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[The_Traveler]

Khmu children in hill village
Khmu people - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Although by Western standards they are isolated and poor in their hilltop villages, the highland Khmu people are industrious farmers and their children, once they get over shyness with strangers, are sweet and friendly and seem very happy.
With a minimum of actual toys they play happily and peacefully together. They run up and down the vertiginous hillsides in their flip flops and have seemingly endless energy. I remember seeing one little boy rolling a bike tire run up a continuous slope that I had trouble climbing at all.

 

[DarkShadow]

I really like this shot and Love the wood work around them.

 

[The_Traveler]

Thanks,
The Khmu people live in the highlands and wood is not readily available so, except for structural members, the Khmu use indigenous materials for all their housings, fences, etc.
This particular village is about 18 miles from the 'main' road on a narrow rutted, dirt road and an additional 15 miles from the nearest large town.

This picture below shows the only road, rutted dirt and one-lane.
The picture below that gives some idea of the 18 miles of terrain between the village and the main road which runs in a river valley somewhere out there.
Their village has a couple of very small stores that receives good by truck from somewhere. The stores then sell to the villagers and to the Akha villages that live even higher. My guess is that much of the trade is in money equivalents as the farmers trade in corn and other plant stuffs for whatever the store carries.

 

[DarkShadow]

Wow! That looks like a dangerous road.

 

[The_Traveler]

Meeting motobikes was ok but meeting the occasional truck hauling corn and people got a bit dicey when the downhill side was a 45 degree slope

 

[The_Traveler]

All of this is very illuminating for a Westerner.
We paid $50 for a minivan, driver and guide for 4 hours, out of which the state got a big cut, most of the rest went to the owner of the minivan with some to the driver and the guide.
We gave the driver $5 and the guide $10 as additional gifts and, from the tone of their thank-you's, I guess we doubled their pay for the afternoon at least. - and they certainly didn't work every day.

 

[JustJazzie]

All of this is very illuminating for a Westerner.
We paid $50 for a minivan, driver and guide for 4 hours, out of which the state got a big cut, most of the rest went to the owner of the minivan with some to the driver and the guide.
We gave the driver $5 and the guide $10 as additional gifts and, from the tone of their thank-you's, I guess we doubled their pay for the afternoon at least. - and they certainly didn't work every day.

Wonderful stories Lew!

I love the original picture, The wood house is fascinating, and as expected the composition is just "picture perfect." The mountain photograph, is another favorite!
I am enjoying the extra informational tidbits over a breve'. I hope you track your travels somewhere less digital as well! They are certainly worth writing down.

 

[The_Traveler]

I am enjoying the extra informational tidbits over a breve'. I hope you track your travels somewhere less digital as well! They are certainly worth writing down.

As I go through the pictures, I make mental notes for blog posts - Lew Lorton Photography Blog .
My plan is to write a series of nine or more - at least one post for each place we stopped on this trip.

 

[JustJazzie]

I am enjoying the extra informational tidbits over a breve'. I hope you track your travels somewhere less digital as well! They are certainly worth writing down.

As I go through the pictures, I make mental notes for blog posts - Lew Lorton Photography Blog .
My plan is to write a series of nine or more - at least one post for each place we stopped on this trip.

Blogs are still digital though! You should have it printed!

 

[weepete]

Very cool Lew. I envy your travels mate, you've been places I'd love to go to.

 

[The_Traveler]

I met the occasional Scot while traveling.
It is my rule of thumb that as one gets further from beaches and large cities, the average fellow traveler becomes a nicer sort.
These are relatively difficult places to get to (4 hour bus trip on bad roads was nothing; 12 or 14 hour trips were common) and this leaves out the usual cheap tourist looking for the beach and booze.
Additionally, virtually everyone we'd meet had been lots and lots of places and was an experienced traveler.
We were traveling for 3+ weeks and only met one other person who was on the road for less.
Most people were out for multiple months.

How to start traveling like this.
Southeast Asia is relatively cheap and offers increasing degrees of difficulty as you acclimate
Easy to hard
Thailand: Pros: Great tourist infrastructure, lots of English spoken, lots to see. Cons: tourist scamming is national sport but easily avoided (scams are on the web)
Vietnam: Pros: Lots to see, pretty good travel, lots of variety, pretty good tourist structure. Cons: tourist scams in cities but avoidable, long country with most of the interesting stuff at the ends.
Myanmar: Pros: Gloriously beautiful, great nice people, unbelievable variety of cultures Cons: overloaded at tourist areas due to recent opening, bad roads (flying is a good choice), large parts of the country are off limits
Laos: Pros, beautiful scenery, laid back travel, wonderful honest people, terrific beer. Cons: terrible hard travel, not so many sights but great experiences.
Cambodia: Pros: Temples at Angkor and sights in Phnom Penh. Cons: gritty country, dangerous feeling. Angkor is overwhelmed with tourists. My least favorite SEA country.

Never been to Malaysia.

 

[annamaria]

Like that first shot with the children and the wooden background. Nice