Category: Laos

Hello friends,

The latest excursion in Laos has brought me further north, just on the edge of the fabulous Nam Ha National Park, a protected area of jungle with a large range of biodiversity.  I had come seeking a 3 day, 2 night trek after signing up for a group in Luang Prabang.

The drive was a long one, at 8.5 hours to make the 300 km trip. For 3.5 hours we rolled over some of the roughest, windiest terrain I’ve ever seen at about 20Kph. This area is a developing highway, and when the driver handed out barf bags at the start I was a bit…curious. Thankfully nobody used them :).  Sweaty, and tuckered from the long drive, I found my way to town and checked into my hotel. I had splurged a few extra dollars to a comfy room, before heading into the jungle the next morning.

I awoke early and packed my day pack for the 3 days, trying to keep it light for the hiking. I met up with my group at 8:30, 5 lovely folks from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. They were all traveling together on a vacation, and it was nice have some friendly company.  We met our guide, hopped in a truck, and drove for about 45 mins into the park to begin.

Things started a bit dicey as we crossed a river in a tiny little hallowed out tree canoe, but the guys kept it balanced and we were soon marching forward deep into the jungle.  It was a decent hike, with some solid ups and downs.  I felt strong, which was surprising after my distinct lack of movement on this trip!  Around noon, we arrived at a jungle bamboo overhang the company had built for the trekkers and had lunch. It was a delicious Laos meal, and we scooped up all the spicy glory with our bare hands, served on banana leaves.

A couple more hours of hiking, and we were at our home for the night a bit early. 2 pm is difficult to head to bed :).  So we played some silly card games, chatted, and passed away the hours in peace.  The accommodation was humble, but cozy.  We had another beautiful, freshly made meal that evening, prepared by the guides, and then hunkered under our mosquito nets for the night.  We were lucky, and being dry season, there were almost no bugs at all. Relieving as this is a distinct malarial zone, and close to where all the new mutant strains come to life.

The next morning we rose early with the sun, and had a relaxing couple of hours. The guides got a fire going, and there is nothing more relaxing than waking to the crackle of a fire, and a bit of heat to remove the dampness of dawn.  After breakfast, we began day 2 of hiking. It would take us to a local village in the jungle, that of the Lenten hill tribe.  The hike was nice, and we rolled into the village around 2.  No electricity, set on the side of a low river, as it’s dry season, it was a small setting housing only around 100 locals.  We were greeted by some of the children with the local wares, and a bucket of beer Laos. This is not the first tourist group that has strolled through, and they try to capitalize.  They were not aggressive though, and we settled in to explore.

We first had an opportunity to watch the local school. It was encouraging and they were doing some basic math. Also, it was mostly local girls in the classroom which is nice to see. However, a bit of a downer is that the average age of marriage in Laos is dropping, and is now around 15. These girls will be abandoning any education soon to hunker down, and start popping kids out. Yikes.

The town was clearly quite poor. It was positive to know however, that our trekking company sends 20% of its money to the local village. Also, it moves itself around to different villages, to spread the money, and also prevent a dependence on tourism.  Poverty in your face like this is always hard to see, but it was quite charming to hang out with the locals, albeit with limited interaction.

We had another delicious meal that evening, and I impressed my Laos guides with my immunity to hot/spicy foods. I was able to gobble up the fresh chillies, that were burning the mouths off all the others. I’m not sure why my pasty white boy body can do this, but I digress. It can. We had a more elaborate hut to sleep in this evening, and I had a very cozy 10 hour snooze after all the hiking.

Day 3 brought us through 2 more villages, but just in passing, and finally after some more solid ups and down through the jungle, the journey was complete. Soon I was back in the relative luxury of Luang Namtha. The next day I would fly out on a tiny plane to Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

Till then.

Greetings,

Last stop we were moving forward from our familiar territory in Thailand to some new adventures in Laos. I had realized that most of my trip so far was in areas I have seen in the past, so I was quite excited to adventure into Laos.  My first stop would be the pristine SE Asian destination of Luang Prabang. I had heard outstanding reviews of this city, and it absolutely lived up to it’s hype.

The trip first however began with a flight from Chiang Mai.  In my haste, I made it to my gate at the airport without any cash in hand. I had assumed that there would be an ATM after immigration. Alas, I was wrong. The problem here being that Laos charges a cash visa fee of $42 USD, and I had no idea which orifice I was planning on pulling this out of.  Thankfully on the 1 hour flight, I befriended a wonderful American from Seattle who was traveling with his wife. He loaned me the cash until we could exit the airport, and honestly, I don’t know what the story was if I didn’t have it.  So, live and learn :).

Richard and his wife Mary joined me in a taxi to the Cold River Guesthouse.  I settled in, and sat out to explore the town. Wow, what a place. Nestled into the banks of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, Luang Prabang has a rich history. Previously settled by the French during their reign of rule in Indochina, the local architecture is classic French colonial.  To contrast this, there are beautiful Buddhist temples scattered throughout the town, and in the middle is a large hill with a beautiful temple, and wide view of the area.

The first evening I found myself to a restaurant next to the night market, which was overflowing with tourists.  However, it didn’t feel wrong, as it sometimes does when tourism overwhelms the local culture. I had a sandwich on a delicious french baguette, another sign of the previous conquerors of the land.  The first evening, I watched the people pass, and turned it early, not before mildly losing my way back to the guesthouse for brief adventure.

The next couple days would pass in beautiful peace. Being farther north, it was hot but dry, and the setting was magnificent. I sat overlooking the majestic rivers for hours, in an relaxed state of mind.  I explored the temples and just wandered the beautiful town. I was interested in getting into the local mountains, and signed up for a 2 day trek to the local hill tribes. This was not to be however, as it requires 2+ peeps to head out, and nobody else would sign up for a the next couple days.  To counter this, I researched other options in the area. Further north in the town of Luang Namtha, the real trekking takes place. I managed to get myself registered for a group of 6 leaving in two days time.

So my time in Luang Prabang was limited. On my last day, after being quite lazy, I rented a scooter, and drove the 32Km out to the legendary Kuang Si falls.  As usual, the ride was breathtaking.  Nothing compares to the freedom of flying through the open roads, by cascading rice fields, and high mountain views.  The waterfall also was equally stunning. I wandered around a bit, and took a leap into the frigid turquoise waters.

That evening I packed up my gear, and went to bed a bit early in prep for the 6 am tuk tuk that would pick me up to take me to the bus station. I was facing a dreaded long 8+ hour minivan ride in Laos, and I needed to be on my game for this one.

See you soon in the jungles of Luang Namtha.