31/10/12 to 6/11/12. We made our way to Oudomxai from Luang Prabang, arriving in Oudomxai mid afternoon, just in time to see a fine sunset from the top of the hill above the town. In the evening we watched lots of people place baskets of flowers and candles onto the river for Boun Lay Hua Fai (to celebrate the end of buddhist lent and the end of the rainy season. It is a gift for the Naga and therfore, it is supposed to bring luck). They also set off lanterns and fireworks.
The next day we visited a nearby village Muang La. After some confusion over which Muang La we arrived to have a stroll around the village and the Wat to pay a visit to to the Pra Singkam Buddha who is considered to be especially potent. The legend says that you can wish whatever you want and your wish will be granted .
After another night in Oudomxai we took a day bus (9hrs) to Phongsali. This was a colourful old commie bus with pictures of Che Guevara and air con (if you opened the windows). We left at 9am and stopped 5 times before even leaving Oudomxai for the driver to get some fuel, pick up some more people, text a friend, chat with some mates, etc…It took an extra hour to actually leave Oudomxai. Luckily we survived the trip and arrived on time in Phongsali. We met some people who took the same bus the day before and it took them an extra 3 hours because of a couple punctures.
We were now up in the mountains at 1400m and it was refreshingly cool. On our first day we had a walk around Phongsali where the Chinese influence was clear (we were only 6 miles from the Chinese border). There were shops selling cheap electrical goods and chinese goods, and a lot of hotels and restaurants have chinese writing in addition to Lao. We climbed a challenging 200m by steps to the top of the mountain where there was a stupa and an excellent view of the valley. On our way down we were invited to have a drink and a game of “Petang”(asian pronunciation of the French petanque game) with a group of locals. Dave, the owner of the little bar and I won the game and we had a good laugh (with the help of our phrasebook which they found fascinating and thanks to the local pastis - Lao Lao).
After some debate we booked ourselves onto a 3 day trek to visit some hill tribe villages, where we would be fed and would stay for the night. After a bus journey to nearby Boun Tai, we set off with our guide, Bounlod. He was monk for 7 years and was a true bushman, hunting for food and making several items out of bamboo with his knife along the way.
It was raining on our first day which made the trails muddy and lots of leeches were wiggling at us. A few made it onto our shoes but luckily no bites thanks to our insect repellent. After a quick lunch at our first village where we ate banana flower, wild boar and sticky rice, we set off for the afternoon. The mud made it tough to walk up and down the steep hills, and we arrived at our 2nd village after a record 7hrs, the first group to arrive after dark, which amused the Akha tribe who usually do it in 3hrs carrying 20kg of bamboo. We had a nice traditional meal all made from ingredients found in the forest/village (beef, pumpkin, melon, chillies, bamboo), helped down with some Lao Lao. This was followed by an Akha massage and then bed, where we slept like logs until the coqs woke us up at 5 in the morning, followed by the sound of Akha women creaming sweetcorn with huge wooden contraptions directly below our bedroom... Is felt like an earthquake.
We had breakfast, filled our waterbottles with cold tea, then trekked for an hour before taking a quick wash in a stream. Then we continued mostly uphill through thick jungle before reaching our next village for lunch. This was a Loma village this time and they wore different patterns on their clothing. They were staring at the hairband that Flora had bought from the Akha women and were laughing and smiling. We stopped for lunch, (pumpkin, bamboo, omelette, chillies, noodle soup and beans/nuts).
We continued in the afternoon, where we passed a school. All the children ran out to shout "Sabaidee" at us. It was deafening and we realised what its like to be a celebrity in Leicester Square on premiere night. When the teacher came round the corner, they all ran inside as they probably should have been working. After better weather we arrived mid afternoon in our last village. We admired the view and the friendliness of the people. Some children were curious to begin with but usually smiled and followed after us. 
Bounlod took us to the village's only 'shop', which also had a snooker table (a dodgy one with pieces of tape and bumps on it). All the villages were watching our game of pool with 3 spots and 6 stripes, as some of the balls were missing. We then had dinner where a chicken was picked from the village to be part of our meal. Within 5 minutes it was plucked and bubbling away in a pot with its liver, heart, head and feet. We had the chicken with the usual pumpkin flower, chillies, green beans, bamboo, riverweed and peanuts (and Lao Lao of course).
We woke at sunrise to see the stunning "Sea of Clouds" in the valley below the village. It was an awesome sight sitting among boar, chickens, and bamboo houses looking out across the 'sea'.
After a breakfast of eggs, bamboo, chillies and the gorgeous shredded melon with peanuts, we waved goodbye and trekked a beautiful road back to a main road where we said thanks and goodbye to Bounlod. We were back into a ‘normal’ and ‘civilised’ world, with shower, toilets, tables, chairs and clean water to drink. We had a well-deserved fish soup in a tiny restaurant, as we had walked 32 kilometres in 3 days.
We then waved from the side of the road and caught a bus on to Muang Khua, where we stayed the night before catching a riverboat down the Nam Ou river to Muang Ngoy Neua.
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