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  • Day 162

    Next stop: Kayaking in Luang Namtha

    March 19, 2018 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After yesterday’s transfer from Huay Xai, we stayed on the main street and looked for a travel agency that would offer a 2-day kayak excursion into the Nam Ha National Park. We found one after 5 minutes and were convinced by their eco tourism concept - they support local guides with higher salaries and also share proceeds with the minority villages in the area by bringing tourists in for the night and dinner.

    The trip started off well with our two guides Thui (48) and Wath (21). Both were really funny and the young Wath spoke exceptionally well English. Before even starting the official tour, we went to Lao’s first-ever festival of minority people where some ~25 of the 49 minorities exhibited their traditional clothes, food, etc. It was so much fun to go there - and be the only tourists as this was from Lao people for Lao people :-)

    We then took the tuk tuk for about an hour to the south into the Nam Ha National Park.

    We then transferred onto the river and were given a good farewell by a group of curious children who were enthusiastic goodbye wavers :-)

    The river was mostly calm and very beautiful. Anna sat in the front while Bertram steered in the back. We came to stop after 2.5 hours and made a jungle picnic. We even cooked soup in a bamboo and ate rattan (the stuff that furniture is made of), which is delicious if well cooked :-)

    After 2 more hours we arrived at a small village of the Khamu minorities where we would spend the night. After rest and yoga we visited the village and went around. The town is quite simple, but it features rice storage facilities, a school and the house of the village chief. Everybody smiled and treated us with joy. :-) We didn’t really have the ability to converse with the locals, but our guide Wath told us lots about village life. The villagers chose to become an eco tourism village, meaning they actively decided to be visited by tourists. Our guide Wath reported that he had previously asked villagers about whether they thought they made a good choice and whether they are still happy to be visited. Apparently they are, saying that the money they receive from sleepover tourists (like us) is shared amongst all villagers and has raised living standards. For example, they have set up a fund from the earnings and now provide “mini loans” to villagers and are also able to pay for better health care and school supplies.

    Dinner was again great - but for “dessert” we got a specialty: we sat with Thui and Wath by the fire when Wath got up to catch some frogs to barbecue :-) we both tried and they were quite tasty - no veganism in Laos 🇱🇦
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