Meeting crazy adventurers in Laos

Just upon my arrival in Laos, I had the chance to meet several original travelers/ adventurers... With their assent, I share bits of their stories and special ways of living or traveling.

- Linda and Steve, from Luxemburg, are two low-budget slow travelers who hitchhike around the world. At the beginning, they were trying to follow a route, with signboards indicating where they wanted to go. After a while, they just gave it up and started writing "8 km", "10 km" or "20 km" on their board, letting the fortune (and the drivers) drop them off anywhere, preferably in small villages, where they sometimes stay for weeks. Overall, they enjoy this slow pace of traveling. They pay for their travel by working or volunteering whenever they can. Linda, a former hairdresser, carries some material with her, and sometimes set up "salons" in the streets ! They might travel like this for 3, 4 or more years, before they find a place they love, to create their own farm. Steve contacted me via Coushsurfing and we had a nice dinner in Huay Xai.

- Arthur, a former French army guy (from the "chasseurs alpins" - the elite mountain infantry of the French army), decided to follow the Mekong river, from Cambodia - where he used to work as a sports teacher - to Northern China, by non-motorised transportation. Kind of a French Mike Horn ! When I met him, he had already walked around 1000 km, had just gotten rid of his kayak (which was too hard to steer against the current... ) and was starting cycling. He was carrying a heavy load of climbing gear, intended for when he reaches the mountains. Crazy dude. His blog (but does not seem updated - he gave up the 100% kayak option since !) : https://arthurfourdraine.com/mission-mekong

- Last but not least, Mirja, from Northern Germany, lives in a small Karenni village in Myanmar, that can only be reached from Thailand by crossing the Mekong on a bamboo boat. She settled there after having volunteered a few years and since married a Karenni rebel fighter. In Vientiane, where I met her, she told me about the hardships of not having her marriage recognised out of the Karenni state (neither in Myanmar nor in Thailand), her visa issues, the difficult hunt for a paid job and her general wish to develop her community by welcoming volunteers and by creating a social and cultural spot in the village, etc. She was touring Laos both to solve her administrative issues and to get tips and inspiration from other organic farms/ communities.
A few days later, I learnt from people she had them, that she is also striving hard to raise money to improve the life of two Asian bears (they found them as cuddles, probably abandoned by their mum, and kept looking after them since, but they now need more money to feed them and improve their captivity conditions : build a larger enclosure while still ensuring safety for the villagers...).

When chatting with Mirja, I also found out about two of her friends, no less amazing :
--> Sabine, a French cyclo traveler, who spent 6 months in My Aye Pu village to teach English. Her blog : www.myatlas.com/salamandre/annee-2/t/216989/ste…
--> "Dr Karine" a teacher and a vet, who also lives in My Aye Pu and seems to be one of the main caregivers of the bears. Her video about them : youtu.be/KpAozXoi8lkMeer informatie