So we have left the Mekong river for the interior of Laos, we're in the remote northern city of Odoum Xai. Seth is still having a battle with his intenstines, yet we still eat in the dirt floored cafes, soup with a mystery meat in it. Some swedes we met played a game because dogs are so rare to see on the street when compared to India or southern Thailand. Every time you see a dog, you have to say "Doggie Doggie mecheeeme" or something, and that gets you 10 points. Every time you see dog meat for human consumption, the first person to say it gets 50 points. I asked how many points you get for eating dog meat, but they had no frame of reference. I think i have probably eaten some, given the soup. The only meat I can actually recognize is beef.
The food, the giard, the yogurt. There is NO yogurt in this city. Seth has just named his giardia "Billy Butt Blow" (He was up last night at least four times, on the squatter toilet, spraying his ankles...) The yogurt is the only thing that soothes. I want some too for general good intestinal health.
Before the 4 hour busride away from the good mekong we stayed in Pak Beng. The towns, and the cities are one main paved road, with shops and hostels lining the streets. The dust gets in everything, and the sun has dissappeared for at least 3 days. My pants are scuffed, and dust falls off my back pack whenever its opened.
I bought a motorcycle, not a real one, 100ccs at most with 4 gears and no clutch, WTF? i have no idea how i can get it into thailand from Laos, but i payed 4 million big ones for it.
Its COLD! I wear wool socks, bought gloves and a hat, the houses are all designed to be either the temp outside, or a little cooler. And we still can't find yogurt.
We got taken around by a group of 4 laos village guys, the one of which runs the hostel we stayed at. They put me and seth on the back of the motorbikes, guitar in hand, and drove us at somewhat alarming speeds through the mountain roads, singing and playing all the while. We walked up a bunker/old water system. Basically a concrete stream that the chinese built for Pak Beng. Its disused, other than as a trail for the Hmong people, native tribes of the area. But during one of many violent wars in Laos, the Laos people sat in the 5 foot high concrete water sluice and shot the planes down from the mountainside.
We stopped at the dam at the top with three of the 4 guys. One sat atop a wheel, dont ask me why there was a suspended wheel on the dam, and played the guitar. A hmong man stood aside of the dam, and simply smiled. I got good vibes from the banana growing mountain people. Our main goal is to play as much music with the Laos people as possible, i want to know the mountain man's music.
We jammed with the Laos hostel owner, he sang some songs, played his heart out, they love that shit!
There's plenty of Lao Lao (moonshine rice liqour), but still, the closest thing to yogurt i have seen is "yogurt flavoring" which means powdered milk. And the little containers are entirely un refrigerated.
Our quest for another motorbike, yogurt, music and good times continues
The food, the giard, the yogurt. There is NO yogurt in this city. Seth has just named his giardia "Billy Butt Blow" (He was up last night at least four times, on the squatter toilet, spraying his ankles...) The yogurt is the only thing that soothes. I want some too for general good intestinal health.
Before the 4 hour busride away from the good mekong we stayed in Pak Beng. The towns, and the cities are one main paved road, with shops and hostels lining the streets. The dust gets in everything, and the sun has dissappeared for at least 3 days. My pants are scuffed, and dust falls off my back pack whenever its opened.
I bought a motorcycle, not a real one, 100ccs at most with 4 gears and no clutch, WTF? i have no idea how i can get it into thailand from Laos, but i payed 4 million big ones for it.
Its COLD! I wear wool socks, bought gloves and a hat, the houses are all designed to be either the temp outside, or a little cooler. And we still can't find yogurt.
We got taken around by a group of 4 laos village guys, the one of which runs the hostel we stayed at. They put me and seth on the back of the motorbikes, guitar in hand, and drove us at somewhat alarming speeds through the mountain roads, singing and playing all the while. We walked up a bunker/old water system. Basically a concrete stream that the chinese built for Pak Beng. Its disused, other than as a trail for the Hmong people, native tribes of the area. But during one of many violent wars in Laos, the Laos people sat in the 5 foot high concrete water sluice and shot the planes down from the mountainside.
We stopped at the dam at the top with three of the 4 guys. One sat atop a wheel, dont ask me why there was a suspended wheel on the dam, and played the guitar. A hmong man stood aside of the dam, and simply smiled. I got good vibes from the banana growing mountain people. Our main goal is to play as much music with the Laos people as possible, i want to know the mountain man's music.
We jammed with the Laos hostel owner, he sang some songs, played his heart out, they love that shit!
There's plenty of Lao Lao (moonshine rice liqour), but still, the closest thing to yogurt i have seen is "yogurt flavoring" which means powdered milk. And the little containers are entirely un refrigerated.
Our quest for another motorbike, yogurt, music and good times continues
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts and opinions! Makes this much more interesting.