Christmas Cheer: Rice Wine in a Khmu Village
Sunday, December 31st, 2006
The trek began Christmas eve from the northern Lao town of Luang Namtha. Almost immediately there was a steady climb, but it felt really good to be out on a single-track trail again. For my Alaskan friends, it was much like the Fuller Lakes trail in pitch and scenery.
The Lao government, in partnership with New Zealand, has protected this region as a park and a cultural heritage/preservation area. To visit the villages contained within, you had to go through this partnership program. The fee was minimal, and in exchange, you had 2 local guides, permission from the villages to visit, a bamboo/thatch building to sleep in, meals, and a chance to observe a way of life that hasn’t changed much for a few hundred years. [read on]
jpb