12-18-10: Nong Kiaw, Day 1

Today we hung out in the sleepy river town of Nong Kiaw. I imagine the
town would be much smaller, but it has been scooped into the travel
circuit, so the economy has increased to serve travelers. We started
out the day having breakfast at Mekara Lao Restaurant, quickly
becoming our favorite place in town (of the five eateries). I tried
the Lao tea and was heartily disappointed. The tea was served
unbagged! How do you drink tea with leaves and sticks in it? I tried
to skim out the biggest bits, but the leftovers still distracted me
from drinking. The flavor was dark, not bad, but I am not accustomed
to drinking tea, so I prefer the tastes that are easily recognizable -
mint, lemon, etc. This was too exotic for me. Robert enjoyed his lao
coffee, though. For food, Robert got khamu, which is eggplant and meat
soup, sticky rice, and a plate of boiled cabbage. He really enjoyed
all of it, especially playing with his sticky rice, molding it into
thick oblong lumps for dipping. I got cheaw mor shom, which was
described as bamboo in sour chili sauce, three boiled eggs, boiled
cabbage and sticky rice. There was no way I could eat it all, but it
was tasty! I would have liked to have split the sour bamboo though
because it was just too much sour at one time, similar to eating a
whole plate of sauerkraut, and THREE eggs? Oish - I ate one.

After that killer start to our day, we went for a wander. The "town"
is actually twin towns, Nong Kiaw on the less-developed side of the
river and Ban Hop Soun, which has the guesthouses and tourist-oriented
restaurants. We walked back through Nong Kiaw, stopping at a shop to
admire...excuse me, what are these?...opium pipes. They looked like
small pretty vases or bulbous little candle holders. They were
neither, opium. Next we struck out on a dirt road that lead to a
traditional village, one still unaffected by tourism. We walked for an
hour, following the river, but from a distance so that our path soared
and dropped repeatedly. The village was very small and very primitive.
It was interesting to walk through, but we are always lost in these
small villages. What do you do? We just walked through, turned around
and walked back, pausing only to snoop around the empty school house.
I like their wooden slide outside! Inside was just simple wooden
benches and a chalk board. The other small moment we observed was a
Fiskars haircut, bright orange scissors, a comb and a cape to keep the
hairs off.

When we got back to the developed village, we had an Indian food snack
and some Internet. We have gotten so spoiled lately, getting online
everyday. Next we took a mid-afternoon shower because it is too cold
at night and in the morning. We were delightfully surprised that the
water was scaldingly hot. The shower was great. Then we passed out,
awaking only at like 8(?)pm to drag ourselves out for a small, late
dinner. We ate at Mekara again: laap, or lam (a thick soup), and kai
pen (river weed fresh from the Mekong River). It looks like a mermaids
hair before it is prepared, then they press it into thin sheets like
nori seaweed, it is finished off with sesame seeds, garlic and tomato
slices. You have to cook it before you can eat it, ours was fried in
hot oil, making it a little to greasy. Robert didn't enjoy it, but I
liked it well enough and made a good stab at finishing it off. I had
to leave one folded bit, but otherwise I ate it all greedily.

More sleeps.