It was tough to leave Nongkhiew Village. It is such a slice of paradise. Today we are back on the bikes. We are off the main road but we are on a road that is paved and has very little traffic. It passes through highland villages that are on the side of the road. It is very, very rural. It seems that many of the people are Hmongs. Some woman still had the traditional headdress. The major industry seems to be the cutting and slicing of bamboo. For the most part, these are very poor people although you will see houses interspersed with the huts that are quite nice.
When we ride through the children greet us and wave. Laos is very laid-back. It’s my personal theory that landlocked countries tend to be that way. The lack of a port makes it extremely difficult to overcome impoverishment so they accept their fate. Meanwhile, landlocked countries seem to have a history of being overrun by neighboring countries that are on their way to somewhere else.
Tonight we are in a village that only has electricity for a few hours a day. We waited for the electricity to go on so that we could get a hot show and dinner. The hotel is actually quite nice except for the lack of electricity. Our understanding is that the electricity is provided generators in an up-river dam. The amount of time that the generators are run is dependent on the water level at the dam and how much water can be released. Now is the dry season, which is very apparent by looking at the level of the rivers and the vegetation, therefore the village only gets about 2 hours electricity at night and an hour our two in the morning. Durning the rainy season the hours of service are extended. We do see though that new power lines are being constructed so in a couple of years there should be full time electricity.
Of course there is no internet so I am typing this using the battery of my laptop and it will not be posted for a few days.