Luang Namtha-Udomxai (Muang Xai)- Nong Khiaeuw-back to Luang Prabang

Okay, so I need to hurry this little trip right along. I've actually been back from Laos for a week in real time and have had a couple of fun little adventures in Cambodia that I need to write about. You really have to keep on top of this blog stuff!! In any case, the trip kind of winds down from here.

So, on to Nong Khiaeuw. I have no idea how to spell that, I just threw a bunch of vowels in there. It's about right:) I hopped on the bus in Luang Nam Tha. The bus station, pretty typically SE Asian...There was a sign at the ticket window. I'm sure they had good intentions but it actually wasn't a very reassuring message! :)
I had to stop for the night in Udomxai (Muang Xai). Said goodbye to Hannah, and hello to Michal, a Swiss guy who was alternately bussing and WALKING through Laos. He was cool and we ended up sharing a room in Udomxai (no, enquiring minds, it wasn't like that, sheesh, just a couple of budget travellers sharing a room!:) Michael was off on foot thenext morning and I was back at the bus station.

Things I saw on the way... fruit stall, not special to this trip, they're all over the place, I just finally remembered to take a picture...
A monitor lizard outside a shop in the countryside. For good luck? Protection? Dinner? I don't honestly know and I'm sure that any of those options are just as likely.And then we pulled into the bus station at Nong Khiaeuw (say Nong Kee-ow).

And I so much wished that I had more than a night here. Really, I just relaxed, read a book on my riverside balcony, and ate some dinner. I wish I'd been able to stay a week, and if ever I'm in northern Laos again, this will be my first destination.

The next day I left for Luang Prabang to catch my flight back to Siem Reap. I had an afternoon in town so I climbed Phousi Mountain and saw the sights...

Listened in on some chanting practice. This wasn't just monks' regular chanting. For one thing, there were women chanting as well, and in my (admittedly little) experience in SE Asia, I've nevr seen the female monks chanting with the male monks. For another thing, it was so melodic! Many many times more than I'd like to rememeber, I was awoken by chanting on the loudspeakers in my neighborhood in Cambodia. It was rhythmic but not melodic. This is melodic and with harmony parts as well. Stunning!



I then spent my evening doing, ahem, a little bit of shopping at Luang Prabang's prodigious night market. It was shopping heaven. Really beautiful handicrafts, reasonable prices, and vendors weren't aggressive or price gougy. And for many of the products, you buy direct from the person who made the product, and you know what, that feels good.

The next day I said goodbye to Laos. I absolutely loved it -it was everything its reputation promised. The landscape was colorful and verdant and the people were friendly. But it was simply time to go. So goodbye Laos and hello again my old friend Cambodia!