Laos Trek
Time to play some catch-up on posts. I'm just about to leave Thailand and here I have one last Laos post. Back in mid-January, I left my travel buddies, Neals, Christian, and Marta, in Luang Prabang for Luang Namtha in the Nam Ha nature reserve. No direct bus, have to transfer in the crossroads town of Udom Xia. On arrival I immediately see my connecting bus is packed to the brim including a handful of travelers looking quite uncomfortable in their sardine like predicament. Crossroad towns are usually not the best, but what the hell, I'll stay a night and see what's going on. 
After checking in, I wander down the street and come across a tourist office, staffed by some Laos and two Germans. Laos has some good NGOs in here, working with the government to keep the impending tourist boom sustainable, low-impact, and profitable to as many Laos as possible. The mission of this tourist office is to bring some of the tourist dollars into the region, when for the most part tourists just pass on through. They have an uphill battle. Guidebooks, especially Lonely Planet, can make or break a town, hostel, restaurant, etc. No review is one beast, but a negative review is even worse, and that's what Udom Xai is facing. The first step of the tourist office has been to set up 1-3 day treks in the region and for the first few months the prices are low to generate interest. $10 a day compared to $30-$60 a day in the nature preserve towns, it's a fantastic bargain. And what most people don't realize is the nearby preserve has only had that designation since the early '90s, so nearly all to forest in it is secondary or tertiary, basically the same as in Udom Xai. For the $10 we had transport to and from the trail-head, all meals, drinks, two guides, and a small group, just me and a French-Canadian couple. Each night was a homestay in a different village which took us 6 hours to hike to each day, away from the road. So the villages we stayed at where far from the beaten path and as these treks had recently begun, they were still curious about strangers. I didn't take many pics as they were rather shy and usually said no to a request, but no big deal. Besides a night of nearly the entire village crammed into a single house for an evening of singing and rice whiskey, the highlight was stumbling upon a healing ceremony headed by the village shaman (animism is the faith of the region). One of the village elders had just survived a long illness, and they were taking all the ceremonial precautions available to keep the bad spirits away. They welcomed us in to observe and soon we became part of the ritual. Stumbling upon such unique experiences is so rare, but when they do happen, Wow.
Trek pics
After checking in, I wander down the street and come across a tourist office, staffed by some Laos and two Germans. Laos has some good NGOs in here, working with the government to keep the impending tourist boom sustainable, low-impact, and profitable to as many Laos as possible. The mission of this tourist office is to bring some of the tourist dollars into the region, when for the most part tourists just pass on through. They have an uphill battle. Guidebooks, especially Lonely Planet, can make or break a town, hostel, restaurant, etc. No review is one beast, but a negative review is even worse, and that's what Udom Xai is facing. The first step of the tourist office has been to set up 1-3 day treks in the region and for the first few months the prices are low to generate interest. $10 a day compared to $30-$60 a day in the nature preserve towns, it's a fantastic bargain. And what most people don't realize is the nearby preserve has only had that designation since the early '90s, so nearly all to forest in it is secondary or tertiary, basically the same as in Udom Xai. For the $10 we had transport to and from the trail-head, all meals, drinks, two guides, and a small group, just me and a French-Canadian couple. Each night was a homestay in a different village which took us 6 hours to hike to each day, away from the road. So the villages we stayed at where far from the beaten path and as these treks had recently begun, they were still curious about strangers. I didn't take many pics as they were rather shy and usually said no to a request, but no big deal. Besides a night of nearly the entire village crammed into a single house for an evening of singing and rice whiskey, the highlight was stumbling upon a healing ceremony headed by the village shaman (animism is the faith of the region). One of the village elders had just survived a long illness, and they were taking all the ceremonial precautions available to keep the bad spirits away. They welcomed us in to observe and soon we became part of the ritual. Stumbling upon such unique experiences is so rare, but when they do happen, Wow.
Trek pics
posted by Ted @ 3:36 AM
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