spicy journey among human tribes: Laos: Luang Nam Tha (Day 114-117)

SABAIDEE Laos!

After a long journey in a mini-van from Pai to Chiang-Khong (very curvy roads), we crossed the border without any difficulties. In not even an hour we were in Laos with our visa, withdrawn some KIP, get on a tuk-tuk to the bus station and bought our ticket to Luang Nam Tha (Northern Laos). Easy and AUTHENTIC start in Laos as we were only 4 'falangs' in the bus (meaning 'tourists' derived from first meaning which is 'French'). Indeed, the hundreds of other tourists went all on the same way, straight to Luang Prabang (we will go later) by boat. It is great to start off travelling in a country and not to have to enter in a big city, harder & busier to deal with. So here we were with Eric (French) and Miki (Australian), our first 2 travel buddys in North Laos. Indeed, when you travel in less touristy area, you soon realize that you follow the same people for a while. And it is an advantage when wanting to go trekking around Luang Nam Tha. So we were already 4. The town is not really charming but you know why you are here: trekking. In less than 2 hours, we had already done the round of guides and chosen a 3-day one near the China border staying in 2 different tribe villages: 'Black Tai' and 'Akha'. So here we were with 3 more people Karine (Swiss), James (English) and Ken (Canadian): a great team! Without forgetting Syvone and Peng, our guides - young and energetic... so that the pace during the trek was kind of rhythmic. Surrounded by stunning scenery during 3 days, we lived with the daylight - woken up with the roosters' and pigs' shouts and going to bed around 8.30 pm (very hard to fell asleep even though we had busy walking days). Great memories of playing petanque in the 'Black Tai' village with flashlights at dusk or showering in the river with 2 little girls that kept following us around and teaching us 'akha' language without reference to English. 'Lao Lao' alcohol has been part of the fun too (much stronger than the one in Pai, Thailand)!... It will be an unforgettable trek! And lucky we were as the rain started to pour down as soon as we were back to town and where we heard about the Japanese Earthquake...