Nong Khiaw - Day 2

Meant to get up at 6 to hike one of the nearby towering mountains. The valley is so narrow, its really hard to get a good picture because everything is so close and straight up. Anyways didnt get rolling until 7:30 and it was getting hot fast.

On my way to the trail i passed by a buddhist temple gated area. I asked a monk if i could walk in and take some pics. He smiled and agreed but i could see all of them keeping a very close eye on me while they swept the grounds. So i snapped a bunch of quick pics before they went kung fu panda on me with their brooms.

Walking down the same dirt road a bit further, side stepping all the roosters and chickens, 3 lao kids spotted me and sprinted towards me wanting high fives all around. I whipped out the phone and they immediately huddled up and struck a pose. Too cute.

The trail was closed but told a nearby barkeep my problem and he ran down the road to get the gatekeeper to let me in. Then up and up through the dense jungle canopy. It was so dense, i didn't see daylight until i reached the top which was great for not being in the sun but very bad for mosquitos (malaria pills in action) and ridiculous humidity. Everything was wet even without any rain and 40C temps. Didnt see any wildlife except lizards and a massive centipede that wrapped its body around a sizeable tree branch. Yuck.

I was being really careful to not touch any vegetation, learning from Orlis' wisdom in Colombia and watch out for holes, but they were everywhere... in trees and all the rocks and ground. And with the trail pitch being 60 to 70 degrees steep, i had to grab onto anything i could and with very tricky footwork.

I was about 80% up, and pulled my hand back from a branch i used for support and a black bug about half the size of my palm had attached itself to it. I let out a girly scream and flicked it off but not before it bit me or stabbed me.. i dunno, i had one puncture spot. So i stood there for 5 mins waiting to see if it would swell up and also trying to decide if i should abort and rush back down the mountain or continue to the top. I got to the summit, took in the view for 30 mins and sadly didn't develop any superhero abilities to spray webs from my wrists, so i walked back down.

Spent the afternoon lazily hanging by the river jumping in and out of the water. A river boat was drifting slowly in front of my hotel so i dove in and climbed aboard haha. Arrrrrr, i be a pirate!

Early bus ride tomorrow to Luang Prabang so not anticipating adding anything else to this entry in this sleepy town but who knows where dinner will lead....

EDIT: Wow was i wrong. As i walked home i strolled past a lao party and joined them. It was like the wedding all over again! Soooo fun.Read more