The first village we visited was that of the Lanten people. Andrew and I were very pleased about this, because we have seen in Vientiane a number of pieces of weaving by the Lanten people -at the Japanese Coffee house.

The Lanten people are recognisable by the indigo blue clothing that they wear. They weave and dye cotton using indigo plants that they grow around the village. The women wear their hair pulled back off the faces and when they marry they shave their eyebrows

The next stop we had was for lunch. It was a pre-prepared picnic made by the Boat landing. The guides went and picked banana leaves and laid them down as a recyclable tablecloth. As per usual, the food from the boat landing was lovely.
Further downstream we stopped at a Khmu village. Khmu are one of the many different ethnic minorities in Laos. This village did not seem as prosperous as the previous.

Back on the river and the final set of paddling. We were all pleased to be out of the boats it had been hard work. While the guides loaded the kayaks on the van we spent a few minutes interacting with the locals.

Andrew was MOST impressed with the lad in orange walking around the village with his slingshot & the 2 boys showed off their prowess. Sadly the little boy didn’t give him a go with it.
We were driven back to the boat landing, which was about 20 km away by road. Driving slowly along the pitted dirt road, it took us nearly an hour.

And this is how you launder your money - needed if you keep it in your pocket on a river journey – isn't that right Andrew?