Blog 5 – Trekking Laos – Part 2

We returned from the trek to Ban Nalan having enjoyed the experience but wanting to see more of the original forest and wildlife. So the next day we hired mountain bikes and reducing our gear to the absolute minimum headed off on a 60km ride through the Namha range to Muang Sing. It was a very pleasant ride with very little traffic on the sealed road. What traffic there was travelled quite slowly due to the uneven surface and narrow winding nature of the road. The first 40kms wound slowly uphill, initially past numerous villages where the surrounding forest had been cleared and rubber trees planted. After the pass there was a spell of original forest and we walked up to a delightful waterfall about a km off the road. We had lunch along the way at a small local eatery that served YumYum noodles (Chinese dried noodles) and salad for $NZ1.

As we cycled further down the valley the agriculture became increasingly intensive, so that by the time we reached the broad plain of Muang Sing we were surrounded by rice paddy. At this time of year the paddies are dry with buffalo and cows grazing the stubble. It will be very different in November with the rice starting to yellow just before harvest.

Arriving in the town of Muang Sing we were immediately greeted by Dan and Jen, two of our fellow trekkers to Ban Nalan. They were checking out the trekking options and invited us to join them. There are now half a dozen trekking agencies in town and we raced around looking for the best jungle trip, hopefully with home-stay. In the limited time available our research was a bit limited and with hindsight we realise that there were some better jungle trips, but we had a great experience anyway with anumber of pleasant surprises.

Trekking in on the first day we began at the end of the rice paddy area and transitioned through sugar cane and dry rice regions on the rolling foothills before entering the rubber belt. China, which is just 20 kms away is a keen buyer of rubber and sugar cane and it is transforming the landscape with huge swathes of forest converted in the last two years. We had lunch on a ridge high above the valley floor and were serenaded with a cacophany of wood chopping and trees crashing on both sides of the ridge. Our guide Mr Mai, was clearly very angry at the clearing. He kept saying “cutting, cutting very bad people, people no listen”. He would castigate the cutters we passed and his assistant who was from the local village was lectured mercilessly. We felt we were witnessing a profound and sad change. In New Zealand we cut our forest for farmland many years ago, here the change is no less fundamental in potentially providing an economic base for a very poor region.

We spent the first night in Sop Ee Kop, an Akhu village that grew all its own food and still made some of its own cloth. Our first activity in the village was to wash at the village tap. Men stripped down to their underpants, women a sarong while the whole village watched. This was a clever part of the plan to give tourists a sense of being the observed and it also served to break the ice. While we again stayed in the guest house we ahd a fascinating visit after dark to one of the homes. There is almost a chapter to write just on the time we spent with the family but it will have to wait. The locals certainly have some fascinating customs.Returning to our guest house we found a party going on inside. We were immediately ordered to lie down on the beds and the five of us were given thorouugh massages by the women while the kids giggled and the men drank Lao Lao, the local whisky. It was a great end to a fascinating day.Trekking a very long ridge system the next day we were disappointed at the amount of slash and burn that was happening as we passed areas where the ash was still warm. While slash and burn has been part of traditional agricultural methods, it was a bit pointless at 1600m and was either vandalism or done to scare what little game remains. Mr Mai was apoplectic and we promised to write to his Boss and the Minister of Tourism (which we intend to do). Despite this there were areas of pleasant bush and it was great to get a solid day’s tramping in steep hill country.Arriving at Pawai Ki, our village for the second night we were greeted with a scene that could have been straight out of a Vietnam war movie. There were demolished and half demolished houses everywhere, numerous fires in the streets and lots of excited screaming and yelling from the kids. It turned out that half the village was moving to a new location closer to town and off the hills. The demolition was because they were dismantling their houses. It was a very emotional time for the villagers as well, some looking forward to the change with anticipation, others with regret.Probably many were experiencing both as the village had been there for 140 years.
That night many of the older men gathered in the guest house and drank LaoLao while the old women stood around chewing bettle nut (which had rotted their teeth and turned their lips bright red) and looking quite sad and lost. The kids played with some excitement while the women with families to care for worked frantically, cooking, demolishing houses and collecting water from the spring 10 minutes walk away. The men assisted with loading the truck when it was there to load and otherwise stood around, occasionally being shouted at by irate spouses.
There was another massage that night but it wasn’t very good and felt a little strange when the young masseuses suddenly and discretely said “Money” towards the end of the massage. We weren’t sure if they were asking for a tip or offering extra services as “Money” was the extent of their english.

The next day we walked back to Muang Sing and after lunch in a local restaurant caught the afternoon bus back to Luang Namtha. While the bush had not been as spectacular as we had hoped and anything non human that walked or flew had been shot or trapped, it had still been a fascinating insight into the lives of others and provided much food for thought on trade, aid and development.

Ross