Well a lot has happened since that rainy day in Phongsali!
On Wednesday morning it was still raining and I decided to leave Phongsali and go to a very remote village named Ou Tai.
To get to Ou Tai I had to go back to Buon Neu a town on the way to Phongsali. There were no Tut tuts in town, so I began walking to the bus station about 3 - 4 kilometers from town. Along the way, Son Phone, my very best friend in Phongsali rode by on his motorbike, and I yelled at him and he stopped. I recognized him because he had the same shirt on he had on for the last three days, but then I did too. So no judgment - please.
He took me to the bus station and I found out there was a bus at 1:30. Someone in town had told me - only one bus per day.
So I had a pleasant 4-hour wait at the bus station. The bus arrived and we had a nice trip, 5 hours , to Buon Tai. There I got a hotel room for 50,000 kip, next to the bus station. It was a nice room with dim lighting, and two big windows. It was cold water only, and a squat toilet.
I started looking for a restaurant - there seemed to be only one - and they did not seem interested in having customers or not. There was no internet, and my phone had no reception.
At about 7 I went to the restaurant and ordered fried rice. They shook their heads - okay - and 10 minutes later I had a nice greasy plate of fried rice. Better than noodle soup at night in my opinion. It was not especially good - but I ate enough to be full - that's for sure.
The next morning I caught a bus to Ou Tai. It was a 6-hour trip through very rugged mountains. But it was an okay trip -just bumpy and noisy, but comfortable.
But it was a treacherous section of road. All dirt, and cut in the side of very steep mountains. There was shear cliff on the mountain side, and a breath taking drop off on the open side.
When we would stop for "personal breaks", you could not go out into the woods, that was a 200 - 300 foot drop off. So you stayed on the road in the open. Women to front , men to back. --worked well.
In Ou Tai I got a room for 40,000 kip ($4.93) at a hotel next to the bus station. Now Ou Tai is a town with no electrical service. My hotel had lights in each room from 7 (dark) to about 10.
There were three restaurants in town, all served noodle soup, and all together in one place.
I picked the one in the middle and found the owner in and asked him for fried rice or anything else. He smiled and acted very pleased and indicated for me to take a seat. He started busying around the kitchen, the whole place is one room, and in about 15 minutes brought me a plate of delicious fried rice! Very nice.
However, the next night when I went back, he was not there , and the women that were running the noodle shop said that was all they had - FOE. noodle soup. and they were not nice about it!
I went to another restaurant and found someone that would cook me some fried rice. It was not very good, but it was not noodle soup. I had had noodle soup for breakfast, and it's good once a day - but that's all.
Thursday
This morning I got up, went and gladly ate a bowl of noodle soup (I really like it once a day), at the same restaurant. Their soup had a different taste to it -- It was HOT! So I ate the noodles and left most of the broth.
Oh yea, one thing about this area, the hotels give you hot water in a thermos in your room or have it in the lobby. So I was able to have hot coffee in my room, even though I had no electricity.
After breakfast I set out on my own to visit some Hill Tribe villages about 7 kilometers from Ou Tai. On the road out, I was able to catch a ride on one of the local tractor trailer outfits.
On the way out I saw two men working on an overhead wire, attaching it together. Then I noticed a lot of wires run seemingly haphazardly along the road on various heights of bamboo poles. I guessed these were electric wires taking electricity to nearby homes but I never confirmed it. But I could think of no other purpose for so many wires along the roadway, then turning off and heading into the bush - out of site.
Now riding on one of these trailers is always a toss up between walking or riding. The trailers, I think, sit right on the axle. No springs, no shocks - just direct - jar for jar. It was rough riding in one, and I was glad to get out occasionally to walk as the tractor went thru a special bad place.
I was going further than the tractor, so I bid them farewell and walked a while longer, I came to a Hill Tribe village on a hill. I walked into the village and it was for the most part empty. A few children here and there and woman
under an elevated house doing something.
Then this man comes out of a house and signals for me to come.
When I got to his house he invited me in. I took off my Tiva sandals, my hiking boots, off
and climbed the steps behind him. There in the main salon of the house, were about 8 men sitting on little 6 inch stools around a 12 inch high table.
The table was loaded with all kinds of "things"! Some of which were meats, some vegetables and some - who knows what.
I "sah bah deedeed" everyone (said hello) , and nodded and then spoke English to all of them. I was offered a seat, I took it, and then a new set of chop sticks were offered to me. and everyone wanted me to start eating. They were not eating.
I kept indicating no - and tried to get them to eat. They all picked a few morsels, so I picked up one that looked bad - but my host insisted. It was some kind of beef or buffalo, I like to think, and was good!..but chewy. I then ate something that looked like a fried carrot stick. It wasn't. I was able to eat it though. I think it was a vegetable.
Then in a few minutes I tried something that looked like a "lady finger' desert. It wasn't, and I put it on the table next to a bowl near me.
When I reached for the meat, I couldn't get the chop sticks to work!! So I kept working at it and no one offered to show me or help me, they just all sat and watched as I struggled. At least it gave me something to do!
Then out came the bottle of Lao Lao. Hill Tribe homemade moonshine. It was poured into every ones little glass - a jigger - and then a toast would be made. I was given one - a toast was made - and I took a small sip! WOW - it was rough and hard on the throat. The men for the most part drank about half a jigger per toast. My jigger lasted through numerous toast! and still had some.
I have no idea what the life expectancy is of people who drink Lao Lao, but it couldn't be long, but I think it could cure you if you had bugs or something in your stomach!
After about an hour - I got up , gave my farewell "SAH BAH DEE'S" and left, with much protest. I was so popular!!!
I immediately got invited into another house. I guess this was celebration day. The same thing was in the other house, but not as many men, and I avoided the Lao Lao by indicating I was leaving.
I visited several more villages, none with parties, and the people were all very friendly to this strange man walking thru town.
Back in town, late that afternoon, I washed clothes and sent my pants to get mended, I had torn them. That night it rained for 6 hours at least. I mean hard rain.
The next morning, up and at em. Got my hot water from the Hotel thermos for coffee, and then went for noodle soup breakfast.
Next I packed and walked to the bus station about and hour early. As I was sitting there, with a phone with no signal, and a NOW a dead battery, it dawned on me to buy a battery and buy a sim card for this area, and see what happens.
The battery cost me $5.00 , and new sim card cost $2.00 and I bought $2.00 worth of minutes. Then I turned on the phone and called Anna, and she answered!!! man that was nice - cool. What an age we live in! A little $25 phone I bought in Phonesali, and now for $9 more I could talk to Anna!!!!
I had asked a Belgium fella I met a couple of days ago who was going to a big town to write Anna and tell her I was okay - just out of touch, and he had. But, boy, it was nice to talk to her!
So anyway - back at the bus station. A landslide had cut off the road to Ou Tai. We waited at the bus station for 5 hours , and finally the bus from Buon Tai arrived at the landslide which was near Ou Tai. We set off for the slide area.
There at the slide, not really tremendous, but big enough to stop traffic, was the slide. The plan was for us to walk over the slide with our stuff and get on the other bus that would take us to Buon Tai.
I had on my flip flops. I got my back pack and followed folks up to the slide. They were all taking off there flip flops or shoes , so I did.
Then to cross the slide area, it was very muddy. So people had started a new trail. But this new trail was along the EDGE of the cliff! I mean one inch off and you were over the cliff! and the path was only about 6 inches wide.!
No way -Jose!
I chose the old path, through about 6 inches or so of oo-ie mud. I figured it should be soft like a south Georgia pond, but was shocked to find out that it was filled with sharp rocks!
I ouhed, awwed, woed, and moaned with each step. IT HURT my feet, but I could think of nothing else except getting thru it -- without falling. Once the pain was so bad I almost fell over, but didn't. Now that would have been bad! Not dangerous, just awful! to fall in that mud. BUT I made it.
Now something came to my mind as I stood there with mud all over my feet and half my legs, .... I never saw Indiana Jones, or those other guys in the movies get this nasty ugly thick mud on them, and that they couldn't get it off!!!!
I wiped off with leaves and washed in a little muddy water, but still had it on me. We all loaded on the bus, ..... and went about 200 yards up the mountain and stopped at a mountain stream and every one was able to get out and to wash off and get back on the bus feeling decent. That felt good.
The slide behind us, the mud washed off our feet we started the 5 hour trip into Buon Neu.
Sunday
A good night's sleep at Buon Neu, (bad fried rice for dinner), and this morning, noodle soup for breakfast, then an eight hour bus ride to here - Udomxai.
Food choices are not much better here, but I tried a hamburger - which was a terrible hamburger, but it sure was a nice change.
Tomorrow, 6 hours to Luang Nha Than, or maybe 11 hours to Huay Xai. Not sure yet.
so - all for now -= let me see what I can do for photos.
