Mueng Ngoy's morning starts quiet and early.
When first boats arrive from nearby villages.
there on the riverbank, people's morning trade starts. from vegetables, eggs, fish to daily goods, all are scaled and traded before the sunrise.
Lek grills today's catch
during our 10 day stay in Mueng Ngoy, they had a once-every-10-day morning market.
so much of products sold here are imported from Vietnam and China. as Samuel from Luang Prabang's HIVE bar said, Laos doesn't have any of it's own industry. Despite its rich natural resource, the country doesn't have the ability to raise its own industry. so, for instance, Chinese people take advantage of natural resource and plant rubber trees in Laos, import them to China and make rubber in their factories, then export rubber products back into Laos to sell...
we meet a Swedish-and-Lao couple Ted and Lee. Ted tells me how the country's democracy is tewisted by corrupted dictatorship in the capital, and sometimes it's even questionable how the government is using the foreign aids, which this country is receiving fair amount-more than Cambodia or Myanmar- perhaps because of it's neutral and peaceful appearance. According to Ted's story, for example, Sweden has a national program to aid Laos's development, so Swedish citizen's tax money will go to the Lao government to build the roads into the remote villages. The Lao government then destroy the forest to build the roads through these villages to reach China, Vietnam and Thailand, and sell the logs for the extra cash. Villagers will have no forest, and road for what use? Meanwhile Swedish aid workers just sit on their French colonial balcony in the Capital, sipping ice tea which their Lao maid brings and sign the report saying 'our aid program is being successful.'
with Pheay, the owner of Vita guest house. he let us use his guest house for afternoon English class
Boat full of Beer Lao cases arrive in Mueng Ngoy, to prepare for the new year. Girls from the village carry these heavy cases up the hill to their store in repeating trips
in the schoolyard a mama buffalo peacefully chews on grass with her cub
in Wat Okadsaiyaram monks peacefully sing their chanting
in the river village women peacefully fish shrimps as buffaloes bathe
behind the main street where no Farang sees, the plastic waste quietly piles up
Lek teaches English
Children help us coloring the poster to prepare for the evening class
Meet Kai, a 26 years old multi-business owner, has built a miniature dam. Using a boat propeller, he single-handedly (literally. for a landmine accident 14 years ago took his left arm) built a fuel-free electricity generator which can provide him and his neighbors 500w for 24 hours.
kind, skillful and environmentally conscious, Kai helps me with Lao writings on the poster for reducing the waste. His dream is to build a new business of organic farm in the land of his best friends in front of the school.
at Kai's house, Lek plays a game with kids to teach them how to separate rubbish into compost, plastics and recycables
trash gets set on fire at the dump
villagers take a bath in Nam Ou river
so I follow them
Robert, an experienced traveler from Switzerland joins in. Speaks most of European languages, and his Thai is good enough to get understood in this remote Lao village. completely off the grid, been traveling in India through Nepal for 4 years, on his way to China.
Kai opens his house for the evening English class
"Hello, hello, hello..." Ryan Tennis's song from Pai is a big hit here.
Just before the dawn with 1 hour shutter. Mueng Ngoy's no-electricity night is deep and quiet.
Mueng Ngoy's morning starts quiet and early.
When first boats arrive from nearby villages.
there on the riverbank, people's morning trade starts. from vegetables, eggs, fish to daily goods, all are scaled and traded before the sunrise.
Lek grills today's catch
during our 10 day stay in Mueng Ngoy, they had a once-every-10-day morning market.
so much of products sold here are imported from Vietnam and China. as Samuel from Luang Prabang's HIVE bar said, Laos doesn't have any of it's own industry. Despite its rich natural resource, the country doesn't have the ability to raise its own industry. so, for instance, Chinese people take advantage of natural resource and plant rubber trees in Laos, import them to China and make rubber in their factories, then export rubber products back into Laos to sell...
we meet a Swedish-and-Lao couple Ted and Lee. Ted tells me how the country's democracy is tewisted by corrupted dictatorship in the capital, and sometimes it's even questionable how the government is using the foreign aids, which this country is receiving fair amount-more than Cambodia or Myanmar- perhaps because of it's neutral and peaceful appearance. According to Ted's story, for example, Sweden has a national program to aid Laos's development, so Swedish citizen's tax money will go to the Lao government to build the roads into the remote villages. The Lao government then destroy the forest to build the roads through these villages to reach China, Vietnam and Thailand, and sell the logs for the extra cash. Villagers will have no forest, and road for what use? Meanwhile Swedish aid workers just sit on their French colonial balcony in the Capital, sipping ice tea which their Lao maid brings and sign the report saying 'our aid program is being successful.'
with Pheay, the owner of Vita guest house. he let us use his guest house for afternoon English class
Boat full of Beer Lao cases arrive in Mueng Ngoy, to prepare for the new year. Girls from the village carry these heavy cases up the hill to their store in repeating trips
in the schoolyard a mama buffalo peacefully chews on grass with her cub
in Wat Okadsaiyaram monks peacefully sing their chanting
in the river village women peacefully fish shrimps as buffaloes bathe
behind the main street where no Farang sees, the plastic waste quietly piles up
Lek teaches English
Children help us coloring the poster to prepare for the evening class
Meet Kai, a 26 years old multi-business owner, has built a miniature dam. Using a boat propeller, he single-handedly (literally. for a landmine accident 14 years ago took his left arm) built a fuel-free electricity generator which can provide him and his neighbors 500w for 24 hours. 
kind, skillful and environmentally conscious, Kai helps me with Lao writings on the poster for reducing the waste. His dream is to build a new business of organic farm in the land of his best friends in front of the school.
at Kai's house, Lek plays a game with kids to teach them how to separate rubbish into compost, plastics and recycables
trash gets set on fire at the dump
villagers take a bath in Nam Ou river
so I follow them
Robert, an experienced traveler from Switzerland joins in. Speaks most of European languages, and his Thai is good enough to get understood in this remote Lao village. completely off the grid, been traveling in India through Nepal for 4 years, on his way to China.
Kai opens his house for the evening English class
"Hello, hello, hello..." Ryan Tennis's song from Pai is a big hit here.
Just before the dawn with 1 hour shutter. Mueng Ngoy's no-electricity night is deep and quiet.
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