3 Day Trek in Xi Pian National Protected Area

So time for some adventure.

I (nath) had wanted to do a challenging trek whille on this trip to SE Asia, perferably in Laos as there seems to be less 'mass tourism treks' and the companies that offer them are often linked into financially supporting the communities travellers visit on the treks.

We'd struggled finding a company who did 3 days 2 night treks into the deep jungle during the wet season, even more so a company who already had interested travellers to fill out the numbers and therefore reduce the price of the trip per head.

In Pakse we struck gold. The first place we walked into had such a trek leaving the next day with 1 dutch couple already booked on it, and it was to the area which we had originally scoped out as the best place to trek in the south of Laos. The guide book had called it the 'hardest trek in Laos' and one company had told us that no-one runs treks to that area in the wet season as it's too difficult but we dismissed this and packed our bags..

Entering the national park on the back of a pick-up truk in the blazing sunshine was great. Lush green paddies and forests were cut by rivers and irrigation ditches and lots of children screamed a friendly 'Sabadee!' as the truck with 4 white faces drove past thier small villages.

The first day was the toughest. And it was also one of the most gruelling things either of us have put ourselves through. But overall I's say we 'enjoyed it', just. We cut our way through jungle routes that weren't so much 'paths' as uncontrolled forest with a vague route through. It was very hot, very humid and teeming with leeches. Much of the ground was wet from the previous days rain and much of the trails went through rivers and streams, presumeably dry most of the year, but up to our knees at the moment!

We trekked for about 7 hours before reaching our first stop Ta Ong Village. We collapsed into our 'community guesthouse' and felt instantly better with our shoes off and a cold pepsi down our gullets. (How is it that a village without electricity that is hours trek from a road have both Pepsi and Kareoke?). We were invited to eat at a village house after we had showered (albeit with well water and a plastic scoop) for a meal of steamed rice, fish stew and morning glory. The food was simple and fairly edible, perhaps apart from the fish stew which was a dark grey colour and smelt rather suspicious...).

The next day was thankfully easier. It had rained all night so it was more trekking through streams and swollen rice paddies, this time at time almost up to our waists. The 3 hour morning trek took us through more jungle and forest up to a stunning viewpoint where the horizon gave way to Cambodia. Beautiful. The afternoon saw us take a nice boat ride through the NPA although we saw almost no wildlife. The Lao seem to have almost hunted their animals and birds into extinction. Even in NPA's their numbers are amazingly low. It is so strange to walk for hours through protected jungle and ain forest hearing NO birds or animals. In fact some of the only animals we saw were a lizard and a snake. The locals in the village tried to catch the lizard, presumabely to eat it, and our guide proudly cut the snake's head off with his machette. The RSPCA and RSBP would love Laos. We spent the night in Kiet Nong Village, a short drive from our boat drop off point. The village was nearer the road and hence a little more 'developed' and seemed to have little in the way of traditional tribal village life.

The third day was a shorted affair originally we had a morning canoe trip to watch bird on the NPA wetland and then an aternoons trekking. A joint decision between us and the lovely dutch couple Michel and Katinka saw us ditch the trekking in favour of a trip back to Pakse and a massge. The canoe trip was a pleasent outting for Jen and our Dutch freinds but a living hell for me. The Canoes were so small and once sat inside their edges hovered around 2 inches above the water level. The young kids who pushed mine around the wet land hadn't mastered the balancing act quite as well as the other 'drivers' so I spent 2 uncomfortable hours trying at every step to re-balance the canoe for fear of falling overbaord into the smell, leech infested, marsh water. Good times.

Overall the trek was really good fun. We got really well with Michel and Katinka and enjoyed pushing ourselves a bit. The leeches and humidity did make it a tough trip but the views and hospitality we were shown throughout the area and in the villages which we stayed more than made up for it.

When we got back to Pakse the massage hurt more than the 7 hour trek anyway!

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Part of trip: South East Asia 2009

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