"Road Blocks"

Mickey and I took a 40 km bike ride up in the mountains of Laos on the other side of the Mekong River, into the province and away from the town of Luang Prabang. We rode through Green Discovery and are apparently the oldest riders they have ever had. Doesn't that make us proud!
Our guide was a wonderfully attentive and intelligent young man named Tim. He is from a local Hill Tribe called Khamu. His English is quite good and he taught us a great deal. Tim is currently attending a local university and was a novice monk for years. His mother, who passed away at a very young age, encouraged him to leave home to get an education. Going to school with the monks is a common way for poor village children to get an education here, when they cannot otherwise afford it. He speaks at least four different languages and as we traveled he conversed with people from several different ethnic backgrounds or Hill Tribes. His goal is to teach to and practice sustainable agriculture with the ethnic Khamu. By attending the university, he also aspires to make his mother's dream come true.

As we climbed and descended the hills, visitng tribal villages on the way (we stopped at one village and ate a lunch comprised primarily of rich yellow mushrooms picked from high up on the mountain), we ran into several unusual "road blocks".
It was a beautiful, troubling, difficult, touching, and highly memorable ride.
Despite the many years Mickey has ridden, I think these were all a FIRST!

We were touched by the welcome calls of "Sabadee" to us all throughout the ride, from young children and elders; the older children were at school and most adults were in the city or fields working. It was heart breaking to see the poverty and filth in these villlages. Many of the children wore dirty t-shirts and tattered clothes; some were bottomless. It was apparent that they do not get a lot of visitors the likes of us and were fascinated by our presence and interest in them, as Tim translated.

Many of the Hill tribes of Laos have been displaced and relocated by the government. They have been deprived of their original livlihoods, land and are not even "recognized" by the goverment. That is truly a "road block"..