The Akha Experience

---

Day 351: Monday 15th June - The bus breaks down on the way to Luang Namtha

If one day could sum up why I love Laos this would be it. Nothing spectacular happens, but in Laos that doesn’t matter. Day to day life in this most laid back and relaxing of countries is interesting enough on its own. As I wait in the tiny village of Ban Donchai for the bus to pass, I am treated to various antiquated tractors, stripped down to their engine driving past at a fraction above walking pace. Then a group of young monks, dressed in saffron robes cycle past and take an interest in the farang (tourist) sat waiting for a bus in the most unlikely of places. The bus arrives at a little after 2pm, my luggage is strapped to the top and I enjoy the next hour and a half’s journey as we pass some beautiful scenery. Northern Laos is much like northern Thailand, mountainous and covered in thick, lush forest.

The journey is interrupted when thick black smoke starts to appear from under the bus. We pull to a stop in a village as remote as Ban Donchai. It has one shop, which sells the odd mix of Soya milk, washing powder and nails! For the next 3 hours the driver attempts to fix the problem but gets no closer at solving it. There are three other travellers on the bus with me; Shaoul from Israel and Beth and Tamsin, identical twins from Bedfordshire. Myself and the girls are adjusted to Laos time and its unhurried way. Shaoul though, despite having more time than any of us, isn’t happy with waiting around. This is Laos, replacement buses don’t appear in a short while like they would in the developed world. No point worrying, might as well relax by the river. Some time, probably not soon the situation will be resolved.

The solution is that the driver calls his brother in Luang Namtha, who appears at 6:30pm with a truck with an open trailer which we all climb into the back of. This is better than riding on a bus as we continue to pass some beautiful scenery. We can’t have been going half an hour before we stop in another small village, and the driver unannounced stops for 45 minutes for some food. Before the four of us realise what is going on it is too late to order some food for ourselves and we’re on our way again. The remainder of the journey is in the dark which obscures the view, but the way is lit by hundreds of fireflies, which is cool.

We arrive in Luang Namtha at 9pm, about 4 hours later than we should, but the journey has been fun. I love Laos, so relaxed, probably more so than any country I’ve been to, and you never know what you’re going to get next, Laos doesn’t do predictability. The four of us share a room to cut costs and finish an eventful day with dinner and a Beer Lao. We’re turfed out of the restaurant at 11pm, which seems to be the time everything closes in this country.

Day 352: Tuesday 16th June - On to Muang Sing

Shaoul opts to stay in Luang Namtha, whereas myself and the two girls continue on to Muang Sing. Both towns are renowned for their hill-tribe treks which is why all of us have ventured up to the extremes of northern Laos, but Muang Sing sounds like it is in the more beautiful location of the two. It takes an hour and a half to reach Muang Sing despite being only 60km away. The road is bumpy and twists its way around mountains and lush hillsides. We arrive in Muang Sing, a mountainous border town tucked up against the Chinese border at lunchtime. I share a room with the girls to save money again. They are nice girls, and despite their young age - they’re only 18 - they have travelled extensively and have packed a lot in to their lives already. They are really interesting to talk to and like most 18 year olds, a lot of fun too.

We spend the afternoon organising a trek. There aren’t many tourists in town, and you need a minimum of two people to do a trek so I’m fortunate that I met the girls yesterday, otherwise I don’t think I would have been able to do a trek. The twins only have two days here so that limits us to a two day/one night trek. I had originally thought about doing a three day trek, but I’m now feeling that even with three of us it is quite expensive, so I wonder if walking around the area independently would be a better option. After much deliberating between a couple of agencies, and various hill-tribe treks we decide on a two day Akha hill tribe trek. The agency we go with, Exotissimo is the most expensive but it sounds and feels like it is the best option from an ecotourism point of view. A significant portion of the money goes directly to the Akha villagers and it feels like our visit will count, and the extra 10 pounds is nothing to us. A further factor which influences me is that when I was on the Chiang Mai cookery course, I met a couple who’d done the 3 day trek with the same agency and they recommended it.

The girls go for a massage, and Tamsin later gets a herbal sauna whilst me and Beth chat over dinner in the restaurant. The restaurant overlooks rice paddies which stretch as far as the mountainous horizon. Great location, good company but terrible food. I try Laap, Laos’ signature dish. It is a spicy salad of Buffalo mixed with fish sauce, shallots, mint, lime juice and lots of chillies. Whether it is the buffalo or the chef went overboard on the fish sauce I can’t make out, but it is really salty. We finish the evening with a lemon Lao Lao. Lao Lao is rice whiskey, and along with Beer Lao, the national drink.

Day 353: Wednesday 17th June - Getting wet on the way to visit Akha hill tribes

It is pouring down when we depart from Muang Sing on the hill tribe trek. The girls are the most unlikely trekkers I’ve ever seen. Sandals rather than walking trainers or boots, and umbrellas instead of any waterproof gear. When we get dropped off to start walking, the weather has thankfully cleared up. Once we get up into the Nam Ha protected area, the views to the plains below, a hundred shades of green dotted with rice paddies and surrounded by mountains is beautiful. Early on in the trek we walk through some sharp grasses which get stuck in my socks and lower legs and a really annoying and it’s a painstaking job trying to pick them out. After a short while it starts raining once more, thankfully a short shower rather than anything else. It is slippy under foot after the rain, and I think everyone falls over a couple of times on the way down to Keo Noi waterfall, where we have lunch.

At the waterfall we enjoy a traditionally prepared Akha meal on banana leaf, which two Akha women have prepared. As we are eating an almighty downpour starts and it is clear that we are going to have to start walking in the rain. Walking in the jungle in the rain isn’t my favourite pastime at the moment. Been there, done that...etc etc. After a short while we have to cross a stream, which means getting my feet wet which doesn’t help my mood, and then to make matters worse, I’m walking with some incredibly slow walkers. It’s not just the girls but the two guides, Si (from the Thai Lu hill tribe) and Nalung (who is Akha) are equally as slow. I just want to get out of the rain and into shelter as quickly as possible, but I keep having to stop, stand in the rain for 5-10 minutes and wait for the others to catch up. Frustrated, I start to think whether it is worth it. I know I’m going to have wet clothes to change into from the wet ones I’m wearing at the moment and the last thing I wanted to be doing is trekking in the jungle again as I’ve done that many times in the last couple of months. In addition, I signed up for a hill tribe trek, and the contact with hill tribe people so far has been minimal. Trekking in Southeast Asia just doesn’t reach the heights of South America and New Zealand, which have a wider variety of scenery. But then I‘m in a strop.....think positive not negative.

Finally after two hours of torrential rain, it starts to clear and the sun reappears. Three of us get stung by a wasp or hornet which attacks us without being provoked. The sting hurts several times more than its European cousins. Once we get out of the forest and can once again see across the plains and towards the mountains my mood improves no end. Muang Sing may not be that much to look at, but the surrounding area is stunning. My walking companions still can’t manage to keep up and the girls and boys seem more interested in messing around than actually walking - typical teenagers. The girls are cutting pathetic figures struggling with the terrain and lo and behold the two boys are very interested to help out. I can’t be bothered with it and walk on alone to Ban Lao Khao, where we are to spend the night. I arrive about half an hour before the others and in the late afternoon sun I fall asleep resting against a rock in the middle of the village like some Wild West villain.

While waiting for dinner we tour the village and the guides tell us about the traditional wooden Akha houses. We see several villagers dressed in traditional Akha dress and come across half the village semi naked in the river getting washed. We share dinner with several of the villagers in a specially built lodge which has some of the western creature comforts like electricity, hot water and a western style toilet. After dinner, during which we learn more about the Akha people, the villagers sing some Akha songs and then a bottle of Lao Lao appears. Si says it is 80% strength, but I’m guessing it’s no more than 40% after the first glass. Strangely with each subsequent glass it gets stronger and stronger, especially when we near the bottom of the bottle. Everyone joins in, the Akha people seem as happy to be with us as we are with them and it’s a really good evening. The only point at which I’m uncomfortable is when the three of us are asked to buy a second bottle. We can hardly decline as we’re asked in front of everyone, and I suppose it is only the equivalent of 25 pence each for the bottle. The second bottle doesn’t disappoint, being stronger than the first. This could be in the region of 80%. As the evening wears on we lose Si as a victim to Lao Lao, when he starts drivelling on incoherently!! We end the evening tipsy and with a Lao massage.

Day 354: Thursday 18th June - Planting rice, riding a buffalo and walking amongst rice paddies

That Lao Lao must have been stronger than I thought as I wake feeling the effects of last night. A couple of the villagers are already in the lodge busily preparing breakfast. As we eat, Si tells us more about the Akha culture. Strangely, the Akha people believe that twins are superstitious, and that one of the twins is a ‘ghost child’. I wish I understood the Akha language last night as the girls were introduced to the villagers as being twins.

We finally get under way at 10am, and as we leave Ban Lao Khao a man is riding a buffalo through town. The guides ask if we can ride it and he obliges and we get on and pose for pictures on the huge beast. Leaving the town, we initially walk through the rice paddies, which is tricky as you try to keep balance on the narrow mud walls that separate the fields which are flooded with water. We are asked if we would like to ask the villagers with their rice planting, which of course we would, so we take off our footwear and wade in to the muddy water bare-footed. The contrast in the speed it takes the villagers and us tourists to plant the rice couldn’t be starker. They must be at least three times our speed, as we fumble to plant the rice in the muddy water.

We leave the rice planters and continue on to Ban Phoe Yae. It is a two hour walk, the initial part continues through the rice paddies. The other four continue their ridiculously slow pace of yesterday, so I forge ahead before having to wait for them as I’m unsure of the way. At least when they catch up, the girls have finally realised that they are going to have to pick up the pace if they are going to make it back in time for the bus to Luang Namtha and the two boys have started taking their guiding a bit more seriously. In Ban Phoe Yae we stop to see the art of cotton weaving. The three of us have a go, but we’re hopeless, either we can’t keep the cotton spinning or we break the thread. It is much harder than it looks. We continue another half hour to Ban Huaynakang where we eat lunch and then finish the trek by walking a further half hour to Ban Eu La where transport is waiting to return us to Muang Sing.

The girls collect their bags and leave for the bus station to go to Luang Namtha, where they need to be tonight if they are going to connect on to an early morning bus. I am however going to stay a further night in Muang Sing as I don’t need to get back to Luang Namtha until lunchtime tomorrow. It was initially a lot of fun hanging out with the twins, they’re interesting and of course full of life as most 18 year olds are. However, after a few days together the age gap told. They started to get on my nerves a bit, and I probably did on theirs. Nevertheless, the 3 days we spent together was good fun, and it was nice to meet them and get to know them.

With the rest of the afternoon at my leisure, I try to get a bike to cycle to China! This may sound like an attempt at a superhuman feat, but Muang Sing is only 12km from the Chinese border. I think it would be cool to check it out, but for love or money I can’t rent a bike anywhere in this town. I’m told the ‘Tiger man’ is the only person who rents bikes, but his place is boarded up. I ask around, but no-one seems to want to part with their wheels in exchange for some tourist dollars, so I end up abandoning the idea and returning to the guesthouse. From late afternoon until I fall asleep approaching midnight I am forced to listen to the appalling sound of Lao’s pop music. Awful, awful, awful....it is enough to drive a man insane. I escape briefly to eat, and I try to get a herbal sauna but it is closed.

Day 355: Friday 19th June - In Laos there is no departure time

Surprise, surprise I get woken up at an ungodly hour by the inconsiderate buggers next door. At least it is just talking this time and not Laos music!! I don’t know if I can take anymore. I manage to get back to sleep for an hour or so and then I get up and wander along to the market. Despite a hive of activity, I’m not in the mood, so I check the bus times at the bus station across the street. 11am suits me best as I know there is a bus to Huayxai in Luang Namtha at 1:30pm. On the way back to the guesthouse, I check in the forlorn hope that the Tiger man is open so I can hire a bike to ride to the Chinese border. No joy, no surprise he’s shut.

It is an hour and a half to Luang Namtha in a cramped mini-bus. Four of us are crammed into a seat designed for three, and for good measure I have a man behind me invading my personal space. On arrival in Luang Namtha I discover that there are two bus stations, and the bus station for Huayxai is 10 km away and I will need to get a sawngthaew to get there. In a large city I can understand the need for more than one bus station, but in a medium-sized provincial town of around 50,000 people it is unnecessary surely?? This is a small inconvenience, but a bigger inconvenience is around the corner. Arriving at the bus station, despite the timetable informing me that there is indeed a bus at 1:30pm, I am told that it was full so it left 15 minutes ago at 12:30pm! Laos must be the only country in the world where buses depart early!! The afternoon bus is the second and last of the day to Huayxai, but I’m told there is a bus to Luang Prabang at 4pm which will stop at Huayxai. I can see no evidence of this bus on the timetable, and spend the 3 hour wait wondering if the guy was telling me that to avoid disappointing me further.

Following earlier instructions, I return to the bus station at 3pm, an hour ahead of the bus departure. As I arrive, the girl who spoke to me rushes out from the ticket office, waving her arms at a bus. I presume she is waving at the bus leaving the station, so I chase after it waving my arms wildly. There’s no way I’m going to catch it, I’m stuck in Luang Namtha for a night. However, she points at the bus next to me and I’m almost too overjoyed to notice all the sawngthaew drivers chuckling away at my act of desperation. The bus leaves as soon as I get aboard so clearly again in Lao there is no departure time.....when it’s full it goes. I feel very unwelcome as I board the bus. There are 4 men sat sprawled across a double seat to themselves, but not one offers to move across to make room. One is asleep in fairness, but another actively motions me to go away. I consider going to sit amongst all the building supplies which are taking up the back half of the bus (this is Laos!), but the driver comes to my aid and makes one of them move across. The bus has come from southern China, so I’m presuming it is full of Chinese as I’ve found the Lao people very friendly in my first week in the country. One guy behind me is being sick every 10 minutes, and the one next to me lights up a cigarette, whilst another talks at the top of his voice. Get me off this bus! The bus stops at the bus station 10km out of Huayxai. What is it with Laos bus stations in the middle of nowhere? Add 20,000kip (1 pound 50 pence) on to the cost of your bus journey for the sawngthaew you need at either end to get you to/from the town.

---