Today was uneventful - we needed to travel by bus to Luang Nam Tha, the location of our 7 day trek into the Nam Ha Protected Area. I was expecting a crazy bus ride that was overcrowded, noisy, and had some animals. I was sweetly surprised - the bus was only half-full, and it must have been the nicest bus in Laos. We made a few pit stops & one lunch stop in Udomxai on our way north.
When we arrived in Luang Nam Tha, all of the travellers were puzzled. The bus was supposed to take us into the middle of town - we were standing at a bus station that was no where near a town. Upon asking the driver 'Luang Nam Tha?' and him nodding yes, people motioned us to pile into a tuk tuk. When we were seated, we realized that the bus stop had been moved to the outskirts of town for some reason. We would soon find out.
On our way into Luang Nam Tha, we passed a long tract of land that was being made into an airport. The runway seemed to go on forever...this place will be capable of handling large jets within a year's time. For the second time within a few days, I quietly thanked my luck for having visited here before mass tourism set upon the town. Life in Luang Nam Tha will be shocked into capitalism as soon as the airport is finished. The airport will make it easier to travel here, and therefore hordes of tourists will come. I can't complain, as I'm sure it will be great for the local economy, but I wonder if it's really what the people want. In the future, people will not be able to go about their days without being gawked at by visitors.
The Boat Landing Guesthouse is beautiful & quiet - I can't wait to sleep. No traffic noise, no loud music, no loud travellers (lights go out at 10pm).
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