Pallavi has been looking for a chance to rent a scooter or motorcycle since we started this trip. We've never quite found the perfect spot or occasion for it. This town is perfect. There is a 58 km road that goes through the mountains and the Nam Ha National Protected Area up to the Laos/China border town of Muang Sing.
Muang Sing is at the epicenter of what was known as the Golden Triangle where Laos, Myanmar, and China meet. It also was the heart of the opium trade. I'd read that the Laos government has tried to stamp out opium, but hill tribe women will often try to just give it to you on the side of the road. So, it seemed like a really fascinating place to make a day trip.
After a few practice runs on the scooter (proving that riding a scooter is like riding a bike - you never forget), Pallavi was ready to take me on board as her passenger, and gave me all of the instructions I'd need for my first proper scooter passenger experience.
We set off. Now, throughout this trip, I've frequently cursed the journey, not the destination. Not today. We drove through one of the most beautiful, breathtaking landscapes I think I've seen. Freshly planted rice paddies in green plateaus, dotted with wood huts. Workers tilling the rice paddies with traditional plows. Tons of hill tribes folk walking along the road, often carrying woven baskets on their back filled with something. Tons of hill tribes folk walking off into the mountain to cut down some vegetable to eat and put into their woven basket. Green mountains with steam coming off of the road and clouds enveloping the mountain tops. Breathtaking.
We drove through the Nam Ha National Protected Area. This area is suppose to have tigers, elephants, clouded leopards, jaguars, and more. Supposedly, they are incredibly shy and almost impossible to spot as they have been heavily hunted in the past. However, nothing is stopping Eagle Eyes Pallavi from looking. If anybody can spot an animal or bird or worm in the jungle, it's her. In fact, as we were driving Pallavi mentions that she had read there are tons of beautiful insects everywhere you look in Laos and hadn't I noticed them everywhere. No! Of course I haven't noticed the insects on the side of the road. We're on a scooter. The only way I'll see an insect is if it unfortunately makes a bad life choice and eats up either inside of the car or on its windshield.
Then, there are the villagers and hill tribes folk! It's not just the people we passed en route. It's the people we saw in the villages. We stopped in one village and passed an older woman who was sitting on her porch, spinning cotton into thread using two spindles, smoking a pipe, with her breasts uncovered! National Geographic here we are! We stopped in Muang Sing, and a woman was grilling up some sort of rice-based naan covered in chili-bean marinara. We didn't see much in Muang Sing. We also didn't get offered opium off of the street (at this town, anyway!). but it was worth the adventure.
There were only 2 negatives to the day.
1) Jungle mystery food #2. We stopped at some popular side of the road place just shy of Muang Sing for lunch. It didn't have any menus, but it had lots of people and some French tourists we had met a few times along the way, so it seemed safe enough. We pointed at some dish on another table that looked tasty and waited. When the food came, we couldn't figure out what the heck it was! It was some sort of scaly round super bony meat. Definitely not fish - the shape wasn't right. Definitely not snake - snakes don't have a vertebrae. We went back and forth on what the heck it could be, and tragically, ended up leaving it. NOT because the flavour wasn't good and NOT because we are jungle food pansies. There were just too many bones for our eating pleasure. On our way out, Pallavi asked a basic English-speaking local what the heck the food was. The best Pallavi could understand was that it was like a snake with hands with a long neck that eats insects. We've narrowed it down to anteater or gecko. I think gecko. This experience combined with yesterday's day market experience leads me to believe that people in Laos eat anything. Waste not want not; however, no more mystery jungle food for us that isn't clearly vegetarian. We're still paranoid about accidentally eating a rat, and really hope they don't eat dog here! We also were still hungry, which is how Pallavi ended up eating that yummy grilled rice naan with chili marinara.
2) TBS (tired butt syndrome). It was suppose to take us 2 hours to get to Muang Sing. It took us 2.5 hours. However, I feel a bit thwarted. The reason why I dread riding a bicycle is because I don't want TBS. Every year in college, the first week back at school riding my bike to band practice all day resulted in TBS. There isn't anyway to avoid it. It's just the reality of breaking in your butt for riding a bike. I had no idea you could get it while riding a scooter! The 2.5 hour ride there was alright. Just a few TBS issues. The 2.5 hour ride back took FOREVER! The light was fading. We were running against the clock to get the scooter back. It took 5 minutes to get 1 km due to bad roads and mountainous conditions. It took 5 minutes from taking a butt break to reliving the TBS. By the time we made it all safely back to Luang Namtha, we could barely get off of the bike!
Totally worth it though. This place is absolutely breathtaking.
Muang Sing is at the epicenter of what was known as the Golden Triangle where Laos, Myanmar, and China meet. It also was the heart of the opium trade. I'd read that the Laos government has tried to stamp out opium, but hill tribe women will often try to just give it to you on the side of the road. So, it seemed like a really fascinating place to make a day trip.
After a few practice runs on the scooter (proving that riding a scooter is like riding a bike - you never forget), Pallavi was ready to take me on board as her passenger, and gave me all of the instructions I'd need for my first proper scooter passenger experience.
We set off. Now, throughout this trip, I've frequently cursed the journey, not the destination. Not today. We drove through one of the most beautiful, breathtaking landscapes I think I've seen. Freshly planted rice paddies in green plateaus, dotted with wood huts. Workers tilling the rice paddies with traditional plows. Tons of hill tribes folk walking along the road, often carrying woven baskets on their back filled with something. Tons of hill tribes folk walking off into the mountain to cut down some vegetable to eat and put into their woven basket. Green mountains with steam coming off of the road and clouds enveloping the mountain tops. Breathtaking.
We drove through the Nam Ha National Protected Area. This area is suppose to have tigers, elephants, clouded leopards, jaguars, and more. Supposedly, they are incredibly shy and almost impossible to spot as they have been heavily hunted in the past. However, nothing is stopping Eagle Eyes Pallavi from looking. If anybody can spot an animal or bird or worm in the jungle, it's her. In fact, as we were driving Pallavi mentions that she had read there are tons of beautiful insects everywhere you look in Laos and hadn't I noticed them everywhere. No! Of course I haven't noticed the insects on the side of the road. We're on a scooter. The only way I'll see an insect is if it unfortunately makes a bad life choice and eats up either inside of the car or on its windshield.
Then, there are the villagers and hill tribes folk! It's not just the people we passed en route. It's the people we saw in the villages. We stopped in one village and passed an older woman who was sitting on her porch, spinning cotton into thread using two spindles, smoking a pipe, with her breasts uncovered! National Geographic here we are! We stopped in Muang Sing, and a woman was grilling up some sort of rice-based naan covered in chili-bean marinara. We didn't see much in Muang Sing. We also didn't get offered opium off of the street (at this town, anyway!). but it was worth the adventure.
There were only 2 negatives to the day.
1) Jungle mystery food #2. We stopped at some popular side of the road place just shy of Muang Sing for lunch. It didn't have any menus, but it had lots of people and some French tourists we had met a few times along the way, so it seemed safe enough. We pointed at some dish on another table that looked tasty and waited. When the food came, we couldn't figure out what the heck it was! It was some sort of scaly round super bony meat. Definitely not fish - the shape wasn't right. Definitely not snake - snakes don't have a vertebrae. We went back and forth on what the heck it could be, and tragically, ended up leaving it. NOT because the flavour wasn't good and NOT because we are jungle food pansies. There were just too many bones for our eating pleasure. On our way out, Pallavi asked a basic English-speaking local what the heck the food was. The best Pallavi could understand was that it was like a snake with hands with a long neck that eats insects. We've narrowed it down to anteater or gecko. I think gecko. This experience combined with yesterday's day market experience leads me to believe that people in Laos eat anything. Waste not want not; however, no more mystery jungle food for us that isn't clearly vegetarian. We're still paranoid about accidentally eating a rat, and really hope they don't eat dog here! We also were still hungry, which is how Pallavi ended up eating that yummy grilled rice naan with chili marinara.
2) TBS (tired butt syndrome). It was suppose to take us 2 hours to get to Muang Sing. It took us 2.5 hours. However, I feel a bit thwarted. The reason why I dread riding a bicycle is because I don't want TBS. Every year in college, the first week back at school riding my bike to band practice all day resulted in TBS. There isn't anyway to avoid it. It's just the reality of breaking in your butt for riding a bike. I had no idea you could get it while riding a scooter! The 2.5 hour ride there was alright. Just a few TBS issues. The 2.5 hour ride back took FOREVER! The light was fading. We were running against the clock to get the scooter back. It took 5 minutes to get 1 km due to bad roads and mountainous conditions. It took 5 minutes from taking a butt break to reliving the TBS. By the time we made it all safely back to Luang Namtha, we could barely get off of the bike!
Totally worth it though. This place is absolutely breathtaking.
