Banana tree in the light
Me sampling one of the ice blocks in the village
The hut where they send the local teenage boys to sleep by themselves - what a great idea!!1
Playing tug of war with the kids :)
Lunch served up fresh on banana leaves! Delicious
The last stop in Laos for me is the much talked about trekking mecca of Laung Nha Tra. I first heard about this place from a guy I met in Viet Nam and not only did he say that it was beautiful but that the organisation operating the tours to the local villages is very responsible and limited the number of tour groups visiting the villages each month. They also give the villages one third of the trip fee. On the way up to Laung Nha Tra I experienced yet another transport problem (adventure) where we were shuffled from one bus to another which meant that we missed our connection in Udomxai this didn't prove to be such a bad thing as there was a group of us who made the most of the town drinking a few beer Laos. The second leg of the journey we were crowded into a minivan which had just a few too many people in it making for a very uncomfortable journey - in addition to being handed sick bags as we entered the bus and a number of the Lao people being sick on the way up. Whatever amount of time you have in Laos you end up spending at least half of it on a bus - a combination of the poor quality of roads, buses and the very mountainous terrain. But, in saying that it is all part of the experience and makes for great stories to tell.
I headed out for a two day trek with the much talked about Green Discovery to Ban Nam Lai an Akha village. We trekked out through the jungle along and through the river beds - each stop we were asked to look for leaches - fortunately I came away with no leeches. it was a beautiful trek and our guy had so much passion for trekking and his country. He was the first Laotian that I was able to engage in a conversation. I have the most amazing photos of this village and the forest and I am gutted that I cant share them with you - but I promise to go back through the blog when i can access them and upload some.
There was however and bitter taste to this trek with two of the people on out trek not being at all sensitive to the privacy and dignity of the local people and charged off into the village without the guide to make pictures - it upset me that the guide did not step in and prevent such behaviour. Also, after dinner a group of teenage girls came into our hut and while I was busy swapping jewellery with them we were instructed that they were there to give us massages - the guide assured us that is was customary, however I was not comfortable with this and opted to sit outside by the fire and have written a letter to the organisation outlining both of these concerns.
The primitive nature of the cooking and eating but fire and candlelight with banana tree leave table clothes made this one of the more memorable eating occasions. Matt and I also partook in the customary pass round of the Lao Lao followed by the old mans club and Jane sitting round to the early hours knocking back some beer. Apparently I was singing - god help them all and trying to count in Lao - I had a great night and was not too worse for wear the next morning.
Another of my favourite moments from this trip was having a tug of war contest between me (one handed) and five of the local kids - it warmed my heart and they all came running after me when I left.
I headed out for a two day trek with the much talked about Green Discovery to Ban Nam Lai an Akha village. We trekked out through the jungle along and through the river beds - each stop we were asked to look for leaches - fortunately I came away with no leeches. it was a beautiful trek and our guy had so much passion for trekking and his country. He was the first Laotian that I was able to engage in a conversation. I have the most amazing photos of this village and the forest and I am gutted that I cant share them with you - but I promise to go back through the blog when i can access them and upload some.
There was however and bitter taste to this trek with two of the people on out trek not being at all sensitive to the privacy and dignity of the local people and charged off into the village without the guide to make pictures - it upset me that the guide did not step in and prevent such behaviour. Also, after dinner a group of teenage girls came into our hut and while I was busy swapping jewellery with them we were instructed that they were there to give us massages - the guide assured us that is was customary, however I was not comfortable with this and opted to sit outside by the fire and have written a letter to the organisation outlining both of these concerns.
The primitive nature of the cooking and eating but fire and candlelight with banana tree leave table clothes made this one of the more memorable eating occasions. Matt and I also partook in the customary pass round of the Lao Lao followed by the old mans club and Jane sitting round to the early hours knocking back some beer. Apparently I was singing - god help them all and trying to count in Lao - I had a great night and was not too worse for wear the next morning.
Another of my favourite moments from this trip was having a tug of war contest between me (one handed) and five of the local kids - it warmed my heart and they all came running after me when I left.
No comments:
Post a Comment