Trekking in Laos

We knew nothing about Muang Khua when we arrived by bus from Vietnam. We just knew that the bus from Dien Bien Phu would take us across the border to Muang Khua in Laos. It’s a small town that appears to thrive on the little tourism that comes by bus from Vietnam. Our bus stopped at the main crossing, a dirt road with some restaurants and guesthouses scattered around. We traveled with mostly tourists and due to the small size of the town you could tell there was a sense of urgency as everyone dispersed to find accommodation before it was taken. We crossed the wooden footbridge to the other side of the river where Mirjam had found a place called Manotham Guesthouse on wikitravel.

The guesthouse proved to be a good find. It was simple but very cozy and with a wonderful view of the river. It was only 50,000 kip(around 5 euro) per night too.

On the wall of the lounge area of our guesthouse we noticed a hand written note on the wall about a trekking service.

“Call the following number or ask your guesthouse host for more info”.

We asked our host and he told us he would invite the trekking guide to come later when we were having dinner. Sure enough, that evening during dinner a man named Boun Ma arrived and told us about the trekking trip. There was already a group leaving the following morning for a three day trip and because he was the only guide available, that was our only choice. He briefly showed us the itinerary and told us that he had to go to meet the rest of the group in 15 minutes, meaning we had to decide now. I guess it was the few glasses of rice wine we had but we didn’t hesitate for long before saying yes. We didn’t really have time to digest the itinerary he had given us or to ask questions, so we really had no idea what we were getting in to.

Day 1

Tuk Tuk

We met at the main crossing at 09:00 to get on our tuk tuk that would bring us to the start point. Here we met our group for the first time. Christina from Catelonia, and Claude and Aline from France. Before long Christina asked if we knew what the plan was for the trek. We both shrugged and explained what happened the night before. Christine laughed and explained that we were going to villages deep in the jungle. The first, a Khamu village with no electricity or water, the second, an Akha village, had a rudimentary water supply and electricity, but no toilets. While a little apprehensive we were mostly excited, this was exactly the adventure we were looking for. However, for various reasons, it would prove to be much more of an adventure than we expected.

Unfortunately Aline wasn’t feeling well and decided to stay at a guesthouse on the way to the start of the trek. She would join the trek the next day when she felt better.

We drove in the tuk tuk for about an hour, on the way Buon Ma stopped to collect the food and water needed for our trip. The real trekking began when we left the tuk tuk and the paved road. This would be the last time we saw “civilization” until we returned in two days.

Jungle Lunch

We trekked for maybe two hours before Boun Ma stopped and proposed we have lunch. We were still on a narrow trail and somewhat stooped over due to the light jungle around us, so we weren’t sure how we could eat lunch in the limited space available. Boun Ma started cutting small leafy branches and laying them on the ground. Before long we had makeshift lunch table on the jungle floor.

We were all very nervous about eating the salad as water that is used to wash salad is likely to be contaminated. It was delicious but the thought of getting a stomach bug in the deep jungle was looming in the backs of our minds. Some of us even elected to leave the salad completely.

Khamu Village

The remainder of the trekking for the day was mostly on a dirt road that an NGO had built for the villages some time ago (landslides had made the road useless for vehicles). As we were on a more open trail, the lack of tree coverage made the heat from the sun hard to avoid. It was another sweaty and exhausting two hours before we arrived at our first village. This village belonged to a Khamu tribe.

Boun Ma explained to us a little about the culture of this tribe and the others in the area. These tribes are all animist. Animism is the religious belief that objects, places and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. He explained that they view twins as evil spirits and therefore when twins arrive in the tribe one must be removed. Until recently this meant bringing one to the woods and killing it, but due to intervention from the government they no longer kill one but instead trade it with another tribe. Boun Ma also explained that they see tourists very rarely, we were only the sixth ever group to visit this tribe with Boun Ma.

We were staying in the house of the chief of the village. The house consisted of two rooms, one on top of the other. Most houses in the village were just one room, but perhaps because it was the chief’s house, it was bigger. The lower room was the living area. The ground was a sort of hard mud / stone floor. One one side of the room was an open fire with no chimney. Surrounding this was a series of shelves and hooks to hold various foods and ingredients for cooking. Directly above the fire was a rack where things would be smoked. Including rice baskets that were smoked to prevent insects from eating them. The middle of the room was a low table which we used to leave our bags, but we discovered later it doubled as a bed / seating area. When we arrived it was just the chiefs wife who didn’t speak any Lao, just the tribes language. Boun Ma left us to go find the chief who spoke Lao. We sat and talked and watched as the wife prepared rice for our meal.

The upper room was the sleeping area, bedrolls were laid out side by side on the floor, everyone slept beside each other. Although there was a separate area where the family would sleep while we visited.

When Boun Ma returned he brought us around the village for a look. He explained to us that it is said that the stock of wood outside a house represents the worthiness of the woman of the house as a wife. A badly stocked wood pile is a sign of laziness apparently.

After that we had dinner. This consisted of bowls of rice served with various vegetables and noodles that Boun Ma had brought with him. It was all served on a low tin table that we sat around.

It wasn’t long after dinner before it was dark. Thankfully they had a small light connected to a battery which they charged with a solar panel, so it wasn’t a complete blackout, but all the same, we decided to go to bed. Upon entering the bedroom we saw a rat scurry away. Then we noticed that the bed rolls were filthy and covered in bits of food. Mirjam and I decided to put the cleanest blanket on top and sleep with all our clothes on. We barely slept that night night between the cold and the sound of rats clawing.

Day 2

I was delighted to see some light peeping through the wooden panels in our room, finally I could get up and stop pretending to sleep. Apparently the lack of sleep affected my coordination as I fell down the stairs on the way down. Although quite shocking, I didn’t injure myself. However the reaction from the family was quite interesting. After first checking if I was ok, we all laughed together. Quite a normal reaction, but it proved to be the first true interaction we had, for a moment, we were all the same.

Boun Ma prepared and we ate breakfast before we continued on our trek. The trek would take us through much denser jungle to a small village where we would have lunch. Later we would take a tuk tuk to a river from where we would continue to our last village.

A Rice Wine or Four

After somewhat difficult trekking through the jungle, especially for Boun Ma as he was clearing the way for us, we arrived at a small village where Boun Ma had arranged for us to have lunch. We ate rice, noodles, pickled papaya and mango. We were also offered rice wine, as is tradition. On our third glass of rice wine we were informed of another tradition, you cannot drink an odd number of glasses of rice wine, which meant that another glass was compulsory! After lunch we were offered to buy some of the local craft-work. Mirjam bought a woven bracelet for 10,000 kip.

La Réunion

During the hike Boun Ma continually tried to contact Aline to see if she was better and could join the hike but the very patchy signal made this very difficult. Eventually he got in touch and arranged to pick her up.

For a part of our hike Bun Ma had arranged for a tuk tuk to bring us part of the way by road. However, when we arrived at the road there was no tuk tuk. Boun Ma arranged a motorbike to bring us one by one. It took a while but eventually we all arrived to a river beside a small farm. We waited here while Boun Ma went to collect Aline. It was nice to rest for a while and watch the dragon flies compete for territory over the river.

Before long Boun Ma arrived with Aline. After purchasing some fresh vegetables directly from the farm beside the river we continued our trek. One by one we crossed the foot bridge across the river.

The remainder of our hike was much more pleasurable. We walked along mountain rice fields and through relatively open but covered jungle trails. The addition of Aline to our group also brought new energy. We were all in high moods. We were also spurred on by the prospect of having a shower at the Akha village as Boun Ma had promised. Christina regularly reminded him of this promise on the way. It didn’t feel like long before we arrived at the village.

Akha Village

While watching over the village Boun Ma explained that although this village had electricity and water they appeared in some ways to be underdeveloped. Their houses were smaller and less well maintained. He explained that this was due to rampant opium addiction. Although it has been outlawed in Laos, villages like this maintain a long tradition of Opium production and consumption.

Upon entering the village Boun Ma pointed to a tap that was in the open and said, “There is the shower”. Christina laughed, assuming he was joking. He was not. Disappointed, but determined to be clean, I resolved to clean myself anyway. After a brief introduction with the our host, an ex-soldier who could speak Lao, he pointed us to the appropriate tap to clean ourselves. However, we did not expect this to turn into a spectators event. Apparently this piqued the locals curiosity. By the time we had arrived at the tap we were accompanied by a group of 20 or so onlookers. Still determined to remove two days worth of trekking filth, I decided I would just remove my top and clean what I could with my hands. Perhaps they were shocked by the whiteness of my skin or by its lack of tone and definition, but the moment I removed my top the locals raised their hands to their mouths and gasped. As you can imagine I cleaned myself very quickly to remove myself from this awkward situation as soon as possible.

The next hurdle of personal hygiene was to make a poo. I had been needing to go for some time and as there were no toilets here I decided to go before dark. Boun Ma had instructed us to go somewhere outside the village. As instructed I left the village and did my business. I was a little worried about leaving a mess so close to the village, but this was a short lived concern. I had barely finished when a pig came a long and cleaned up everything! I was a little concerned as I still had some stomach cramps afterwards, but I just chalked it up to all the hiking.

By the time we had tended to our personal needs it was dark so we had little time to explore the village. Luckily they had electricity so we could gather in the small house and talk as Boun Ma prepared our food. Our host, whom I will call Chief, was very curious; asking questions about where we were from and what we did. I spent a lot of time pointing at google maps, showing where we had been.

The house itself was completely wooden and consisted of one big room. A raised wooden platform on the left side was the sleeping and relaxing area. It was split into two main areas. The first had a large TV stand with a very old CRT television on it. The rest was somewhat hidden from view but seemed to be a sleeping area. A table beside where the man of the house was sitting when we arrived had a little plastic bag filled with tobbaco and a large smoking pipe. The large smoking pipe was used for smoking opium. As we sat in the house some kids had gathered at the door, curious to see what these aliens were doing in their town.

A Night To Remember

After dinner Boun Ma arranged for two of us to sleep in the house of Chief’s son, as there was only room for three in the house we were in. As Mirjam and I were the only couple it made sense that we were the ones to go.

The other house was much the same but all the floor was wooden. To our relief the bedding was much cleaner than the last village. We slept right beside the other family, with just a shelf separating us. Which, although not much, provided enough privacy to make us feel comfortable.

By the time we had settled into bed my stomach cramps had gotten worse, previously I had assumed it was just an upset stomach but it was beginning to become apparent that it was something more sinister. Under normal circumstances this wouldn’t be a big deal, but given that our toilet paper supply was alarmingly low and that we were a 5 hour hike from a toilet, panic was beginning to set in.

After another meeting with the pigs at the edge of the village in the middle of the night, my toilet paper supply had all but been depleted. By the time I had lay in bed again the cramps had returned. Occasionally, while lying and desperately holding myself together to prevent an unfortunate accident, I would let my mind ponder the absurdity of the situation I was in; hours into the jungle in a small opium village, sleeping beside a local family, desperately trying not to shit myself. What an ambassador of the western world I would be, if I was to fail.

The absurdity of the situation came to a head at about 02:00. The sound of a motorbike and lights outside awoke Mirjam (I was already awake). The door opened and the son walked in, a gun in one hand and some animal hanging from his other hand. Mirjam turned to me and whispered, “This is an unbelievable experience”. “Indeed”, I said, but for entirely different reasons. Once the son had settled himself, which included taking a few large pulls from his pipe, I went outside to visit the pigs one last time. The toilet paper was finished.

At around 0500, not long before sunrise, my stomach decided that it needed to be emptied, even if I wasn’t allowing it. I barely made it out of the house before vomiting. I decided to wait outside until sunrise, it seemed easier than moving back and forth to the bed. I am sure they were wondering why I was getting up so often during the night, but when his wife awoke about 30 minutes later and saw me get sick again, there was no more wondering. She came to me and pointed at her stomach. I knew she understood. I shrugged as if to say “what can you do?”.

Day 3

Stomach Rumble in The Jungle

I had hoped that when I informed Boun Ma of my condition that he would arrange for me to be taken by motorbike somehow, but when I told him he either didn’t understand or decided it was best to just hike. I stood for a while outside and anticipated the trek that lay ahead.

In the daylight we had a better chance to explore the town.

I decided to skip breakfast due to my stomach problems. Boun Ma tried to insist, saying that I needed the energy to hike. This confirmed my suspicion that he didn’t understand my condition. After breakfast we left on our final hike back home. Chief was coming with us. Boun Ma was familiar with part of the hike so Chief was coming to show the way.

Near the beginning of the hike Chief decided to make us all walking sticks. By the time we had caught up to him, he had split a large bamboo tree into five pieces and trimmed the edges. He moved through the trail freely, no signs of labor or difficulty in his movement. The tree roots and rocks as familiar to him as finding a light switch in the dark. He seemed to relish the opportunity to spend time in the jungle he loved.

From very near the start of the trek I struggled, the stomach cramps were intense and this slowed me down. The others could see that I was sweating profusely and so offered me their water. Every time Boun Ma stopped to allow the group a break, he continued as soon as I caught up. At one point we stopped for a while longer so I had a chance to rest. Chief looked at me and saw that I was in pain. I pointed to my stomach and made a vomiting gesture. I believe this was the first time he understood. He immediately pointed to my bag, he took it from me and carried it for the rest of the trip. From that point forward he always waited behind everyone else until Mirjam and I caught up (I had to stop frequently to gather myself).

We arrived at some rice fields after a while. This meant that the cover from the jungle was gone and the heat was very intense. My stomach cramps at this point were unbearable, I couldn’t hold it any longer. Boun Ma had enough toilet paper for one bowel evacuation. I had held it for as long as possible as I knew I had only one chance.

I turned to Mirjam and said, “I can’t wait, I have to do it now”. I was hoping for a more private place, which would have been anywhere in the jungle, but of course now we were in the middle of an open rice field on a hill, where there were some locals working. I waddled to the only cover available, a meter high plant just beyond the crest of a hill. Mirjam stood beside me with the toilet paper ready. That’s true love.

Without going into the gorey details I will leave you with the following facts. My legs were weak, my ability to squat for a long time is not good and I barely had enough toilet paper. I can only imagine what it was like from Mirjam’s perspective.

Just as I was about to pull my pants up I looked to the top of the hill. There stood a woman who had been working on the field. I had failed in my job as ambassador to the western people. I am sure she is still wondering what that white giant was doing with his pants down in their rice field.

Although I was still not well, the releif gave me the energy to complete the rest of the hike. After another hour we made it to the last village. There we drank our fill and filled our bottles. We only had a 30 minute downhill walk to the road. For this last stretch, I guess because we had re-hydrated and we felt we had made it, spirits were much better.

The tuk tuk drove us another hour to a restaurant where we had some food.

The trek was over and even though I was still sick, I felt amazing.