We decided that after so much leisure in Chiang Mai, it was time to jump into something a bit more active. We hopped the bus to Chiang Khong on Apr 18, crossed the border (the Mekong) to Laos the next morning and boarded a bus directly to Luang Nam Tha. Our bus options were our first lesson that although many Lao people understand Thai (which remains to come in handy as a result), we are definitely not in Thailand any more. The was no VIP, air-con transport options. Just a big, very old bus. We had to climb over bags and bags of rice to get to our seats, and there were a couple of motorbikes strapped to the top. First impressions aside, once the bus got moving we realized that it was perfectly comfortable, if a little dusty. Mostly I felt sorry for the poor girl a couple of rows up who vomited into a plastic bag for half the ride there. (The road was a little winding . . . ) But enough of that kind of talk. (I’m sure you get enough from Perry.)
The night we arrived in town, we immediately booked a two day trek with Green Discovery, a local eco-tourism operator (www.greendiscoverylaos.com). This is one time Lonely Planet certainly didn’t let us down. We had a great guide, great food, and an overall wonderful experience. There were only 5 in our group, plus 2 guides. The hiking wasn’t easy through the Nam Tha protected and nearby areas. We had to cross many rivers hopping rocks or using log bridges (my personal weakness), and of course there was more than enough uphill for the 35+ degree heat.
The destination was well worth it though. We spent the night in the village of an Akha tribe. The village was quite remote and its’ inhabitants appeared to be living in a very traditional manner. The were so friendly and took great care of us the entire time we were there. Once we had a refreshing “shower” in the stream in our sarongs (I still don’t understand how you really get clean that way . . . ), a few of the villagers and our guide, Pon, cooked us up a super tasty dinner which we ate by candlelight inside our bamboo hut. The villagers also shared a bottle of their “lao lao” with us, a very strong rice whiskey that they brew themselves. (You can actually find home brew lao lao all over Laos. I’ve yet to acquire a taste for it, but Perry thinks it tastes like sake.) After dinner, a few of the village girls, I would guess they were about 12 yrs old or so, came down to give us all a massage. Pon told us that it is Akha custom for young village girls to massage guests and that the villagers “would not be happy” if they weren’t able to do this for us. The actual massages were quite humorous, as the girls spent most of their time nattering at each other, I’m sure about us, and they weren’t exactly what you would call skilled. They were lovely though so we all just took it in and tried not to giggle too much.
The next morning we visited the village’s school, which from what I understand is a fairly new addition. It was easy to tell that these kids were not used to too much structure. They went crazy when we got there, mostly because they LOVE to have their pictures taken, and of course take a look at the result on the digital display. I honestly thought I had started some kind of brawl. They eventually calmed down, slightly. (We made sure to get prints made in Nam Tha for Pon to deliver to them on his next trip.)
The trek and the experience in the village, especially with all of the super friendly children, was really special. Looking around the village, you have to feel in awe of how these people live. Their life is simple and certainly not easy. They have no running water, very limited access to electricity (some huts had solar panels, thanks to an NGO project), extremely well worn clothing, etc. However, they seemed to be nothing but content and were very gracious hosts. One more bonus of the trek was that we met some great people from New Zealand (Josh and Lucy) and Australia (Katy).
After a day of rest, where we rented a scooter and checked out the town market and nearby waterfall (seems to be a formula for destinations in SE Asia?), we decided on one more day of adventure before heading on to Luang Prabang. After our fabulous experience trekking, we of course headed back to Green Discovery. Since it is dry season, the water in the Nam Tha River is quite low, and therefore perfect for us beginner kayakers. This time, it was only Perry, our guide Sai, and I on the trip, which suited us perfectly. We got to chat with Sai and get to know him a little bit.
Perry and I have decided that instead of marriage prep class, all couples should have this two man kayak experience. It definitely took some coordination and cooperation in to get us going in the right direction. We visited a Lantan village and a Khmu village along the river (two distinct tribal groups in the area), and had another tasty Lao picnic lunch. It is very interesting how diverse the Nam Tha area, and actually Laos in general, is in terms of ethic tribes. It was also interesting to contrast the more accessible villages visited by the river with the less accessible Akha village visited on our trek. The accessible villages show more signs of development, but still operate fairly traditionally. For example, more western clothing seemed to be mixed in with traditional dress, and we spotted a couple of scooters. As well, the children at the Khmu village did not budge from their seats when we stopped by to drop off our “thank you” gifts of notebooks and pens. They were obviously a bit more used to tourists, and to school discipline.
Sai took some great photos of us kayaking, as we mostly did not trust ourselves to have the camera out (we could likely tip at any moment . . .). When we found out that Sai, who is saving to go to college in Vientiane, didn’t own a camera, we took some shots of him as well, and again dropped off prints the next day. We were regulars at the photo shop with all of our prints for the village people (who apparently love to receive the photos that tourists are constantly taking of them, but rarely actually do) and our guides.
After 4 days in the beautiful area surrounding Luang Nam Tha, we were ready to head south to Luang Prabang, via a one day bus ride, followed by two days slow boat down the Mekong. We’ll update you on that fun journey in a few days . . .
As always, check out our photos at http://gallery.me.com/adamschen.
Love to everybody. We miss you!!
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