Akha girl

[The_Traveler]

This young girl lives in an Akha village at 2000 meters and 25 km on a dirt road off the main road 25 km north of Udomxai. Akha live as high up in the hills as they can. They are animists and believe that everything has a spirit and ghosts and witches fly about in the sky.

It is possible that she has never talked to a Westerner or perhaps seen one up close. They have a local school staffed by the Lao government and probably can't afford to pay for school after the first 6 grades.

Going to the next village down the hill is probably a treat for kids.
It is hard to demonstrate just how far away from anything this is.

This is the only road and if you meet a truck going the other way, one of you must pull off into the brush. Electric poles are concrete - and recent. Water is trucked in.

and what passes for the main road is somewhere out there.

 

[tirediron]

Very interesting; that last shot is wonderful!

 

[The_Traveler]

Thanks,
I absolutely love Laos.
(Of course I'm coming from the position of a Westerner who is, compared to most Lao, incredibly wealthy and can afford to go, stay and buy whatever he needs.)

Here is another shot that makes just a damn glorious print, although it doesn't look like much on screen.

 

[Didereaux]

Laos used to be my idea of Shangrila...the Viet Nam War ended that. ;(

 

[LarryLomona]

Neat set.

 

[FITBMX]

That is a wonderful set, and that last one you posted looks good on the screen, and must be incredible as a print!

 

[Gary A.]

The shots of the little girl are very nice!!!!

 

[FITBMX]

You got yourself two POTM nominations!
March 2016 Photo of the Month Nominations

 

[kdthomas]

The layers in the last shot are very nice ...

 

[weepete]

Cracking shots Lew

 

[The_Traveler]

Thank you all.

I lie in bed at night, planning a longer trip to Laos of 6 or more weeks, going back to some places in the north with more time and visiting the southern areas that I missed entirely.

I think that Laos will change slowly, if at all, because there is little or no resources that can be exploited for growth except for low cost labor on the northern border where it buts against China.
So it should be great travelling for at least 5 years.

Except for the occasional ATM and cell phones, Laos looked like pretty much this in 2007; childsize (by Western standards) plastic chairs and home made tables and most work done outside because houses were dark and badly ventilated.

I thought this was an interesting shot because this is the only handicapped child or person I saw either trip to Laos. We were in this town for three days and walked this street routinely to the center of town and inevitably this older man was sitting with this quiet child. Significant healthcare is essentially absent in rural Laos.

Note the elaborate address plate. These must be government distributed because all buildingshave the same style plate.
(excuse the PPing. The overhead sun makes bright/shadow tone contrasts really sharp.

 

[Gary A.]

That last shot is excellent Lew.

 

[terri]

Lovely!

 

[Dave442]

Great set of shots and information Lew. The landscape shot has a fantastic sence of depth.

 

[The_Traveler]

We walked though a show village and came to this lovely river.
The guide said, 'We cross, and pointed to the far shore.
(note the man swimming or wading with his stuff held above his head)

TBH, the raft didn't seem that much better.
Bamboo, loosely tied together but, considering the alternative and the attractive price, about $1 US, we chose the raft - one by one.

On the far shore, the water buffalo were not friendly but neither were they hostile.