Trekking in the Nam Tha NPA

Trekking seems to be the thing to do in the jungles of SE Asia. In some protected areas, trekking with a guide is the only way you can get to some villages or jungles. We decided to check out the jungles and remote villages of North Laos on a two day trek followed by a day of kayaking.

On the first day we hiked six hours through some rather rigorous terrain to spend the night at a village of 22 families. This is the same route villagers have to take if they want to trade their rice or bamboo shoot harvests. Eco-tourists are allowed to come and spend the night about twice a month. It was really an incredible experience.

We saw and learned a lot on the trek. Our guide (Tho) took us to an area where local villagers were manually harvesting rice by beating piles with sticks. Each family has to produce about a ton of rice every year for self consumption (extra gets traded). Slash and burn farming is the preferred technique. A section of land gets farmed for two years before more forest gets torched. The Laos government is trying to put a stop to the practice and villages that can't get by on land that has already been cleared will be moved out of the forests. Tough decisions and likely fights in the future. Apparently two villages have already been moved.

We were extremely impressed by how responsible children in the village were. Seven year olds girls were carrying around their infant brothers or sisters. Children participated in making and selling crafts and even took us across a river on canoes. They all seemed so well tempered and mature, while still keeping an air of playful innocence. We were delighted to see that the kids were happy to interact with us, especially when we juggled and showed them digital pictures of themselves.

It was really incredible how much wildlife we did NOT see. Over the course of three days we hardly hear a bird chirp. We only saw farm animals, a fresh water crab, butterflies, and a bunch of leaches. Poachers in the area believe bear gallbladders cure sickness and the tiger parts are good for a variety of ailments. Another reason for the lack of nature is the willingness of villagers to eat nearly any wild animals. If we would have been lucky enough to be there when they had some bats, they would have steamed the wings and used them like soft taco shells. Dang the luck.

Speaking of food, our meals may have been the highlight of our trip. Local vegetables and herbs were prepared for us over an open fire using very few utensils. We ate with our hands off of a giant leaf table cloth out of bowls made by folding banana leaves. The soup of one meal was made by putting the ingredients into bamboo and setting the whole thing in a fire. There were no paper plates to trash or water to waste from washing dishes. Every meal left us hurting from being full and eating "just one more bite." Freshness was never a question either, the villagers were nice enough to slaughter a duck and a chicken in our sleeping area so that we wouldn't have to wonder how old it was. That almost never happens back home. One of us decided to keep their vegetarian streak going after taking numerous pictures of "cute" animals, that would later be served on a plate.

The last day was a non-trivial paddle down the Nam Tha ("Nam" = river). The bulk of the trip we could just sit back and let the current take us. Quite a few sections were actual rapids though. Staying in the boat and off the rocks wasn't an easy task.

They dynamic of the whole group was in itself an experience. We started out as strangers from different parts of the world; Poland, England, France, Italy, and even some fellow Americans from Denver. We helped each other climb over fallen trees, traded traveling secrets, and all slept in the same room together. Jim and I fell sick on the second day of the trek, and our fellow trekkers showed concern, gave us medicine and got our spirits and health back in tip top shape. We all finished the difficult journey as great friends. We got really lucky in that our first trek was so good. Our guide was awesome, the weather was great, and we met some really awesome people along the way.

-Jenn and Jim