Greetings from Laos!

Hello! I'm currently typing on a sticky keyboard in Luang Namtha, Laos.  It's the end of my 2nd full day in Laos and also the end of my 2-day trek into a Khmu minority protected area.  (Yep, I was arranged things fast as soon as I stepped off my bus from China on January 15.)

Backtrack.  I left Xinjiang on the 8th for Kunming, Yunnan, where Kim and I had our joyous reunion after not seeing each other since parting ways in Dalian last summer.  I met a lot of cool people, including some PiAers!  After a few days organizing things for our trip in Vietnam (Kim and I are planning to bike northern Vietnam for 2 weeks...if all goes well in Hanoi when we're getting our hands on equipment!), I headed to Jinghong in Xishuangbanna, southern Yunnan.

Xishuangbanna is much more like Southeast Asia and is home to many minority groups (like the Dai), some of which speak languages related to Thai.  I stayed in the palm-tree lined city of Jinghong for 3 days but rented a bike every day -- I covered over 175 km in the areas around Jinghong and visited a lot of small Dai villages.  I will have to post pictures later because the Dai houses were really beautiful.  I also ate Dai barbecue every day with sticky rice!  I was getting my stomach ready for Laos!

After 3 days I was ready to start exploring a new country, so I crossed the border at Mohan-Boten without any difficulties (whew! visa-on-arrival is a little nerve-wracking when policies are always changing!).  Luang Namtha, the closest town of considerable size close to the Chinese border, happens to be a center for eco-tourism and trekking in Laos.

I had been a little hesitant just because in Thailand last year, the trek I did was very touristy.  We stayed at "minority villages" which I suspect were built solely for tourists to stay in, as the head-dressed women selling us handicrafts seemed to magically follow us from 1 village to another.  The elephant ride was also a slick operation, with our photos taken at some point along the ride, and then printed and framed, even packaged with a price tag when we arrived back at the village.  Left a very bad taste in my mouth.

This trek that I just finished today was much better.  We did stay at a Khmu village for 1 night, but it was a real village with a population of around 400, according to our guide, despite its remote location -- truly "in the jungle"...although also accessible by motorbike, I think.  Nobody tried to sell us anything!  I have more to say about my experience, but now it's time for a dinner with my trekking buddies (3 Danes, 1 Dutchman, and 1 Italian -- a good group size)!  ...To be continued...