Blog 4 Trekking in Laos

Blog 4 – Luang Namtha trekking and cycling

Much has happened in the last six days and Oscar Wilde’s statement to the effect of “Dear friend I would have written a short letter, but I don’t have time, so this is a long one” feels apt. We have been on two treks in two different areas, experienced two very different guides and interacted with local village people in very different ways. We have witnessed the rapid destruction of the forest and even more surprising, the physical destruction of a complete village.

Our first trek was from Luang Prabang into the Khmu village of Ban Nalan. Our 24 year old guide introduced himself with something like “Hi, I’m Nam and I’ve got a hangover to end all hangovers after a night on the Lao Lao”. Lao Lao is the local moonshine whisky – more on that later.

Our trekking party of 6 clients, two guides and a porter boarded a Tuk Tuk and headed out to the start of the trek, but detoured to the market and while the guides were buying lunch we wandered around gaping at the variety of goods on sale. Amongst the live goods were a baby bamboo rat, tanks of fish and frogs skewered by their legs. The butchery section had buffalo cuts (no refrigeration) and buckets of bright red liver – cut into cubes. Whole dead animals included a rare crimson forest bird and a dozen birds smaller than sparrows. Cooked food sections included a huge array of strange looking vegetables that were sold in plastic bags and an even bigger range of pork, beef and chicken dishes. At least those were the things we recognized.

Lunch was another big surprise. We stopped at a small thatched shelter where banana leaves were spread to make a table cloth. The contents of six or eight bags from the market were poured in tidy mounds onto the leaves and we opened our individual lunch parcels of sticky rice (these were wrapped in small banana leaves). We were then shown how to eat sticky rice without implements by making a small ball of sticky rice and using it to scoop up some of whichever dish we fancied. The food was very tasty and once we got used to eating with our fingers it was a good lunch. The dishes in the middle included a spicy eggplant concoction, chicken and cabbage, beef and bean sprouts and a strange variety of small pumpkin.

The walk itself was mostly through cut-over forest but there were a few areas of original forest that were most spectacular. The country was quite steep and while the trail wound over a couple of good hills it was an easy days walking and we arrived at the village of Ban Nalan mid-afternoon.

After a swim in the river we explored the village but found the adults withdrawn and uncommunicative. As our later experiences we much more positive we put this down to an incident earlier in the day when Sergio, an Italian travelling in our group had caused considerable offence. After we had stopped for lunch three women from the village arrived. They were dressed in traditional costume and one was smoking a pipe so they were quite a sight. Sergio immediately grabbed his camera and photographed them without asking permission (a specific no-no) and then doubly compounded the error by putting his arms around the women and insisting his wife take another photo.

At Ben Nalan, as at all the villages we stayed in, we slept in a separate guest house, rather than home-staying in a house with the villagers. Cooking in the villages is done over an open fire inside the house. As the houses are wooden and raised about two metres off the ground the fire is contained ina small sand pit in the middle of the room. There is no chimney, the smoke simply wafts out through the thatched roof and the bamboo mat walls. Our hosts prepared a delicious meal,which we ate sitting on the floor, although this time we had spoons and chopsticks.

After dinner we met with the village chief who welcomed us and answered our questions through our guide who acted as interpreter. It was a fascinating session which needs more time to tell than I have, but in essence we were made to feel very welcome and gained some understanding of village life and likely changes.

One of the more unusual aspects is that the village chief is an elected position with each villager having an equal vote. The catch is that the elected candidate must demonstrate an ability to write in Lao at the first district meeting. This skill is required “To ensure the chief accurately reports to the village all the actions from the district meetings”. A side effect is that the chiefs tend to be quite young – it is not uncommon to find a chief who is only 20. As for remembering the party news, its hard to forget as “the news from the capital” is broadcast on loud speakers throughout every town and large village at the beginning and end of every day. It forms the background noise as I write this.

Walking out from Ban Nalan we passed through several other villagers that were friendly and quite welcoming, although Sergio again threw a spanner in the works by attempting to buy the earrings out of the ears of one of the women in the village where we stopped for lunch. After this he was pretty well persona non grata with everyone. He also missed out on lunch (more sticky rice) in the ensuing arguments.

Time has run out - we have a bus to catch to Luang Prabang.

Ross