Lost in Laos
Trip Start
Sep 18, 2006
1
31
79
Trip End
Mar 19, 2008
Muang Ngoi,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Monday, February 19, 2007
I landed up in a place called Muang Ngoi, a very small town that has become attractive for travellers looking for the wilderness. I met up with a girl called Anna who was looking for the same thing as me - to get away from the guided tours that tend to get a bit repetitive. So, after scoping out the local area and getting hold of a hand-drawn map, we decided on a route for the day of about 15km which would take us through a forest, some rice fields, valleys and hills with four tribal villages en route, the last one from which we could apparently pay for a boat to take us down river to the town where we started and were staying.
Anyway, off we set and the walk was spectacular. Beautiful scenery - absolutely breathtaking. And everything went to plan. We got through the forest, to the first village, then to the second where we stopped for lunch. After that, the route got harder in that we had to climb up a very steep mountain which the map didn't show. Never mind, we got up it in fairly good time, the view from the top amazing. Walking along the ridge, we were pretty happy with ourselves - everything was going well, we were really enjoying it and striking out by ourselves rather than relying on a guide. Incidentally, we were on a well used path the whole journey - the principal we stuck to was when we had a choice of two routes, to take the most used. So we got to the third village in a little more time than the map said it would take but still with plenty of time to get to the final village and the boat and back home before dark. Or so we thought.
Things went badly pretty much from the moment we left the village in that there were two paths, both looking similarly used. We went back and, by mentioning the name of the village we wanted to go to, were assured of the one we needed. So we headed off and the path took us down the other side of the mountain that we had previously climbed. We were heading down for about an hour when we came to another fork. Luckily, there were two tribespeople sat there who told us the one we needed. We carried on heading down the mountain, assuming now that we were pretty close. After about half an hour, we reached the bottom and came into a small valley. The path took us past some abandoned huts (usually a good indication that a village is nearby) and towards another mountain. It reached the mountain, which a river ran alongside, and then seemed to stop. Or at least appeared as if it may now follow the river. We followed it for about 10 minutes when another mountain loomed up on the other side, the walls of both now preventing any direction but onwards. It was now about 4.30 and it was due to start getting dark at 6 and be nighttime by 6.30. We decided it would be best for me to follow the river/path for a little while and see where it lead. After about 20 minutes of wading and clambering over rocks, it was obvious it wasn't going to get anywhere anytime soon and we couldn't risk it. So I went back, tried the other direction which turned out to be nature's way of very firmly stating that 'Thou shall not pass'.
OK, so now we had to decide what we were going to do. We came to the conclusion that we were lost: in entirely the wrong place, not knowing where we were or how to get to where we needed to be. After all, the map had been right up to this point so why weren't we at our destination? The inhabitants of the previous village hadn't exactly given us a warm welcome so we considered that maybe we'd been pointed in the wrong direction. It was now time to start thinking about where we were going to spend the night. We could go back to the last village or we could try the huts we came across. The unfriendliness of the villagers put us off the first idea. We gave it one last try to get going - we walked up the path for 40 minutes with the intention of paying anyone we came across to take us there and then. As we didn't find anyone, we turned back and headed for the huts for the night.
There were three huts, of which we took the best. Unable to find anything to make us more comfortable such as blankets or pillows, we braced ourselves for the night which we were expecting to be cold. No food save one sandwhich we kept for the next day, a diminishing water supply, the cold air drawing in, and remarkably we were in good spirits. The two of us were getting along well, swapping stories and generally keeping each others moods up. She even found the time to woryy about the state of her hair! It was really a case that being in such a situation, we had to get through it and make the best of it. When tomorrow came we would set off early and get home. We didn't know where we were, but we did know that to get back, even though it would take all day, all we would have to do would be to retrace our steps.
Pretty exhausted, we turned in around 9. But it was getting colder, and therefore very difficult to sleep, especially as I gave her my spare clothes as she had none. Lying there, shivering away, I listened to the sounds of the jungle. And gunshots. A lot of tribespeople go hunting. So I started to wonder about the huts we were in. Sure enough, around midnight, a couple of hunters armed with huge, antique-looking rifles came along and tried to get into our hut. Or rather, their hut. I opened the door and through hand gestures explained that we had been walking and it got dark so we needed somewhere to sleep. I also told them where we were headed. Thankfully, they were friendly and sympathetic to our predicament, one of them even speaking enough English to tell us we were in fact in the right place, hadn't gone off course and that we did need to go down the river. They were also fine with us staying there and they took one of the other huts. Now feeling a lot better about things, we tried to sleep again. By now though, it was freezing. Between 12 and 2 was the worst. We even got up and started exercising to get the blood flowing. It was just too cold to sleep.
I was eventually able to drop off for about an hour before we were woken shortly after dawn at around 6.45 by another hunter who needed the hut. He was quite irate as he too had arrived in the night but, upon learning we were there, took the really dirty and uncomfortable hut leftover. He informed us the village was about 2 hrs away and yes, we should take the river. So thats where we went wrong - the map indicated the walk from the penultimate to the final village was 1hr 30. It turned out to be more like 4. We took off down the river which we had to stay on for about 45 mins before the path lead us off it and in a direction my compass confirmed would lead us to the final village. We soon walked into a beautiful field of head high, sky blue flowers and it seemed as if a weight was lifted from our shoulders. We came across someone who told us we were on the right path and the relief was palpable. It was still another two hours, up and down another mountain and although we should have been exhausted with ridiculously insufficient amounts of rest and food, the adrenaline was coarsing through our veins. Spurred on by the brute animal instinct for survival, we powered on through to the village. We met plenty of friendly locals along the way who were heading out into the fields and jungle for their day's work. The confused and then amused looks they gave us suggested they'd figured out it was too early for us to be coming from anywhere and where we'd spent the night. We arrived at the village around 9.30 and yes, we could hire a small boat to take us home. By 10.30 we were back.
We made it!
The hotel where I was staying actually had my back as I had informed the manager, Wan, where I would be headed for. She told the owner what we were doing who apparently realised immediately that the trek was too long for us to manage in one day and so they were expecting for us to have to spend the night en route. Apparently if we were gone for two nights, they were going to call the police and have a search party sent out.
All in all, a fantastic experience which I'm glad happened and is probably the single biggest adventure of my life.
