Moto-ing Around Luang Nam Tha

We quickly learned that another great way to explore Laos is on motorcycle (if you can call the tiny, automatic clutch, near-scooter things in south east Asia motorcycles).

Very little traffic to negotiate...

...but some other potential pitfalls.

They may not be the best machines, but they sure can get you to some cool places. This is the view of a remote Ahka village in the forest we stumbled on after a gorgeous up-and-down 15 km ride. We did not have the heart to take any pictures in the village. These beautiful, financially-poor-but-in-other-ways-rich people still live a truly tribal life like we forgot still existed. The clothing and jewelry they wore was amazing, the women all topless. They were very kind, but without getting into a long discussion of the merits of different kinds of tourism, we decided the way we were visiting this village was not the best way to do it, and left quickly without accepting their hospitality.