Road to Oudomxay then mad local bus to Luang Namtha!
 
The road north follows the river to start then turns west, is very windy/bumpy so pretty unpleasant, despite the scenery being stunning. We passed through many villages and saw kids on the school run which was cool. Again the scenery was breathtaking the higher we got and pretty difficult to describe, we headed up into more mountainous areas seeing river valley views across the plains. Personally I had an uncomfortable journey - seating position was shocking and my back was killing, for Nic she didn't care about comfort as long as she was next to the door and exit! Eventually the road began to slope downwards and plateau, bringing us into the province of Oudomxay. Arriving at the flat, stark and industrial Oudomxay was quite a shock after the beauty of the previous destinations so a real urgency to get a ticket and get out of there became the urgency of every man and his dog as we arrived at the bus station!
 
Our bus to Luang Namtha was leaving in 10 minutes and despite the one they pointed too looking full already, they still kept selling tickets .....It became a real scramble and we could see, especially Nic, that this was not going to be fun. The bus was already full with many locals and a few westerners and nobody was willing to move. I managed to grab us a plastic kiddies chairs for the aisles which we sat on, by now the 20 seater bus had about 30 on it already and we could see a further 10 locals at least waiting to get on still. Amazingly they all got on and after giving up one of our seats, the entire family of ten managed to squeeze onto the bus behind us, we still find it totally unbelievable how they fit so many people into the smallest of places! That left 5 westerners, who had still been told it wasn't full, left, so we thought well these guys cam squeeze 2 on laps up front leaving 3 in the doorway. By now Nic is already starting to panic, the bus is rammed and blocking her exit with even more people, not good, I was surprised she stayed on!!! Then to add to this, the bus driver came to the door with 2 huge bags of rice, where were they going?!!!! Unbelievably we watched as they put these in the door exit too, the westerners then squeezed on and we thought that was it ....until we realised that the other local guy outside was another driver and needed to get on also, it became ridiculous! I by now was sat on the small edge of a seat next to two young local girls who couldn't stop giggling, Nik still had her crowded plastic chair and the entire bus was RAMMED, at least 45 plus on a 20 seater plus rice, I was amazed it even moved!
 
This was the state of play too for another 5 hours and today we had already done a 6 hour journey.... Squashed in front of us was an older norwegian lady and American partner (who both live in Scotland!), we got chatting to them which was cool, she was doing very well sitting sideways on his lap and both admitted they travel for the fun of the local transport! Next to them in the door well was an irate german guy who kept telling the Norwegian lady she could sit the other way, bearing in mind she was 60 and doing bloody well in her current position, he definitely needed a slap and had a face like a wet fish for the entire journey! It really was not an enjoyable experience for all, very painful to say the least and Nik spent the entire journey trying to calm herself in to not needing to get off! She did this without valium which in the circumstances was pretty damn good for a claustrophobic on all accounts ....
 
The scenery became staggering once again further west but the roads also became staggering at the same time, dusty and bumpy dirt tracks, everyone got thrown about, except the locals who still manage to sleep through it all.....We neared the Chinese border which was cool and then finally arrived in the dark at a bus station, again out of town but this time 10km! May travellers didn't believe it and thought it was a scam so started walking, we nearly did too but were glad we didn't as it definitely was 10k to town and more! On arriving the town was very noisy due to a wedding and after traipsing around with everywhere being full, we found a wicked place to stay in a wooden swiss style chalet house that had not long been built! Our room was beautiful, a mixture of wood and brick walls and very posh ensuite, all for 6 dollars, incredible! This is definitely one thing that has shocked us about Laos, we expected even worse accommodation than Thailand and Vietnam, no hot water, outside loos etc.. but to date the accommodation has far outdone Thailand any day and actually looking back Thailand, despite being the most developed country, had the worst accommodation. That eve we ate a meal that Nik thought tasted like horse and drank a very welcome beer, thankful for the end of a very long day!
 
Motorbike to Muang Sing and the Chinese border!
 
After much deliberation on where would be best to trek (ie UANG Nam tha or rugged Muang Sing), how best could we sort the boat etc .. to the Thai border, we decided to base ourselves where we were and just take a day trip to Muang Sing via Songathew. On route there we passed on a bike shop and suddenly this got switched to hiring a motor bike for the day and doing it ourselves! This time we got a 125cc, fast or what I hear you say??!! We headed out of town (after some gear lessons for Ads) and it was great to be back, like Vietnam, on the open road and not have any bus to dicatate the route etc..
 
The road to Muang Sing was beautiful, very windy as we climbed up and round the mountains and through the valleys! Again we felt as though we could have been on a country road at home with the scenery/tree lined roads if it wasn't for the many shacks and dirty children running out to wave at us to say hello....remnants of our motorbike trek in Vietnam came flooding back! We passed 2 sections of road being worked on and it was incredible to see how the workers live, basically all they live and sleep in is a shelter made of 4 bamboo sticks and tarpaulin, that's it! Plus it was pretty cold and wet too so not the nicest of living conditions ... Ads by now had managed to improve with the gears and had found the pedal brake, so we were flying (well sort of!). Apart from one other bike and a couple of cars, we were the only ones on th road for nearly two hours, except of course for the additional roadside hazards expected - piglets, puppies and chickens crossing! As we headed into Muang Sing the mountains loomed even more all around us, and the town sat in the valley ahead, the sun started to shine now, it was peaceful and just beautiful!
 
There wasn't a lot as we came into Muang Sing but it had more of a local remote charm than Luang Namtha and I would have quite liked to stay there if we could have. I took Ads to the last remaining stalls at the tribal village market as I had read that tribes from all around come here to make a living, mainly in the morning though! It was brilliant though to see all the colours and designs that were unique to each tribe and if we could have, we would have bought the lot! In the end we bought mainly from the Hamong tribes, who are the largest Laos only minority tribes left in the region. A lovely old lady from the Tai Dam tribe managed to sweet talk Adam though and work her charm and as I headed towards him he hade bought the largest pair of random trousers I had ever seen and apparently they were for me! I know I have put on bit of weight in Asia but both of us could have fitted in these! We didn't barter at all with the tribes, to know the time and effort put into making and weaving even the smallest of materials it just didn't seem right so I think the locals were really chuffed to not be brought down for their efforts . With the poverty they live in and the starting price being just a pound for a bag, it was cheap at half the price! The 2 Hamong girls then came up to me with a seed bracelet as a thank you, I felt awful taking something for free but know I would have offended them if I didn't, Ads was also chuffed to have a picture with his new lady friend. Laos people are so giving even though they have nothing.....
 
After we visited an ethnic café made of bamboo which was cool, then headed on the bike towards the Chinese border! Running out of time to get back in the light we made it to 5km of the border and saw the Chinese mountains, took a picture then headed back on the 2 hour ride home.. On route we saw the old tribal ladies with all their handicrafts walking back to the mountains, they all smiled and waved - alas an other fantastic photo I missed. The route out of Muang Sing saw us tackle our first full on traffic jam - a herd of approx 50 cattle with some running towards us! I was quite happy to jump off the bike quickly into the nearest ditch but Ads decided to ride slowly through them much to ours and herders amusement as we nearly collided and fell off! Thankfully we made it through them and with very sore bums, rode the 2 hour ride back down the valley, a total of 120km in the end.
 
We then went further out of town to the boat landing to see if we could sort our boat to the thai border. Basically because the water is so low the usual day trip doesn't happen so most go by road. We really wanted to experience the scenery and village stay over 2 days and despite hardly any tourists doing it because it is 200 dollars plus there being no info on it whatsoever, we opted to go for it! The lady there said she could sort it for us and that it would take 2 days to get a message to the boatman she knew via moped and back to sort as it was going into remote areas.... Iit was a relief to find someone who could sort it as even the tourist information said it wasn't possible! We then booked our tribal trek for the next 2 days to see and stay in the Chief's hut of the Akha and Hamong tribes and thus had an early night in preparation ...well if it wasn't for the loud French women and snoring going on!