After our time was spent we returned once again via the mountains to Vang Vieng another of our destinations just north of the Vientiane. Unfortunately, this city is popular with the party crowd, but for us, caves, limestone cliffs and an organic farm were on the docket.
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| Limestone Cliffs and Dry Rice Fields |
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| Blue Lagoon Cave |
Our accommodations at an organic farm were simple yet comfortable. Guests can stay in a dorm setting, guest room setting or even rent their own bungalow. The farm’s main products come from mulberries. Mulberries, mulberry tea, mulberry wine, mulberry shakes, deep fried mulberry leaves and goat cheese are all sold. I include the goat cheese as part of the mulberry product list because the goats on the farm are fed mulberry leaves too! The farm also has pigs that had a big litter of piglets during our stay. Workers and volunteers just planted pineapple and are putting in garden beds. It sometimes seems strange starting gardens in December! The farm is beautifully located on the edge of a large river. They demonstrate the use of mud buildings as sustainable alternatives to concrete and offer them as living quarters to those visiting at the farm. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the farm and if we get the chance may go back to volunteer.
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| Young Mulberry Trees |
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| A Modern Mud Home |
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| Rows of Mulberry Trees |
On New Year’s Eve a group of kids from the community center, which is also associated with the farm, held a small dance performance at the farm café. We both concluded that Lao enjoy two kinds of dancing, Lao traditional dances and hip hop. Unfortunately as evening progressed the Indian food that we ate earlier began talking back! When the clock struck twelve and the fireworks in Vang Vieng went off we both ushered in the new year from our seats in the occupied the outhouses. Food poisoning sure wasn’t fun…but I told Kaarina that we would eventually be able to eat food again and it would be a good story for the blog. We are thankful that through all our travels, diverse menus and sketchy restaurants, food and water has not made us sick until now.
With our bike returned and the New Year ahead we are excited to get back to Tha Thom and move into our new home! (Stay tuned).
Posted by Jeffrey
Hi, your mom sent me a Christmas letter via email and she included this link to it. I read through all your posts and I am in awe. It is so interesting and astounding to see the types of transportation and food. I will pray for you two. Hope you are happy, healthy, and achieving your goals!
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