Wednesday 5th March
Four of us – the two French lads, Femke and myself – signed up to try our hand at traditional Lao net fishing, which we booked through the guesthouse. We finally got going around 10.30, after our breakfast was typically slow in coming, as has been the norm since I arrived in Laos. Due to reasons that are not obvious outside of the kitchen – most likely due to a lack of staff, or just plain inefficiency – meals, more often than not, are prepared individually, coming out one after the other as soon as they are made. As a result, a meal for several people can be strung out over a considerable period of time. It's not something that particularly bothers me, and the atmosphere is generally relaxed and you just learn to get used to 'Lao time'.
We met the guys who were to take us fishing, and we drove a few kilometres outside of town, a tributary of the larger Nam Ou river on which we had come from Luang Prabang the day before. They taught us how to use the traditional fishing net, which opens out into a circle, lands in the water and the lead rings on its edge weigh it down on the river bed, thus trapping any fish that happen to be going that way. It wasn't that difficult to do and I managed to catch a few tiddlers. I was slightly bemused by the fact that they were happy to catch such small fish. Back home it would most likely be illegal, and it could hardly be good for the local fish market to prevent fish from getting any bigger. Anyway, we ended up with a few small baskets of fish and cooked them over a fire, just like you would with marshmallows. They were quite tasty and it was a good end to an enjoyable trip, and a nice change from the ordinary.
On the way back, the guys dropped us off at the Tham Pha Tak caves, a group of caves where locals hid out during the Second Indochina War in the 1960s and 1970s. Outside a large crater could be made out, and this had been created by US air strikes that were a part of daily life for the Laos people during this time. Laos is, in fact, officially the most bombed country in the world. The main aim of these bombardments was to prevent the spread of communism in Asia, but a greater legacy was the amount of unexploded ordinance (or 'UXO') that was left behind. A consequence of this has been the considerable deaths and mutilations of local people who have unwittingly stepped on or hit a bomb, a risk that continues to this day, despite the efforts of disposal teams to get rid of them. So, it's not such a good idea to stray off the beaten the path when visiting Laos, and we have Uncle Sam to thank for that one.
Anyway, the caves were pretty impressive. Signs were placed around the various caverns to indicate places that had once housed the banks, the financial and accounting offices, the meeting rooms, kitchens and hospitals that ensured that this shelter served as a fully functional village for the inhabitants of the area in a time of danger. It is only one of many caves to be found in Laos, many of them used for a similar purpose at a more dangerous period in the history of the country.
We headed back to Nong Khiaw and booked ourselves onto a two day/one nigh trek into the surrounding countryside. The trek I had done in Luang Nam Tha had been very satisfying but I was also keen to continue travelling with the guys I had met on the boat from LP. They were good fun and I felt comfortable hanging out with them, and sometimes you have to make the most of these opportunities. Also, our final destination would be the town of Muang Ngoi, where I was planning to visit anyway.
After dinner, we tried to watch another movie at 'Le Cinema' but we were too late for that, so we sauntered on back to the huts and had an early night instead.
