We were up and over at the Viengneua Tour Co., as this seems to be the successor agent to the previously known Phoudoi Travel company by 8am having already breakfasted by then. The small one street town along the river was bustling with activity and various vehicles driving on the right. The air was clean, fresh and cool after the rain storm we had during much of the night. Fresh baguettes were being used to make sandwiches for those traveling on the slow boats.
At the travel agency, Lan, the owner said his company did not offer those day trips anymore and that he was off to China momentarily (4 hours by private van) and could not help us. We mentioned also the one day slow boat trip to Luang Prabang was of interest to us. Many people have told us 2 days on the river on hard seats with only a basic bathroom is too long. Lan remembered there is a private Thai tourist group going tomorrow on a special boat, so he sold us tickets for that journey for 8,000 baht and a start time at their offices at 6:15am. Expected arrival in LP is 6pm.
We managed to also work out a guide, driver and van for "the day- 9am to 4pm" at a price of 2,500 baht. We went first to the new market to drop off a tv set at his mother's store in the new market. The market location is being switched with the bus station which is a good thing as for all the tourists it is 7 kilometers from the immigration office to the bus depot. We continued on the road and stopped at a Green Hmong village. The school was in full swing, ladies sewing while they minded children, with pigs, dogs and children in abundance. The Loa language is very similar to Thai so we can communicate a bit with the people we meet. They also like to watch Thai movies and people pay to watch a show at someone's house in the village, like we pay to go to the movies.
We then drove on to Lao Huay (Lenten) village of Ban Nam Sang. Lao Huay means "Stream lao" because this tribe chooses to live near permanent rivers.The Lenten emigrated from China in search of stability and new mountain rice fields. Legend holds that the Lanten were separated from their older brothers, the Mien, during the flight and made their way alone from China's Hainan Island through Northern Vietnam, settling here in the 19th century. We saw many women spinning cotton, working their looms, woven cotton hung to dry before dying.
We met the village headman at the school and enjoyed seeing a very well established and busy school in session. We gave a small donation for the school and Somsy the headman was very pleased. He offers trekking trips to other hill tribe villages in the area that can not be reached by car.
The Lenten's in this village are animists and each house has a special place for the spirits. The masks represent ancestors.
As you can see from the pictures, the Lenten wear distinctive black indigo-dyed cotton clothing with pink trim and silver jewelry. With their immigration from China they brought their cultural practices and beliefs based on a mix of Taoism, ancestor and spirit worship. The Lenten produce high quality cotton cloth, wooden ceremonial masks and durable bamboo paper. Like the closely related Yao, they have a well developed writing system based on ancient Chinese characters. Men record religious texts, rituals and legends on bamboo paper that is produced by Lenten women. Purchases today only included paper from this lovely woman who thinks she is close to 100 years old.
We drove back to Huay Xai for a quick look at the local market followed by lunch at a local noodle shop. We would have never picked to eat there or known what to order if the guide had not taken care of that for us. We had noodles with pork and it was very tasty and couldn't beat the price at about a dollar each. With that the tour was finished so we were taken back to the Riverside Hotel. At the hotel we did laundry, had a nap and when the heat dyed down we went out to check out life in the town and along the Mekong River. Dinner was at Mueang Nueau, though located on the road, there was a dining area that was by the river, and they served Italian food as well as Laos food. Laos food is spicy like Thai but not as sweet. We tried to confirm our boat trip for tomorrow and were frustrated because no one there was aware that we would be showing up tomorrow at 6:15am for this "special deal" on a private boat chartered by a Thai tourist group for a one day cruise to LP. In the end we had them call Lan in China to reconfirm the deal. We understand our boat has a bathroom and that lunch wilL be served on board.
We hope we will be returning to Huay Xai again in October when we plan to visit northern Laos hill tribes, cross into China and also continue into Vietnam.
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