I slept amazing well under my duvet, while the stars twinkled above. After a sticky rice and chilli breakfast, I met my new traveling companions, a friendly Canadian couple. I was told 2 hours trekking, they were told 3 – that swelled to 5! Less than enthusiastically we set off into the countryside along a narrow dirt track. The jungle banked on either side and we periodically dipped into cool, fresh, rocky streams. Presently a tractor pulling a wooden cart passed, and allowed us to jump on for a couple of oranges and we rode a couple of Kms ducking the low branches on either side.
Lunch was served on a raised wooden platform over a picturesque rice field, with a brook babbling away behind and the soft tinkle of the buffalo’s bell lulling me into an afternoon nap in the heat of the day. After lunch we climbed up the rice terraces watching the locals bent double in the midday heat harvesting the grains. From here the path began getting much steeper as we climbed into the hills towards to first Hmoung village. Here we met an actual blacksmith. His fragile frame bent over the axel and his white Mr Magika beard whispery in the dim light of the ramshackle workshop. He was stoking the fire using a clever contraption made from feathers that blew air into the coals and heated the axe head he was hammering.
The last part of the climb was up a steep mountain but we were relieved to reach the village where we were to stay the night. Our hut was newly built and comfortable and I helped prepare a delicious vegetable stir fry for dinner. We bathed from a water pipe 10mins walk down a track and peepeed in any modest bush!
The climb down to the road in the morning took an hour and half and we were picked up for the kayaking. My paddle mate was an Italian banker living in London, and has probably never seen a kayak in his life. The first couple of rapids were quite exciting and had the Canadian couple capsized. But the rest were more of a ripple in the otherwise placid water of the Nam Ou. We stopped for more fried rice on the bank, and whilst happily chomping away, our guide, Anu realized that his kayak was no longer beached with ours…it had floated in the fast moving current downstream! Luckily it was stopped from disappearing into Thailand by some weeds and he had to swim out and rescue it, much to our amusement!
The following day I bumped into my flatmate along with half a dozen other friends from PP, and we cycled out to Tat Sae waterfall, 15km into the hills. Another beautiful, if over touristed spot, with hiked further in and had some tranquil pools all to ourselves for a refreshing swim.
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