Welcome to the Jungle: Trekking in Northern Laos

1 Comment Posted in: Laos | By: Jami | February 13, 2014

While places like Luang Prabang have been on the “must visit” hot lists of many travelers, I was excited that Laos also offered opportunities to discover places and people way off the beaten path.

All on our own

When we signed up for a 3 day/2 night trek with homestays in villages, I had no idea how truly authentic the experience would be. Over these days we would hike through harvested rice fields, trail-less forests, up mountains, bamboo jungles, leech filled rivers and stay the night in bamboo houses with Lao families in their village surrounded by every kind of animal you can imagine. This was an experience I will never forget or be able to replicate.

DAY 1: Scenic Mountains and Rice Fields

We met our group at cafe in Luang Prabang: a young twenty something French-Canadian girl and a 60-ish Dutch women, plus our two guides who barely stood 5 feet tall. We headed up in a van and drove about 2 hours where it felt like we were abruptly dropped off on the side of the road. What? Where are we? Looking down the hill we saw our local transport: a boat the size of a canoe and a man willing to row us across. It started to rain and I remember thinking to myself: here we go!

Transport across the river

Heading across: the boat only fit half of us

Starting to drizzle

One of our guides looking out across the river

After getting across, there we were just us and a mountain of teak trees and bamboo.

Endless teak trees

Our group heading up

Up the mountain, bags of rice dotted along our journey

Enormous bamboo trees

A typical “bridge”

Occasionally, we would pass a local with a large bag of rice on their shoulders. We had views of rice fields that were never ending. We learned there were two types of rice: wet rice and mountain rice. Mountain rice being the hardest to grow, but the best. Unfortunately for us these rice fields had already been harvested so instead of the picturesque green fields, we saw dead yellow sticks in the ground, but they were everywhere. We learned a lot about the growing and production of rice. That rice had two seasons, was very fragile and had many stages until harvest. Many fields we walked passed were being lit of fire to feed the soil. The farmers would spend all day in the field and therefore build small huts along the sides so to shelter them from the hot sun or the pouring rain. Sometimes we would come across a hut with farmers resting.

Local hill tribe carrying rice

Rice bags almost the size of the transporter

Burning the fields

Mountain rice, already harvested

The scenic views

Among the rice fields

Guides picking us fruit to eat

Lunch: fried rice wrapped in bamboo leaves

Authentic presentation

It was amazing to walk by these fields and peer into this way of life. We must have been a funny sight. With our backpacks and gear, the locals, some never seeing people like us before. When we stopped at our first village, the people came by and just sat next to us and stared. They were very shy, but you could tell they were curious. One of our guides was from a nearby village and so could communicate to them. I tried connecting in the universal language of candy. I called over a couple kids, who were staring at us from a distance and I offered up my chocolate I brought for the trek. They approached me so politely and smiled before reaching out to take it. I remember them eating it so delicately and sharing with their family. I thought, if these were American kids, there would have been a grab and a fight on who gets what.

Our first hill tribe village

Looking at us curiously

The village kitchen

Everyone likes chocolate

We kept heading up the steep mountains until we reached the village would stay in for the night. It was very small. No electricity. The village water was geniusly set up to come from a nearby waterfall/water source which would pour down through bamboo pipes and into a collective barrel.

Keeping going

Friends along the way

Through the rivers

Through the forests

The small village

The water system

There were animals everywhere. Cows, chickens and roosters and their chicks, huge hogs and their piglets, dogs and puppies, cats and kittens, and some really ugly and terrifying turkeys.

Animals everywhere!

The women were always working: tending to the animals, cooking, grinding rice, even building.

We walked around the tiny village among the animals and connected with our neighbors for the night, mostly with a smile and a hand wave. That night we stayed with a family in their bamboo house, on a bamboo bed, on top of bags of rice and straw. I was a little nervous when it started pouring heavily in the early morning but the house never incurred a leak. In the morning, we bid farewell to the villagers and our animal friends.

Our home for the night

Our friendly neighbors

Kids in the village

Dinner being cooked inside our hut

Sitting by the fire with friends

In the morning, finally the rain cleared

Breakfast

I’ll miss this guy

DAY 2: Rivers, Jungle and Leeches

Our second day trekking would really test me. It had rained hard in the early morning and so we were walking in muddy conditions. On top of that would had to contend with river beds – crossing 7 – that were doused with leeches! Each time we crossed, we would have to take off our shoes and step carefully across the rocks trying to watch your feet. But no matter how careful you were, you would be picking off dozens of small leeches off your toes, ankles, shoes and socks. It was awful. I was nicked a couple times but the worst was when I didn’t notice one that had reached all the way up behind my knee, inside my pants. It must have been there for half an hour, but Aaron looked at the back of my pants and asked me, “is that blood?” The back of my pants were soaked in blood. I quickly rolled up my pants and found a giant hole in the back of my leg. The leech had likely dropped off, too full of my blood. I had mild breakdown, washed my leg and pants and on we went, me struggling to remember why I signed up for this as I remembered Chitwan in Nepal and how much I didn’t like jungle trekking: the heat, the sticky sweat, but upon arrival to our homestay in a large village, again filled with animals everywhere. I forgot all about the leeches and the dirt and sticky sweat. I simply fell in love with the kids here.

Leeches everywhere = bloody feet and legs

Jami: “I hate the jungle!”

Finally out of the jungle, phew!

Gorgeous landscape

We made it

Lunch on leaves

Hillside Tribe Village for night 2, much bigger

Still animals everywhere

Simple living

Women cleaning rice

Village message board?

Kids playing with tires

At first they ran from Aaron – was it the beard?

At first they were shy but soon I was singing and dancing with them. I brought out my notepad where I would draw a picture and they would say the name in their language and I would say it in mine. The big sister in me also shared some lip gloss, braided hair and I left them some of my rubber bands to the girls. I showed them pictures in my camera and took some pictures with them. I had the best time. The kids were so sweet and full of energy and they were the highlight of the entire trek.

Dancing with them far away, to get them comfortable

Fast friends

Drawing and learning from each other

Big sister talent

They loved the camera

Once again we slept in the house of village tribe member who would light a fire in her house as our guides cooked us dinner.

Dinner prep

Our home for the night

Sharing a bamboo bed

DAY 3: Back to Civilization

In the morning, after the rain let up we headed out of the village, across their school and down a wide dirt road path where a cement road was to be put in. When reached our final village where we would be picked up, we noticed how different it was from the others we had visited and slept in. This village was modernizing, as it had roads, motorbikes and few cars, electricity, plumbing. The locals here were playing music from the radio, kids were playing games on cellphones, and you had to look both ways when crossing the road so not to get hit by a construction vehicle. I remember thinking how lucky we were to have experienced these other villages, which felt like stepping back into time, where family, farming rice, and feeding animals were all they knew and how it is likely to all change. It was a very special experience.

Walking passed the school in the morning

Morning views very cloudy

Walking by a cow and her nearly born calf – just a day old, his hair still sticky

The road being built up

Our guides

And with Aaron, back in Luang Prabang – Thanks guys!

One Response to Welcome to the Jungle: Trekking in Northern Laos

Karen Johnson February 13, 2014

Love, love, love the photos and the narrative of your trek! The scenery, the kids, the villagers at work, all made me feel like I was there. Jami, you brought chocolate with you???? Are you going over to the dark side? The photo of Aaron TOWERING over the guides is pretty funny….