Along the Brown Road

 17

We went to the Blue Lagoon, the Water Cave and the Dark Caves and got ready to return to the forest canopy. We got there along a brown Road. When before 2000 came, there were such roads in our Village. The Brown  Road was muddy in the rain and dusty in the heat. Although there were vast roads in Laos, there are such Brown Roads in Village.

Land Master
Since we also have a bar at home, I took a good look at the Land Master there or the small tractor. A group of people were cutting the paddy fields and loading them on that hand tractor and throwing the paddy leaves on the side of the road. Due to the rain, the paddy leaves might not have been thrown in the paddy fields. The trailer of that hand tractor did not have a box for the driver to sit in, like the trailers in Sri Lanka. The driver sits on a short bench on the board and raises his arms to control the small tractor.

Paddy fields
These paddy fields are just like in Sri Lanka. I don't know how to say whether the harvest is better than in Sri Lanka. Most of the rice grown there is sticky rice. I have heard that some sticky rice is good for fried rice.

Food stop and rain
When we rode our bikes, it was dark. There was a rustic restaurant in a beautiful place near a wide watercourse that had to be crossed by a bridge. We got into it. When it started raining like us, other white people came and got into it. We ate Chinese noodles, papaya salad, coffee and something else. I saw white people eating as they usually do.

After a while, a heavy rain came. The tables of the people who were sitting next to that small restaurant were getting wet. The heavy rain fell on the roof of the restaurant where we were, flowing down and falling all around. When a wind came, the water from the rain soaked the entire group in the restaurant.

In that rain, the little ones from the nearby houses would come out and jump from the bridge into the nearby water. They would jump and run, grab the bank and land. The little ones can't play that much. They would play in a place where the tide was low..but those little faces were filled with joy as they came out and danced in the rain. The little one inside the restaurant we went to, who was so excited by the excitement of the little ones dancing outside, also took off his school uniform and went to dance in the water in his jeans. The parents didn't seem to mind dancing in the water. It must have been normal.

The little ones who said no to photos
When we went to see the boat ride, two little ones climbed a fence and waved at us. When we went to take pictures, they got scared and left. Did we do something wrong by taking pictures, because the little ones missed their fun because of us. Actually, the fence was near the fence.. In the distance, the mountain range would have been beautiful with the two of them, but they ran and danced.

Near the river
There is also harvesting work on the other side of the river. Harvesting has been delayed due to the rain. Like in our rivers, we take food and go on bikes and park the bikes near the river and work on the fields. When I used to go to help in the fields, my favorite thing was when I stopped work and said, "Come on, let's eat together." After sharing the rice brought in plastic plates and sat on the table, I remembered how the life was like a meal. The beautiful flowing river road where we went was also there. The water-logged palm trees in the shade were all the same as in Sri Lanka. Even when we met those Laotian people because of the language barrier, it was difficult to find anything more than a smile.

Getting wet
During our trip to Laos, we had fun in the rain several times. That evening, we could have taken a boat ride if the rain had stopped. I thought it would not be so good to ride a boat when it was raining heavily. Somehow, we missed the boat ride, which was the best fun we had in Van Vieng.