Hill Tribe Trekking in the North of Laos
Thursday, March 9th- Saturday, March 11th
Our first day began early in the morning around 7AM. We had to finish preparing our bags for the trek and exchange traveler’s checks at the bank (we actually hadn’t seen a bank opn since we’d entered the country.) The guesthouse where we ate breakfast messed up my order two days in a row, but the woman gave me such a big smile when she brought the food, I couldn’t bear to tell her it was wrong. After breakfast and our banking transactions, we checked out of our room. The guy running the place (quite young- in his early 20’s) was dressed in a green military-like uniform. He told me that he’s also a police officer, but that it’s an easy job in Luang Nam Tha, not much happens there. He invited us to come back after our trek and asked us to recommend his place to our friends. So if you want simple, cheap and friendly accomodation in Luang Nam Tha, go to the Tsunami Guesthouse (yes, named after the devasting event of 2004.)
We checked in at the trekking office, which is actually an ecotourism project partially funded by a New Zealand aid organization. We were hoping more trekkers had signed up to bring our cost down…but no luck, it would just be the two of us with our guide and the villagers. Our guide, Tha, introduced himself and we climbed in the back of a sangathew to make the short trip to the villag where we would begin our trek. After a short distance, on a bumpy dirt road, we came to a beautiful, freshly paved highway. The Chinese and the Thais are building a highway through Lao, a major trade route connecting China and Thailand. This part on the way to the Chinese border was the first part finished. The treacherous 9-hour journey we mad from Huay Xai on the Thai side of the project is still far from completion.
We arrived at a small village right on the side of the highway. They were obviously awaiting our arrival; there was a group at the side of the road waiting to load our truck with potatoes and other vegetables to sell at the market in town. A young man from the village (not much more than 16) joined us, as an additional guide, for the first part of our walk. We started a gradual uphill walk through a forest that was slowly being chopped down to make way for a rubber plantation. “Rubber” is the business to be in in this neck of the woods; the locals export it to China who seems to have a monopoly on the agricultural products of the area. Ou local guide had to (unenthusiastically) search out another path when we came a part of the trail completely blocked by fallen trees. A short time later we veered off the smooth path into the brush; I understood why when I hear a loud crack and then a large tree came tumbling down. No thought to scream “timber!” We stopped for lunch quite early (around 11:30 and after barely an hour of walking.) None of us were very hungry, but there was a nice picnic table built from bamboo with a thatched roof for the occassion. Lunch (a mix of vegetables, potatoes and sticky rice) was spread out on banana leaves and we ate with our hands. After lunch we continued through the forest, more intact than earlier. It was teeming with insects, wasps, big red ants, termites and spiders. We found one that looked like a giant cricket with blue and pink on its wings that made a very distinct loud noise when it flew. I don’t know what it was, but I took a picture so someday I can identify it.
As we got closer to the village, ou guide warned us to be very respectful, not to touch anything of religious significance and not to give candy or gifts to the children. The villages follow the animist religion. They build small spirit houses and give offerings to the spirits of the forest. They are working very hard to make tourism beneficial (from a financial perspective) and not too destructive (by forcing or unwittingly bringing an outside culture to them.) From our perspective, it’s working well so far but only the future will tell.
Our first stop in the village was the one-room schoolhouse (open air on 3 sides) which sat on the hill above the village. School was finished for the day, but we took a look inside at the Lao alphabet chart, and the days arithmetic lessons, still on the crumbling chalkboard. The kids had carved names and drawn on the desktops, I guess kids are the same everywhere. The school teacher comes from Luang Nam Tha for 4 days per week and then returns home on the weekend. The village was very authentic, and charming. There were about 20 houses (about 150 people live in the village) made from bamboo with thatched roofs. The village was a living farm, animals and small children everywhere. I felt like I was living “Charlotte’s Web,” tiny piglets scavenging for their dinner in the mud, mother hens chasing their chicks, the odd cow or goat wandering by. We watched the little boys who were supposed to be bathing at the spring throw bugs on the little girls to make them scream. Strangely, we didn’t see many adults. Apparently, the men were still working in the fields and the women were inside escaping the heat of the afternoon. We had arrived quite early in the afternoon (about 2:30 or 3:00,) our guide (who was quite friendly and knowledgeable) was a little on the lazy side, so he took a nap while Fabien and I passed the hours until dinner: reading, watching people and taking a walk. By dinnertime, I had developed quite an intense headache and was looking forward to bed. Our lodging was a large wooden hut with an attached kitchen and toilets out back, built specially by the ecotourism office for trekkers. We had a whole army of people to cook our dinner which consisted of chicken soup seasoned with mint, rice and fried bamboo. We served the choicier pieces of meat, like legs and breast, while the others feasted on the bowels and marrow. I think both sides considered themselves the lucky ones. The chief of the village joined us for dinner and he answered our questions (through Tha as translator.) He was elected “chief” by the other village members around 20 years ago. They choose the chiefs every three years. He told us that tourism (which they’ve had for about 1 year) has been very good for the village. It has brought in a good secondary income; their main source of income is through exporting livestock to China. He said that sometimes there is a shortage of food because the village provides (sells) the food for trekkers. I think he meant they were short on variety; I don’t think anyone is going hungry. When asked about the future…he replied, rubber. We enjoyed our meal by candlelight (there was no electricty) with the chief, the chicken soup was great, the bamboo a little bitter for our taste. We finished with a fresh papaya plucked off a tree outside the door. When we crawled into bed, (rather several mats piled with blankets) I was exhausted and still suffering from a headache.
I woke up around 5AM with a full bladder. The roosters were crowing, animals chasing each other and making a lot of noise. In the bathroom, (outhouse) I discovered that my ring finger on my right hand was swollen to twice its normal size. Something (probably a spider) had crawled under the mosquito net and bitten me in the middle of the night. When Fabien saw it at breakfast he said that if it didn’t go back to its normal size, I would have to pay for the second resizing of my engagement ring. He was punished for his comment later when a bee stung him on his hand and the whole thing swelled up!
After breakfast of fried rice and eggs, we packed our things and several of the villagers presented us with a small souvenir, a hand woven water bottle bag- very practical for trekking! We started walking through the forest, we actually followed the trenches cut by the Laotian army during the war between France and Indochina. Apparently the enemy, the French, were positioned on the opposite mountain. We asked if there was still a danger of stepping on undetonated bombs or grenades; our guide replied that usually it’s an unlucky buffalo that stumbles across them in the woods. The main paths are safe of course. We were in for a treat for lunch. Ou guides cut down a large bamboo pole and cut it into small pieces. They used one as a pot with which they cooked a stew of vegetables and chicken over an open fire. They fashioned another one into a trough which served as a communal pot from which we all ate the soup. After lunch, we continued another couple of hours on a trail that went up and down. It was pleasant, but hot and we were happy to reach the village where we would stay for the night.
The village was Lanten, a tribal group that had migrated to this area from southern China. The women wear very distinct indigo blue dresses and white coverings on their legs to protect them from the sun. They also tie their hair up in a sort of bun on the front of their head and decorate it with a silver ornamental piece. Their features are very Chinese. Once again we stayed in a small, rustic lodge in the village that had been built for trekkers. This village appeared a bit more modern; they had a large 2 room school with living quarters for the teacher, which had been built on a grant from the European Union. Some of the roofs were covered in metal sheeting, to protect from leaks during the monsoon. Fabien and I decided to take a bath (a dreaded task for me) as I had to wear a sarong that covered me from shoulders to knees (as the local women do) to bath in a spring on the edge of the village. Fabien (wearing his swim trunks) got a good laugh as I tried to soap up in this get up with the little children watching curiously. Once again we had a big group cooking us up a dinner of chicken, rice and boiled fern (the green plant you keep as decoration in your house.) The second chief of the village, a woman who was in charge of the financial matters joined us. Things got a little more lively after we each drank 3 shots of Lao Lao (that’s locally brewed rice whiskey) and a couple of beers. It was fun, the chief was charming, a sweet but tough woman. I slept really well that night, and wasn’t bothered too much by the roosters at 5 in the morning.
The third day of the trek was through a muddy stretch of forest, along the river. We had to cross several small streams where we had to take off our shoes and roll up our pants. It was quite muddy in parts and when we stopped for lunch, I discovered a leech on my foot. After lunch we walked through a pretty patch of wildflowers where we had a view all the way to Luang Nam Tha and then downhill through a dry forest. The last village was another Lanten village, with a road. It seemed to be a little less preserved than the others (road access will affect that) and there were other tourists in the village. The coolest thing we saw was a man soddering knifes. He shaped the metal by pounding it against the encasement of an old bomb and then attached it to a carved wooden handle. We took a sanganthew (small truck) back to Luang Nam Tha where Fab and I spent a quiet evening before braving the Lao transportation to go to our next destination.
Tags: BIG TRIP 2005-2006, In English 2005-2006
Administrator
Hi. Just found your blog while googling for hill-tribe trekking in Laos. Do you remember the name of the trekking office you refer to? We want to to trekking in northern Laos but don’t want to do on one of those big tours. Many thanks. Janie.
Hi,
Unfortunately, we don’t really remember. We organized everything after we arrived in Luang Luanta and not before. It was an eco-friendly and in addition a company hiring and training local people. It was very good. I can only advice to go to Luang Luanta (maybe it improved but at that time, it was pretty an adventure by itself) and take a little bit of time to organize something, I’m sure you will find pretty easily an agency and some fellows to share the cost. I’m sure you will enjoy that, Loas is really beautiful.