on our next journey to get better at it. The greatest challenge however was to get the kayak back onto the bamboo pier, especially because the pier was already packed with other kayaks. In the end, we managed it. Artey might have slipped and ended up sitting waist-deep in water at the end of the pier. We were wet anyway so who cares.

The day ended with an absolutely delicious Indian dinner and a cup of tea on the balcony of our guesthouse.

5.2.

The day was bound to be another travel day. We rose early and got some breakfast and takeaway lunch before being picked up by a tuk-tuk to get to the bus station. The tuk tuk was half an hour late, so the mashrutka and the other passengers already waited for us to get us to Luang Namtha.  We were delighted to see that there were only three other passengers, so the ride would be the opposite of the way to Nong Khiaw.

Following the winding paths up and down the mountains, the mashrutka brought us continuously closer to our destination. Then we hit a traffic jam: a truck had capsized and was now blocking the entire road (I think the driver was fine, there was no ambulance, only a crane for the truck). We took the opportunity to find a bathroom. When we came back the driver was waiting for us again as they had freed the road in the meantime. An hour later we stopped for lunch. As we had packed our lunch we just took the time to go for a walk… after 25 minutes the other passengers looked for us as the mashrutka wanted to leave and was waiting for us (they said we had 30 minutes so this time it was not our fault). Anyway, we are definitely part wizard and everyone knows that wizards are never late, nor are they early, they arrive precisely when they mean to.

Sometime in the afternoon we reached Luang namtha, took another tuk tuk into the village and settled into our really nice guesthouse.

For dinner we went to the local night market, which was also really nice.

6.2.

When we woke up the following day, we decided to throw all our plans for great daytrips into the wind and just stay in. We were tired and just needed a break. So that’s what we did. Ok, we had to leave to get food three times, but otherwise we just stayed inside, worked on some to dos and chilled. We really needed it. The hobbit highlight of the day was the night market, where we once more browsed the stalls, snacking our way through dinner (we had fried tofu, some kind of noodle rolls, dumplings and a great avocado-mango smoothie) and acquiring breakfast and lunch for the next day. By the way, if any of you ever want to buy a rat (probably for eating, they were dead) the night market of Luang Namtha is the place to be.