Up at 7.30am to grab coffee before the tight breakfast slot comes to an end... Next, we hired a couple of bikes for the day and headed out of Luang Nam Tha. It is pretty cold until 11am so we stopped along the road and treated ourselves to hats and gloves.
We cycled along dirt tracks towards a village called Nam Dee. The route led us through beautiful countryside and we passed many small rural homes. We saw lots of animals roaming around from dogs and chickens with their chicks to every size of pig you can imagine! The children we saw all waved and called out, "Sawadee" (hello)... In Nam Dee in one yard a lady spun cotton and another died cloth indigo standing in the stream. Collecting firewood in a basket on her back, another girl completed one of her daily tasks. A lady stood beating bamboo into small strands against a rock to make paper. She showed us some that she had made. Bamboo has to be the most versatile material known to man, truly incredible what can be produced!
We continued through the village to a waterfall. It is dry season now, so there wasn't a huge volume of water but it was a beautiful spot. We parked the bikes and took some pictures.
Next, we followed a meandering dirt track, uphill then downhill . The scenery was truly breathtaking. We came to a dead end and sat by a small stream. It was nice to just sit and listen to the water and the birds. The sun was now nice and warm on our backs.
As we headed back, a man was tending his goats in the fields below and many people were tending their fields. We stopped at a village house with a table and chairs outside. Was it a restaurant, no prices or menus? We mimed to the lady in the house that we would like to eat and she beckoned us to sit. She washed a few dishes and served us a bowl of noodles each. We attracted the attention or the local children, who stood to watch us eat. Suddenly, Christine spotted something and drew back from the table. In the centre of the table was the salt, chilli sauce and a moving plastic bag! What was in the bag? It looked from where we were sitting to be a tarantula, crawling and trying to escape from the bag. We signalled the girl and used our hands like a spider to explain what we saw. She leaned over and picked up the bag... Christine backed off in her chair expecting a rather close look at the giant spider! However, it turned out to be a giant insect that looked a bit like a cicada. But, really big... and they must eat these! We ate up, paid the 30p she asked for the 2 meals and left before any delightful bugs were served to us.
We followed the dirt tracks back to the main road. When we reached the main town, we headed up to a temple on the hill. The monks were sitting on the bank with a great view of the football match below. After the temple we stopped by the local market to grab a snack or two. One was a dessert consisting of a number of pea sized balls in many different colours; red, mauve, green, orange, pink ... They were soaked in coconut milk and it tasted good. We tried to figure out what it was made from and tried to ask the stall holder. She understood us, though couldn't really explain. However, she disappeard across the isle and returned with a bag, full of tiny balls. On the bag read, made in Thailand ... tapioca. So, now we knew what we were eating.
Next, we headed out of town and saw the local hospital. It looked a bit like a holiday village, all single storey, immaculate, white buildings set in pretty gardens. We didn't go too close when we saw the sign in English over a ward stating ... infectious ward SARS!
The evening was spent at the night market sharing stories with a German couple we had met waiting for the bus and a young Austrian. We sampled the local drinks together. Lime and mint, 9 dragons and 7 scorpions!
We cycled along dirt tracks towards a village called Nam Dee. The route led us through beautiful countryside and we passed many small rural homes. We saw lots of animals roaming around from dogs and chickens with their chicks to every size of pig you can imagine! The children we saw all waved and called out, "Sawadee" (hello)... In Nam Dee in one yard a lady spun cotton and another died cloth indigo standing in the stream. Collecting firewood in a basket on her back, another girl completed one of her daily tasks. A lady stood beating bamboo into small strands against a rock to make paper. She showed us some that she had made. Bamboo has to be the most versatile material known to man, truly incredible what can be produced!
We continued through the village to a waterfall. It is dry season now, so there wasn't a huge volume of water but it was a beautiful spot. We parked the bikes and took some pictures.
Next, we followed a meandering dirt track, uphill then downhill . The scenery was truly breathtaking. We came to a dead end and sat by a small stream. It was nice to just sit and listen to the water and the birds. The sun was now nice and warm on our backs.
As we headed back, a man was tending his goats in the fields below and many people were tending their fields. We stopped at a village house with a table and chairs outside. Was it a restaurant, no prices or menus? We mimed to the lady in the house that we would like to eat and she beckoned us to sit. She washed a few dishes and served us a bowl of noodles each. We attracted the attention or the local children, who stood to watch us eat. Suddenly, Christine spotted something and drew back from the table. In the centre of the table was the salt, chilli sauce and a moving plastic bag! What was in the bag? It looked from where we were sitting to be a tarantula, crawling and trying to escape from the bag. We signalled the girl and used our hands like a spider to explain what we saw. She leaned over and picked up the bag... Christine backed off in her chair expecting a rather close look at the giant spider! However, it turned out to be a giant insect that looked a bit like a cicada. But, really big... and they must eat these! We ate up, paid the 30p she asked for the 2 meals and left before any delightful bugs were served to us.
We followed the dirt tracks back to the main road. When we reached the main town, we headed up to a temple on the hill. The monks were sitting on the bank with a great view of the football match below. After the temple we stopped by the local market to grab a snack or two. One was a dessert consisting of a number of pea sized balls in many different colours; red, mauve, green, orange, pink ... They were soaked in coconut milk and it tasted good. We tried to figure out what it was made from and tried to ask the stall holder. She understood us, though couldn't really explain. However, she disappeard across the isle and returned with a bag, full of tiny balls. On the bag read, made in Thailand ... tapioca. So, now we knew what we were eating.
Next, we headed out of town and saw the local hospital. It looked a bit like a holiday village, all single storey, immaculate, white buildings set in pretty gardens. We didn't go too close when we saw the sign in English over a ward stating ... infectious ward SARS!
The evening was spent at the night market sharing stories with a German couple we had met waiting for the bus and a young Austrian. We sampled the local drinks together. Lime and mint, 9 dragons and 7 scorpions!
