Our plan is to enter NW Thailand by Huay Xai so a stop in Luang Namtha, Laos is perfect as we'd like to do a jungle trek in the Nam Ha preserve before departing. Sitting as a passenger you observe the lack of traffic rules and regulations so while on the bus, came upon a horrific site with wailing women and a huge crowd gathered around a destroyed truck and a motorcycle with a body pinned underneath the truck. Our bus stopped and we looked helplessly as the locals tried to pull the man from underneath the truck with the road soaked in blood. They finally managed to get him out but even from a few feet away I could tell he was dead. They took him inside on of the houses, we got back on the bus, said our prayers, and started off again.
The Nam Ha is a huge swath of virgin jungle and has lots of wildlife such as tigers, elephants, monkeys, and many tropical birds. The town itself is small and boasts a night market with some exotic items such as birds and lots of different kinds of bugs. We tried a few grubs as a sampling and found them delicious with a nutty taste.
After talking with a few outfits about trekking options decided on a first trek to a remote waterfall, which was offered to us more as a survey as no one except a few villagers have ever been there before. We agreed both for the adventure and the cheap price as they couldn't promise what kind of experience we would have. The next day, a van came to pick us up, we made a stop at a market to buy some fish for our lunch and started driving towards the jungle. The outfits have told us that they will rely on a local hunter from the Khamu tribe who has been to the waterfall to serve as our guide. We drove to his village, our guide and the hunter who is also the chief of his village discussed the route and we started off with the two of us, the hunter, the guide from town, another villager and his skinny but strong dog.
Many of these tribes used to live in the jungle but due to government regulations for sustainability have been moved from the forest to settle on the fringes and instead gave up hunting except for some small animals and instead work with guides for eco-tourism. The villages are complete with schools and have electricity.
The trek began easy enough, hopping over rice paddies with the hunter taking the lead. He stopped to point out some medicinal bitter berries good for upset stomach. Shortly entering the jungle, the trail disappeared and the guides began hacking their way through with machetes. Walking, we spotted some of the hand made traps they had set and checked for animals such as rats or squirrels, which they often sell at the market for food. As our trek continued it was hard going with slippery rocks, stream crossings, and hopping over piles of rotten tree trunks. Everything in the jungle decomposes quickly due to humidity so logs that look stable enough to step on instead break right as you put your weight on them and I tumbled a few times and was mud covered. The hunter and his friend however never took a misstep and instead gracefully walked over everything setting a brisk pace. Stopping for lunch was a welcome respite and after making a fire the guides disappeared into the forest to return later with perfectly cleaned and seasoned fish to grill over the fire. In the meantime, Sabeen and I along with the town guide proceeded to find other food when our guide cut down a Banana tree and took the Banana heart, which when roasted is delicious. We also made food of something I would have never guessed; Rattan. He found a few trees, cleaned the thorns, and took the long wooden pieces and threw them also on the fire to cook. Our guide also showed us how to make a hunters lodge with banana leaves and in 20 minutes put together a temporary shelter that was waterproof and could hold two people. Lunch consisted of delicious fish, sticky rice, Banana Heart, Rattan, Pumpkin, and tomato chutney. We sat on Banana leaves with the jungle canopy overhead and ate our fill with our fingers. We gave the scraps to the dog and got walking again to make use of the daylight.
The second part of the hike was even more strenuous and after crashing a few times through dead pile and hopping over slippery trees finally made it to the waterfall, which wasn't much but was a rewarding feeling. We cleaned off in the water and found out the bigger fall was still a three hour hike, which given our desperate condition and the diminishing daylight decided to walk out. The walk to the main trail was brutal climbing straight up a mountain holding onto tree limbs and roots to make our way on the slippery path with burning legs and sweat covered. Couple of times, we came close to tumbling a long way down but the guides would come and pull us up. The hunter of course walked up the mountain never grabbing on to a thing. Often times the skinny dog would be way ahead of us and were surprised at it's energy, which would out do any spoiled dog from the US. We made it up and got on a trail, which led us out passing mountain vistas and back to our van in darkness with sore muscles. We thanked the guides, got back in the car, got dinner, and took our tired bodies to bed.
Showing posts with label laos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laos. Show all posts
A Steady Northernly Direction
We have both learned that we don't care much for big cities and instead prefer the village life. As such, we made a route for Nongkhew, a small fishing village set on the Mekong River. The place is surrounded by majestic jungle covered karst peaks with numerous caves, waterfalls, and treks. The road to our destination was twisting and turning and our driver almost took out a few poor chickens that somehow always move away just in time to avoid squashed. We checked into a simple room with mosquito netting and went walking around the one main street with some vendors selling goods, chickens and dogs running around, and the laughter of children. Clouds often descend on the town, which give the mountains an even more mysterious look with the mint green river flowing down swiftly.
The place may be small but the food options are international, so ate Indian food every night with generous portions and got little bamboo baskets stuff full of sticky rice for breakfast and Bamboo soup.
The next day asking around the hotel about some caves to visit on foot, started off down the quiet road, while coming across other villages where the children would come running yelling greetings and asking for pens. We passed farmers working in the field and hopped a fence to what we thought was a waterfall but instead found a pretty riverside bank with mountains all around and lilies growing on ponds. We spotted four girls washing their days catch in the river and exchanged greeting and lots of smiles. As they left to go up the hilly dirt path, they continued to look back smile and wave at us.
The cave that we ended up at was used as a shelter during the American bombing campaign and was massive with a few chambers. We tried walking to another cave but the path was too steep, muddy, and slippery so took a leisurely stroll back to town. Not having any banks around, we just barely have enough money to take the bus to Luang Namtha in the far northwest of Laos, so bid goodbye to out pleasant time here.
The place may be small but the food options are international, so ate Indian food every night with generous portions and got little bamboo baskets stuff full of sticky rice for breakfast and Bamboo soup.
The next day asking around the hotel about some caves to visit on foot, started off down the quiet road, while coming across other villages where the children would come running yelling greetings and asking for pens. We passed farmers working in the field and hopped a fence to what we thought was a waterfall but instead found a pretty riverside bank with mountains all around and lilies growing on ponds. We spotted four girls washing their days catch in the river and exchanged greeting and lots of smiles. As they left to go up the hilly dirt path, they continued to look back smile and wave at us.
The cave that we ended up at was used as a shelter during the American bombing campaign and was massive with a few chambers. We tried walking to another cave but the path was too steep, muddy, and slippery so took a leisurely stroll back to town. Not having any banks around, we just barely have enough money to take the bus to Luang Namtha in the far northwest of Laos, so bid goodbye to out pleasant time here.
A Capital City
Moving north, we arrived into Vientiane, a quiet city for a capital with a pretty riverfront, shops, and lots of international restaurants. We were both craving some different food and after locating a few Indian restaurants had out fill for the remainder of our time here. The town has a few tourist sites but in all lacks the culture and the vibrancy of bigger cities. We stayed a few days doing not much more than renting bikes, exploring neighborhood, and chatting with a few monks at a monastery. We leave from here for Luang Prabang and the beautiful north.
The north has bigger mountains, karst peaks, thick jungles, and more natural scenery. Our first stop was in Luang Prabang, a city on the confluence of two rivers, the Mekong and the Nam Kha. The place has a small lantern lit market selling old Chinese opium pipes, coins, lanterns, leather goods, and textiles and is surrounded by golden stupas and looks magical in the early morning or evening fog. We plan on volunteering and have scoped out Mighty Mouse, a local organization set up by an American to teach English to the locals. As volunteers, we spent a few hours with a few kids and practiced conversational skills by learning about each other. My mentee, a 26 year old who works at a restaurant wants to improve his English so that he can work as a tour guide. He gets Mondays off from work, so dedicates his time by attending sessions and doing his homework.
There is a bamboo bridge over the Nam Kha, which we decided to cross to the other side to visit a village specializing in textile weaving, Mulberry paper making, and silks. We often end up at places without a plan, so walking the dirt path found lots of shops selling their wares and after negotiating a fair price bought a textile item. In the evening deciding to explore some of the wats, we climbed up Phu Si temple, which had breathtaking views of both the rivers, the mountains, and the town spread below us with its many stupas in the distance. The sunset wasn't great due to clouds and a light rainfall but as it became dark the town below lit up like many diamonds against black velvet.
The north has bigger mountains, karst peaks, thick jungles, and more natural scenery. Our first stop was in Luang Prabang, a city on the confluence of two rivers, the Mekong and the Nam Kha. The place has a small lantern lit market selling old Chinese opium pipes, coins, lanterns, leather goods, and textiles and is surrounded by golden stupas and looks magical in the early morning or evening fog. We plan on volunteering and have scoped out Mighty Mouse, a local organization set up by an American to teach English to the locals. As volunteers, we spent a few hours with a few kids and practiced conversational skills by learning about each other. My mentee, a 26 year old who works at a restaurant wants to improve his English so that he can work as a tour guide. He gets Mondays off from work, so dedicates his time by attending sessions and doing his homework.
There is a bamboo bridge over the Nam Kha, which we decided to cross to the other side to visit a village specializing in textile weaving, Mulberry paper making, and silks. We often end up at places without a plan, so walking the dirt path found lots of shops selling their wares and after negotiating a fair price bought a textile item. In the evening deciding to explore some of the wats, we climbed up Phu Si temple, which had breathtaking views of both the rivers, the mountains, and the town spread below us with its many stupas in the distance. The sunset wasn't great due to clouds and a light rainfall but as it became dark the town below lit up like many diamonds against black velvet.
A Blessed Ceremony
One of the French men staying at Natalie's Kitchen has been in the country for 11 years and has completed building his home and so while we were having breakfast there were invited to attend his house blessing ceremony and to partake in the celebrations.
Nothing is Laos happens without a religious ceremony and so we along with a few other tourist packed into the van and drove off into the countryside towards the house. Upon arrival, the food preparation was well underway with women handling the cooking working huge pots of food on open flames in the grassy area. A local priest arrived and the ceremony began with the priest and all the guests completing four circles around the house. We then went inside, sat down around the food offering, and were given kramas to wear around our chest. The priest began chanting prayers and women went around to all the guests with plates of food, while another would tie white strings around our wrists symbolizing guardian spirits. More offerings were made of rice, fruits, and alcohol, which the priest would squirt out of his mouth and shower the guests with. After the ceremony ended, we walked out on the large wooden platform, sat on the floor, and were presented with a bounty of food consisting of sticky rice, grilled fish, fish stew, blood soup, noodles, skewered meats, and salad. We ate with gusto, chatted, and met the men who put together the house in five days.
We spent the day lazing on mats in the grass overlooking the river eating and chatting. We were definitely honored guests as we didn't have to lift a finger and one of the women would bring us pillows to make our horizontal life even more comfortable along with plates of food if we got hungry. As if we hadn't eaten enough, plates of Papayas were served for desert along with cold fruit soup, which was delicious. We ended the day with another pretty sunset and came back into town to end a perfect day.
The rest of out days here were spent getting bikes and riding out to a lake to picnic along its banks and visit some stupas along the way.
Nothing is Laos happens without a religious ceremony and so we along with a few other tourist packed into the van and drove off into the countryside towards the house. Upon arrival, the food preparation was well underway with women handling the cooking working huge pots of food on open flames in the grassy area. A local priest arrived and the ceremony began with the priest and all the guests completing four circles around the house. We then went inside, sat down around the food offering, and were given kramas to wear around our chest. The priest began chanting prayers and women went around to all the guests with plates of food, while another would tie white strings around our wrists symbolizing guardian spirits. More offerings were made of rice, fruits, and alcohol, which the priest would squirt out of his mouth and shower the guests with. After the ceremony ended, we walked out on the large wooden platform, sat on the floor, and were presented with a bounty of food consisting of sticky rice, grilled fish, fish stew, blood soup, noodles, skewered meats, and salad. We ate with gusto, chatted, and met the men who put together the house in five days.
We spent the day lazing on mats in the grass overlooking the river eating and chatting. We were definitely honored guests as we didn't have to lift a finger and one of the women would bring us pillows to make our horizontal life even more comfortable along with plates of food if we got hungry. As if we hadn't eaten enough, plates of Papayas were served for desert along with cold fruit soup, which was delicious. We ended the day with another pretty sunset and came back into town to end a perfect day.
The rest of out days here were spent getting bikes and riding out to a lake to picnic along its banks and visit some stupas along the way.
Happy 2011
We plan on spending a quiet new years and Laos looks to be the perfect place. New Years is usually played up as a fancy affair with overpriced parties, loud music, and lots of drinking, which suits others but our temperament perhaps in our older years has shifted to enjoy conversations, others company, some quiet solitude, and time for reflection. We thus ended up in Savannakhet, a medium size town close to the Mekong with a friendly populace and a convivial little place called Natalie's Kitchen where we would spend quite a few hours.
After exploring the little town with some fabulous old French colonial buildings watched the last sunset of the year set over the Mekong with Thailand just on the other side. The place is positively international and boasts a few Thai restaurants along with a restored cinema, which unfortunately due to lack of tourists doesn't show any films. Walking around, we learned of a party where the deputy governor of the province has been invited and looked at the fancy set up and the band warming up with the ever present karaoke singers practicing their tunes for the night.
The spirit of the celebrations seem to be the same and so as the night began to set, music from shops and houses began to be heard along with little stalls selling noise makers and firecrackers. Many of the people and the shop owners put down bamboo mats in front of their homes and shops and sat down on the curb with friends to celebrate. Walking by the town square, a mass of women were blasting Loatian music and dancing and when we walked by enthusiastically asked us to join them, which we of course did. We danced, sang, and took pictures of our moves and the scene. A gathering of kids had also formed with firecrackers in hand, which they set off with ear shattering bangs and explosions of light. As the night progressed the music got louder and the volley of firecrackers more frequent. We walked back to Natalie's Kitchen where the gracious owner invited us in to his own little party of a few French tourists and we danced some more and decided to light our own provided firecrackers. So in reality it wasn't a quiet New Years at all but one we will remember like all of our happy encounters for the kindness of strangers and their curiosity to include us into their lives.
After exploring the little town with some fabulous old French colonial buildings watched the last sunset of the year set over the Mekong with Thailand just on the other side. The place is positively international and boasts a few Thai restaurants along with a restored cinema, which unfortunately due to lack of tourists doesn't show any films. Walking around, we learned of a party where the deputy governor of the province has been invited and looked at the fancy set up and the band warming up with the ever present karaoke singers practicing their tunes for the night.
The spirit of the celebrations seem to be the same and so as the night began to set, music from shops and houses began to be heard along with little stalls selling noise makers and firecrackers. Many of the people and the shop owners put down bamboo mats in front of their homes and shops and sat down on the curb with friends to celebrate. Walking by the town square, a mass of women were blasting Loatian music and dancing and when we walked by enthusiastically asked us to join them, which we of course did. We danced, sang, and took pictures of our moves and the scene. A gathering of kids had also formed with firecrackers in hand, which they set off with ear shattering bangs and explosions of light. As the night progressed the music got louder and the volley of firecrackers more frequent. We walked back to Natalie's Kitchen where the gracious owner invited us in to his own little party of a few French tourists and we danced some more and decided to light our own provided firecrackers. So in reality it wasn't a quiet New Years at all but one we will remember like all of our happy encounters for the kindness of strangers and their curiosity to include us into their lives.
The Baguette Trail
We have been following the baguette trail as I like to call it since in Vietnam, Laos, and in Cambodia being former French colonies they consume the bread for breakfast with triangle wedges of cheese, which costs about a dollar. It also makes for a tasty afternoon snack and we liked ours with some chillies to add an Asian flavor. The Mekong river has also been our companion and we witnessed its life giving properties supporting rice farms, floating villages, and entire towns built along its banks. Our personal interactions included boating on its waters, cycling along its quiet muddy banks, watching naked kids bathe, observing women washing clothes, and seeing lazy sunsets.
We arrived in the sleepy country of Laos in the southern part of Si Phan Don (4,000 Islands) at night and hopped on a Sangthaew (a truck with 2 rows of seats) and made our way to the boat. The ride felt like a Hallowen hayride with distant village fires burning and pitch black. We came to our wooden boat and made our across the river to the other side with clear constellations above. The islands are made up of the three biggest known as Don Khong, Don Dhet, and Don Khon and a host of many other tiny specks of land. The islands recently got 24 hour electricity and consist of dirt paths lined with farms and plenty of farm animals and noise to settle you in quietly. At night the stars are amazing with the soft gurgle of the Mekong flowing by quietly. We rented bicycles, which in these countries consists of a rusty frame with squeaky to non-existing brakes, a hard seat, banana handlebars, and a single gear. The accessories sometimes include a bell and a front basket. For some reason my bikes would always throw the chain so after learning from a local would find some sticks and get the chain back on without blackening my hands. The trails on the islands are rutty and rocky so needless to say biking anywhere was painful and slow but an endearing way to observe everyday village life. We biked out to a beach by the river with mint green waters and to a high point to witness beautiful surrounding country and to try and get lucky and spot the Irrawaddy dolphins that make their home here. Most of the activity consists of watching the boats ply the waterways, writing in the diary, and eating.
We make our way northward from here to the town of Savannakhet to celebrate New Years.
We arrived in the sleepy country of Laos in the southern part of Si Phan Don (4,000 Islands) at night and hopped on a Sangthaew (a truck with 2 rows of seats) and made our way to the boat. The ride felt like a Hallowen hayride with distant village fires burning and pitch black. We came to our wooden boat and made our across the river to the other side with clear constellations above. The islands are made up of the three biggest known as Don Khong, Don Dhet, and Don Khon and a host of many other tiny specks of land. The islands recently got 24 hour electricity and consist of dirt paths lined with farms and plenty of farm animals and noise to settle you in quietly. At night the stars are amazing with the soft gurgle of the Mekong flowing by quietly. We rented bicycles, which in these countries consists of a rusty frame with squeaky to non-existing brakes, a hard seat, banana handlebars, and a single gear. The accessories sometimes include a bell and a front basket. For some reason my bikes would always throw the chain so after learning from a local would find some sticks and get the chain back on without blackening my hands. The trails on the islands are rutty and rocky so needless to say biking anywhere was painful and slow but an endearing way to observe everyday village life. We biked out to a beach by the river with mint green waters and to a high point to witness beautiful surrounding country and to try and get lucky and spot the Irrawaddy dolphins that make their home here. Most of the activity consists of watching the boats ply the waterways, writing in the diary, and eating.
We make our way northward from here to the town of Savannakhet to celebrate New Years.
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