Day Eleven ( 21/10/2024) The joys of isolation (Nam Kat Yorlapa)

 Despite the tour company's best efforts we were only able to get tickets for the last train to VangVieng at 6.30pm so we had a day of leisure at our disposal. Massages were on the cards for some: any opportunity for more massages is greatly appreciated. Facials, foot, Top to Toe, aromatherapy, traditional Lao, dry, oily - you name it somebody in the group has had it!


Jan and I decided to start the day with another walk in the morning. When we emerged from our residence there was thick cloud, the mountains had disappeared and everything was dripping wet. We went further afield to discover that Nam Kat Korlapa is more than a resort - it includes a Khmu village and restaurant as well as another 30 residences. 












The butterflies seemed to like the moisture but weren't interested in having their photos taken.  The mushrooms and fungi were shining in the wet and the spiders were mutliplying rapidly as we kept walking into spider webs along the paths.



It was certainly no hardship to while away a few hours as the residences were delightful and each balcony overlooked the river. The swimming pool and the lime and sodas enabled us to survive the heat and humidity.

And the food was fabulous although the English descriptions were a little hard to fathom! The servings were so large that noone could finish their meal and there was a large quantity of food left. When we commented to Ben, the Manager, he said not to worry as the Khmu would never let food go to waste, so that was reassuring.



Ben was quite a character as he seemed toappear,as if by magic, every time someone looked at the map of NamKat Yorlapa. There was also a poster that showed a number of possible adventure activities, all of which sounded horrendous: including bicycle ziplining.

Whilst we were perusing the options Ben appeared and suggested we go to the Museum. As it had rained the previous night he suggested we took a Tuk Tuk belonging to the Resort to get there although it was only 1.2kms away. There was a section of the road under water and he seemed keen for us to avoid wading through the water and slipping over. Good call!





The Museum was a great surprise as it contained lots of frames filled with butterflies, insects and moths: some of the specimens were dated back to the 1700s. Around the walls were some exquisite photos of birds, frogs, snakes and insects.(After we returned I thanked Ben for the recommendation and said how wonderful the photos were. As it happenend the french couple who are the photographers were there, so he introduced us. After a chat they went off to photograph an insect they'd found. Ben kindly offered to send me bird photos for my grandson Os which was kind.)rX 








We spent a while enjoying all that it offered and decided a coffee would be next. There was a Waterpark and supermarket and shop, all belonging to Namkat.

We were intrigued by two things: this sign and this very odd zipline activity where you could sit on a platform with 2 chairs and a table and end up dangling over the river?!


Namkat is a protected forestry area so all of these facilities are surrounded by pristine forest and jungle. Everywhere there is the sound of burbling water which is very soothing.

In sharp contrast our train trip to VangVieng was an awful experience - again!! It began with Khais offering us masks, not to prevent contagious diseases but because of the smell on the train. We staggered aboard to find people without tickets sitting in some of our allocated seats after being pushed and shoved trying to reach our seats. The noise level due to screeching people and some fights about seats combined with excitement because of travel was deafening and didn't decrease for the entire two hour trip. Khais our guide couldn't get the person sitting in his seat to move for half of the trip so he had to stand at the back. I'm trying to be diplomatic about the Chinese but clearly queuing and considering others is not part of the culture! The train trip was an awful contrast to the rest of our day. Fortunately no more train trips for us!




We arrived at the Riverside Boutique Hotel in Vang Vieng tired and hungry. Had a quick but delicious Lao meal and went to bed.

your slightly traumatised correspondent 

Dianne




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