Biking, earthquakes and Lao Lao

Bamboo house with satellite dish - I like the priorities!
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We hopped on a rickety old bus to for the 8 to 10 hour journey to Luang NamTha - ofcourse it was 10 hours.  The bus was hilarious, just after we took off we stopped again while they piled in all sorts of mechanical supplies - including a huge motor.  We joked about how they were all spare supplies for running repairs to the bus.

For our day in Luang Nam Tha we were wanting to do some trekking, as we had heard that they have very good culturally and environmentally sensitive tours in the region.  Unfortunately this comes at a price, which we thought was a bit much for one day only so we hired a couple of bikes and did a DIY tour.  We rode over rocky paths through little villages and rice fields, taking in the scenery and saying hello to the kids along the way.  I was a little disappointed with the countryside around Luang Namtha - it was hilly but not the mountains I was expecting.

....a smiling man with a gun pointed me back the way I came....

Countryside and water buffalo
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After lunch I headed out again by myself in search of more sights, in particular a little waterfall marked on the map we had.  The scenery was prettier this time, as I went further into the hills and the villages were pretty set above the river in the green hills.  I went up a wrong road at the start, and a group of 4 children stopped me saying "stop" "no way", then a smiling man with a gun pointed me back the way I came.  I thought it best to agree with him and soon found the correct path to take.

Countryside again..
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The waterfall wasn't much to look at, but the party in the picnic area was fun, with a group of Laos boys dancing and singing to a drum beat while some girls took pictures of them with their cell phones.   On the way home it started to rain, and I was pushing my bike uphill enjoying the coolness of the water when a group of Laos people beckoned me over under the awning of a little shop in the village.  They poured me a shot of very pink Lao Lao whisky (distilled by villages from sticky rice, 50% alcohol) and we tried to communicate while waiting for the rain to stop.   Then on the main road back into town I noticed there were many people outside on street, some looking at the roofs and radio tower and shaking their heads.  A French guy came running up to me saying "there was an earthquake, a big one!"  I didn't feel a thing - the biggest thing to happen in Laos all year and I mistake it for a wobble in my bike!

The next day we were catching a bus to the border, except when we arrived at 1 in the afternoon we were told that there wasn't enough people for a bus, and in any case it would be 10 hours on the back of a truck, and the real bus leaves each morning at 9.  Damn!  Less than excited about spending another day in Luang Namtha (there isn't much to do around at all) we made the best of it by playing cards and reading.