Muang Sing here we come!

A Yao villager from Jongka who invited us into her house for tea

More scenes from my recent visit to Laos. We're still in the northwest of the country and travelling from Luang Namtha to Muang Sing, encountering ethnic groups, pagodas and monks and lots of adorable kids and friendly locals. Laos was full of all these things and so much more. I really enjoyed my two weeks there and would recommend a visit by anyone with time to spare whilst in SEAsia.

The gilded spires of That Xieng Tung, a Thai Lu stupa about five kilometres south of Muang Sing that hosts an annual festival, the biggest of the year, that everyone attends

One of the Buddhist images at the That Xieng Tung stupa, note the distinctive spiky hairstyle

These children thought our presence was hilarious in the village of Nammai, the girl on the left couldn't stop dancing!

Two novice monks at the pagoda of Wat Xieng Yum in Muang Sing

Some standard depictions of hell for sinners on the walls of Wat Xieng Yum

A typical house in the Akha village of Nammdaet Mai

And here's one of the family's children who came out to meet us