Mellowing in Muang Sing

After Luang Nam Tha we headed even further north for a couple of days to stay in Muang Sing. This is our favourite place so far on our trip – just a small town with hardly any tourists, surrounded by mountains and rice paddies. Scott found us a great room with a balcony that had a gorgeous sunset view, and we had a relaxing couple of days wandering around the area. We hired bikes on one day and cycled to China (it was 12km to the border) where we turned around when we saw the scary looking guards. We also visited the morning market where all the different hill tribes around Muang Sing come to sell their wares – lots of weird and wonderful spices, vegetables, sweets, textiles and many unidentifiable objects. There were no other tourists at all and we spent a while wandering around looking at all the different people and goods.

Finally we began to head back south. It was only a two hour bus ride to Luang Nam Tha but after we arrived there, had lunch and a nap, we realised we’d left our laptop charger in our hotel room in Muang Sing – oops. So The Intrepid Scott hired a motorbike and zoomed back to get it, racing the sun – he had to do the last half an hour in the dark with a motorbike light that only illuminated his motorbike basket, so he was tired when he arrived back 4 hours later (but triumphantly holding the charger!) and we headed for the herbal sauna. We haven’t mentioned the Laos herbal saunas yet, but they are amazing, we love them! It costs you 10,000 kip ($2) and they give you a sarong, then you can go in and out of the sauna as many times as you like, and they give you tea when you come out for a break. So nice and relaxing, and very hot!

It was a good idea to have the sauna because then we ended up doing two huge bus rides in a row – 9 hours back to Luang Prabang, and then another 7 hours the next day to Vang Vieng. These buses were not as good as the first ones – a lot slower, bumpier and with one constantly sniffing Laos guy behind us, who Shelley was ready to throttle. But we got there eventually! In between the buses we crossed over with Lana and Molly in Luang Prabang, so we had dinner with them and then got up early before our bus ride the next day to see the ceremony they have in Luang Prabang –every morning the monks file down the main street where the locals (and some tourists) give them an offering of food. It’s quite a sight to see a long line of orange-robed monks being handed sticky rice, and a really touching ceremony – monks are highly respected in Laos society.

So now we are down south in the traveller’s haven and amazingly touristy Vang Vieng, where we plan to get up to a lot of general debauchery!