day 29 - Muang Sing to Luang Prabang

Friday, 22 November 2013

We got up shortly after 6am this morning to get to the morning market. It's always such a colourful and interesting experience and Muang Sing's market didn't disappoint. Among the more interesting things we saw were some beautifully dressed women selling brightly embroidered cloth, and a man negotiating with a woman over the price of some dead squirrels. 

(Muang Sing morning market)

After a breakfast of noodle soup, we set off on the 60km ride back to Luang Namtha. Having driven the road the previous day, we were confident it would be a pretty easy ride but there's so much you don't notice from the back seat of a van and the first 20km ended up being a bit of a climb. We were rewarded with some great downhill glides though, in really peaceful surroundings and once the morning mist had lifted, it cleared up to be a beautiful sunny day.

The villages were full of activity and we saw many children helping their parents at work, carrying bamboo and other materials. Communal water pumps provided a place to wash bodies, plates and clothes and people used satellite TV dishes to dry laundry and big bowls of chillis in the sun.

(A pretty road sign depicting three of the different tribes in the area)

(Run down but still in use)

(A wooden village)

(And another puncture)

(Lovely woven walls on this building)

(A beautiful view into the lush valley below the road)

(Bikes are a popular way to get around, particularly for children)

Once back in Luang Namtha, we had time for a bit of lunch before heading to the bus station again, this time to catch a nine hour bus to Luang Prabang. Having been warned about there being no hard shoulder and a lot of large trucks on the road ahead, plus the prospect of passing through Laos' "ugliest town" according to our guidebook, we decided the bus would be a good option. Although we questioned ourselves many times on the journey as we were thrown around in our seats on the unsealed roads. One passenger who was clearly very unwell, ended up getting off early to escape. 

Somehow the nine hours passed and we pulled into the bus station at 11.30pm. A slow internet connection in Luang Namtha had meant we were unable to book accommodation but thankfully we didn't have to travel far down the road before we came across a guesthouse with it's reception light on. It turned out to be a very nice place, although we would have taken anything at that point and we fell into bed, ready for a good sleep, excited to see Luang Prabang the following day and promising we wouldn't catch another bus in Laos.

(A view from the bus)