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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Momo" data-source="post: 1535263" data-attributes="member: 16499"><p>There's still so much UXO lying around in Xieng Khuang, Laos that tourists are discouraged from wandering off into the bushes unless they've been officially cleared (not that there are many bushes left). I also managed to get shot at by bird hunters who presumably thought I was a bird because I was skulking. Probably no more than lead shot, but unnerving to have it pinging through the leaves right next to my left ear. I think they were genuinely apologetic when I leapt out into the open and tried not to look like a bird, but maybe they'd just taken my camera for a rocket launcher and decided to be polite. I saw a lot more bird hunters after that - but not many birds. However, probably my most life threatening experience was a drive back at night along a mountain track from somewhere up in the Nam Ha Protected Area. I'd been out all day and the only thing I'd managed to get close to was a dead owl, which had been shot with what looked like a crossbow bolt. Our driver had been out all day drinking lao lao in the nearest village. In the end we decided that since he was obviously used to driving with a BAC bordering on 1 %, it was probably less dangerous than the alternatives (e.g. trying to hijack the vehicle). Scary all the same.</p></blockquote><p></p>