Sawbahdee!!!

Ben has signed the two of us up for a 56 kilometer bicycle tour today.  John and Lisa opt for another elephant reserve tour.  I really do not fully know what Ben is getting me into.  But the day will involve me happily saying' " Sawbadee!" (Hello!) a hundred times.  These children, out of school for a week of holidays, are just a few of those who will greet us with waves and smiles and even a few words in

English.

But first we meet our guide Shiong (like Shawn).  No one else signed up for the tour, so it will be just the three of us all day long.  Shiong says sometimes the tours are 20 people, so we are pretty lucky to have this semi-private tour.  After we get going, we can only imagine how different it would be in a crowd.

We negotiate the Luang Prabang traffic and first stop is a weaving workshop.  What Shiong doesn't know is we are sick of shopping and Ben has little cash.  I still try on the traditional skirt almost all Lao women wear.

A few miles later we blessedly get off the main road which is under construction.  Why did I wear a white shirt?  It will probably be ecru from now on.  Choking on truck dust is no fun, but soon it is behind us.

We pull over to visit with this monk and villagers who are stripping poles for a ceremony at their wat.

Shiong explains they will use the poles to cook food as offerings to the ancestors. We are not too sure we understand all this, but we admire that they are happily working together to continue important religious celebrations.

The farm animals in this area are "free range."  This water buffalo seems curious about us.  Shiong tells us the villagers all know which animals belong to whom.  The Lao do not milk their cattle.  Dairy is not part of their diet at all.  After a mom weans her baby around age 2 there is no more milk in the family diet.  This probably has a lot to do with the extreme heat most of the year and lack of refrigeration.  John has told us that dairy and tropical climates are not a good mix.  Therefore, water buffalo will someday be steak.

The kids are so friendly and sweet.  The little one kept smiling and waving at us.  Before I took the picture she tucked her feet up on the bike just as she had been while riding behind big sister.

We get a snack break at the next village.  Shiong buys some "yam bean" from this lady.  After peeling it for us, we sample and realize it is jicama.

We will stop at 7 villages today and at most of them Shiong pulls us off in the shade and tells us about the ethnic minorities that live in each one.  We remember the Hmong and Khmu but get a little confused about all the different ones he describes.  

After lots of hilly terrain on our quiet dirt road we come to the river crossing.  Our cheerful boatman will load our bikes and ferry us across.

This is a fun little journey.  On the other side I will almost fail at getting my bike up the steep path back to a road.  The river floods during the rainy season.  Often the villages flood.  It is good though for growing rice, the lifeblood of these communities.  We didn't knoww that flooded rice patties also produce small crabs and eels for harvesting.

We are here during the cooler dry season.  Shiong says it will get really, really hot soon snd then the rainy season will turn the roads to muck.  The bike tour business will wither a bit.  I cannot imagine doing this in 90 degree heat. 

A stop in another village is interesting because a shaman is doing healing ceremonies.  We can hear him chanting and singing.  Lots of men are gathered around.  One inebriated man repeatedly offers us Lao Lao, local 100 proof whiskey.  We decline with thanks and bows.  This little girl shyly hangs near us.

It is one of the contradictory aspects of rural Lao life that many remote and very poor villages have satellite dishes and TV.   They lack running water and refrigeration, but the families can gather around the TV set.  Shiong worries that too much TV is keeping kids from learning traditional skills.

Rice is laid out to dry in this village.

We are getting famished.  Shiong finds a shady spot in a fallow rice paddy and gathers leafy branches for us to sit on.  He then pulls quite a feast out of his backpack.  The tour company has a family that does their cooking.  The food is delicious.

In the 6th village a wat is under construction.  The workers are all volunteers from the village and the building is financed by local donations.  

This is one long ride.  I am wishing it was about 30 k and I feel sure it is longer than 56.  We climb a lot of hills.  After we loop around and get back on a busy paved road, we are really flagging.  Shiong pulls into a roadside stand and buys coconuts that a guy opens with a machete.  Neither Ben or I are big fans, but we are game (and welcome a break).

Another shade stop is at a place where riverweed sheets are being dried (like seaweed). This is a favorite local snack.  The seaweed has sliced tomatoes and garlic dried into it and it will be toasted and broken into pieces to eat with smoked eggplant spread and other dips.  We have tried it - good stuff.

We finally descend into Luang Prabang about 4 pm.  It has been a 7 hour tour.  Shiong gives us each a hug and we wish him well in his university studies.  We can't wait for showers and the massages scheduled for later this evening!