Eric and I wake up to the sound of a rooster cawing. It seems roosters have replaced the sound of prayer calls at a mosque as our alarm clocks… the jury’s still out on which one we prefer.
For breakfast we find a little restaurant that serves local Laos food and we enjoy a great meal of Laos warm sticky rice bread, ground pork soup, plain sticky rice and coffee & tea. It’s known as the Khamu Laos breakfast and it is delicious!
After breakfast we walk up the main village road, which takes us past farmer fields, limestone cliffs and lots of small villages, until we reach Tham Pha Tok. “Tham Pha Tok” is a series of caves that were used by the villagers during the Vietnam War to hide during the bombings. It’s fascinating to see how they adapted their everyday life to exist in a cave.
During the Vietnam War, and the subsequent "Secret War", the United States dumped thousands of tonnes of bombs across Laos. About a third of these didn’t explode and are now scattered across the countryside. UXOs – Unexploded Ordinances – are still a huge problem, not only physically, but also socially as they’re a major contributor to the local poverty by preventing people from expanding their farm land and building new roads. Organizations such as MAG are working hard to locate the UXOs, but it’s still advised to stay on well worn paths and roads to avoid areas that may still contain UXOs.
The rest of our day is spent chilling on our porch reading.
At dinner, we meet up with Phillip, Renee and a newcomer, Rolf, for dinner at the Laos Restaurant we had breakfast at. Our meal includes pumpkin soup with dill, fish steamed in a banana leaf, spring rolls and sticky rice and once again, it’s absolutely delicious!
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