We cross the mighty Mekong River and enter Laos in HUAY XAI . An old French fort sits atop the promontory. Just watching river life on the Mekong slowly float by is entertainment enough and will leave a lasting impression. There is but a single road in the entire province. We take it north into the jungle and have our first encounters with the Lau Soong hill tribe, who are as curious about us as we are about them.
Foreigners are as rare as snowflakes.
Never have they seen motorcycles like ours, and never have you imagined a village such as theirs. We pass through several hill tribe settlements every day. One Kamu village tradition forbids the use of metal. Montagnards are in this area. Other hill tribes we will become familiar with are Lahu, Akha, LaHoy, Lamet, L , and Meo.