The Unspoilt Mud of Laos 1

Travelling through south-east Asia…so exciting, just the traveling that you might think of would involve buses and trains and sometimes a plane. You get the more exciting version though. Arrived in Laos, we got tgether with 3 other people and chartered a ‘private long-tail boat to take us from Huan Xai to Luang Nam Tha, in the north. The adventure of ‘travelling’ started when we tried to get onto the boat, with our huge backpacks (also called television), we had to walk through a narrow little alley that led to the water and for some reason there was one line of bamboo branches laid out in front of us. I personally soon discovered why, as I was hanging in the mud up to my knees, 18 kilos on my back, 10 kilos on my front, unable to get out of it as it was this kind of mud that swallows you as soon as you move. Fortunately, the little man from the boat came to help me, and took my little rucksack off me just to return to the boat…but I was still sinking and sinking. Eventually, after three other people had ended up in the mud as well, I got out, forced to donate my shoes to the mud of Laos. Having arrived at the boat, the choice of seats were limited: there were no seats, only huge bags of rice…our ‘private boat’ was a cargo boat…