Tadlo Relaxo

We spent the next 3 or so days in Tadlo. Like most of Laos there’s not really much to do but it was good fun chilling out and getting to know Chris and Nicola. The rainy season had well and truly started so it rained everyday for a couple of hours or more. There was only about 4 places to eat in the village and it didn’t take us long to do the rounds of each of them. We spent a lot of time sitting around playing games, shooting the breeze or taking afternoon naps. We also met another guy called Darren who briefly became the 5th member of our group.

On one day we went on a tour of the local area with one of the restuarant owners, Jom. The tour was pretty boring which was a shame since we all really like Jom. We did get to see a plantation with pineapple, coffee and other fruits but none of it was in season which detracted from the experience. We visited a village that produce a lot of amazing weaved fabrics – they looked great and it was interesting to see how they were made but at the same time they were trying to do a hard sell which I didn’t care for.

Here’s a pic of one of the houses in the village.

We visited a local market. Being a big market fan I loved it. There were all sorts of creatures for sale as food. Frogs, eels, bugs etc… Jom offered to take us to another market where we could buy a snake and he’d cook it for us that evening. Usually I would have jumped at the chance. I’ve always wanted to ‘eat the snake’. I didn’t go for it though. I reckon I’ve got to do it in a proper restaurant where it’s on the menu and I can eat its still beating heart and drink its blood. Hmmm…

We visited a waterfall that was much higher up than the one where we were staying however it was much less impressive since a power station that had been built near by diverted most of the water away from the falls. The views were tremendous though. By this time it started raining. We were sitting in the back of Jom’s pickup and it had no roof. The others decided to tough it out in the back but I jumped in the front. Darren was already in there and we were all a bit miffed that he didn’t offer his seat to the girls. Pretty soon it was bucketing down so we called the tour off and headed back to our bungalows.