Welcome to the Jungle

Our 3-days-adventure started with a kayak introduction. The agency provided life wests and helmets and we looked like we would ride level 5 rapids. Most of the time however we paddled slowly down the Nam Tha (River Tha) and enjoyed the landscape. May is the end of the dry season and the water level is very low, thus the biggest challenge was not to crash with a stone or tree at the occasional rapids.

Along the way we stopped at two hill tribe villages and learnt more about their way of life. Most of them are farmers, earning some extra money with the sale of animals, vegetables and souvenirs, as well as tourist services like home stays. Often the first indication of a village is seeing naked children playing in and at the river. When they realized that the new arrivals are tourists they either start to run for their clothes, to wave, to stare or to show their jumping and diving skills. 

We spent the first night in a Khmu village in a typical family home. The Khmu built their homes on poles and their houses have a main room and s smaller one for the parents. The bathroom is somewhere nearby outside and the kitchen either tucked under the house or built next to it. We shared the main room with the kids and had some nice mosquito nets with holes in it. Like most of the village people they do not have a lot of furniture, however a TV and a huge loudspeaker is standard.

The following two days we trekked, according to the operator and easy 4-6 hours treks through the national park. The north is covered with hills, so hiking here is a constant up and down. On narrow paths we went steep upwards into the jungle. With temperature in the upper 30C we sweated like seldom before. We did not even know that the body could produce that big sweat drops. We apparently choose a tour, which is not so often booked. A recent storm cut many trees and we soon realized that the guide really needed his machete to bushwhack. At one point we were waiting under some fallen bamboo trees until our guide, Ohn, found a way through the coppice. Already feeling a little bit anxious about being in a remote country on a remote trail in a country with a confirmed bad health system (official recommendation: if you have an issue, go asap to Thailand) I was waiting and playing some “what if” in my head. Suddenly the guide jiggled at some branches and puff… right next to me fell a snake on the floor. We looked at each other, both screamed and off it went. I was paralyzed with fear!!! Ohn’s only reaction was calmly asking: “Snake? Big one?” before continuing cutting holes in the bamboo. Michi just kept laughing about my shock noises. 

Luckily soon after that event I twisted my ankle for the second time and my main focus shifted from fear to pain. It became clear that sneakers and shorts are not the ideal outfit for this kind of trekking. Even more as we ended up walking along a stream, home of the most aggressive leeches. Thousands of those little suckers just wait for warm-blooded creatures to pass by. They wait in an upright position on the floor or stones to jump. Whilst I was torturing myself thinking of malaria, dengue, snakebites, broken bones and worse, Michi just walked. He kicked in his “hiking mode”; do not think, march. This worked fine until the first leech bit him. The problem with the leeches is that if you stop to check your shoes and legs, new ones quickly crawl towards you. The trick is to check and remove them without standing still. 

Eventually we arrived at our destination village.

Before Laos I was convinced that with hands, feet and some drawings you can communicate with nearly everyone. Here I got to know the limitations of my theory. Communications with the village people turned out very difficult. Apart from their lack of English and our lack of Lao, our worlds are really far apart. It is very hard to find a common ground, not even their finger counting system is the same. This makes bargaining or asking for age, kids or times always a guessing game. Many of the elderly are illiterate, so writing down numbers does not help. In both villages we mostly ended up smiling and agreeing that we do not understand each other. The interactions with the younger ones were also limited, since they did not seem very interested to practice their English or play with us. It was not clear if they grew tired of tourists, if they were shy, or if it was a lack of interest.

Not only was our guide’s English very good, so was his knowledge of local plants and cooking skills. Like in a supermarket he walked around and collected ingredients for our dishes. Next to the mandatory rice we ate mushrooms, wild eggplants, bamboo roots, rattan, and river fern. Not everything but most dishes were delicious. Being hungry was definitely never an issue on this trip. 

The second day we walked over a mountain to the nearest road, an easy 5 hours trek to the next village. Compared to the path the day before the trail was good, considering that this is the main supply chain for the village people, it was surprisingly narrow.

Smelly and tired we finally arrived at our pick up point and were looking forward to a nice, long shower. Do we regret the trip? Not at all. Was it a great experience? Clearly. Would I do it again next week? Probably not.