Treking with mud (but without stomach problems)
Trip Start
May 06, 2007
1
125
166
Trip End
Jul 24, 2008
Luang Namtha,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Thursday, February 28, 2008
When I woke up to pounding rain, I was a bit concerned about the trek. Luckily the rain subsided and we were able to start the trek in sunshine. The seven of us - 2 Aussies, 2 Brits, 1 Spaniard, 1 Belgian, and me - slid our way up and down the mountains through the beautiful forest and ended up covered in mud. Over the 2 days and 17 kms of hiking, all but two people slipped and fell at one point or another (luckily with nothing more than a couple of bruises). We spent the night in a Khmu hilltribe village, spending some time with some of the villagers in the evening and getting a chance to see how they lived. They raise all their own animals to eat in the village and essentially live among them - a bit strange for us and definitely not a way I'd want to live. During our second day of hiking we passed through a Lanten village. Both of the villages are in the process of moving closer together because the government has agreed to build a school between the villages if they move much closer to each other (they're currently about 1.5 hours of walking apart and are moving about 15 min apart). The villagers don't love the fact that they have to rebuild their houses and move their lives, but they know that it's the best thing they can do for their children. Our wonderful guide, Phet, also spent some time telling us about his experiences growing up in Luang Namtha and spending seven years as a monk.
It was an exhausting two days, but really enjoyable. Laos is making a big effort to make sure its tourism is ecological and sustainable. It was really interesting how differently all the trekking companies in Laos advertised and approached their treks compared to the companies in Thailand. The government limits the number of people per group and the number of groups who can go through each area each week. The different companies are all required to use different trails and visit different villages. This is better for the villages and forest because it minimizes the impact of people constantly coming through and also better for the tourists because it gives us a more authentic experience and trails that aren't packed with people. Hopefully as the number of tourists in Laos increases they'll be able to maintain the efforts they've put forward so far.
A random note about Laos - I've noticed Lao men more involved with the care of babies and children than the men in any other country I've visited. Everywhere I went I saw men carrying babies and caring for small children - something I've very rarely seen in the non-Western countries I've visited.
I've had a great time in Laos, but needed to move on in order to have enough time in China to actually see things before meeting my parents. If things work out with my travels through Asia, I'd like to come back to Laos and spend more time exploring some of the places I had to skip this time around.
