The last two months have not been my most active ones I confess. Sloth and Gluttony have been my partners in crime. I have slept until noon more often than not, and I have indulged in everything good food-wise I have encountered. However, Tuesday everything changed. I had signed up for a two day trek into the Lao jungle, with somethings what's called a "homestay". Which is that you spend the night a small village, and live like they do.
8.20 in the morning me and my group gathered at the meeting point in town from where we then head off in tuk-tuk together with several others going off to other adventures. After driving around in Luang Prabang for a while figuring out who is going where we finally left town and after about half an hour we got dropped off not far from the Elephant Village. After a boat takes us across the river we set off on our trek. We are a group of six; me, a German couple, a french couple and our guide. We wander through some amazing settings. Lao-style, tiny rice fields, jungle, and teak forests. Much of the walk involves climbing steep rocky paths, which of course make you pant like you just run a marathon. Our first stop is in a Khmu Village, one of Laos's ethnic tribes. We rest and drink some water before we explore the village. Here cows, pigs and chicken walk around freely and mingle with the kids and dogs. The children all wave to us and says hello, or "Sabaidee". After some more walking we eat lunch in another village, this one a Hmong village. Its a rather odd experience. Around the tables have the women already prepared some stalls hoping to sell their handicrafts to the tourists (us). We sit down to eat, surrounded by kids and animals and hopeful women, with a chanting shaman in the background. Our lunch is fried rice, prepared in Luang Prabang but packed in banana leafs, keeping it hot and fresh. Quite amazing.
After lunch we walk another 2.5 hour before we arrive to another Khmu village, our home for the night. THis village is the largest yet, with 75 families with an average of 7 children. They have a primary school for the small children, but the older kids have to walk an hour to theirs. The villages are truly basic. The houses are of wood or bamboo, the ground is hard dirt and animals run around freely. They have generators, apparently on or two families actually have TV. School is over for the day but outside the kids are playing football together with another couple of tourists. The kids have so much energy and I want to join, but having a broken toe and being exhausted from the day stopped me from it. The rest of the day is spent playing with the kids, eating sticky rice and hanging out around the campfire.
Having slept surprisingly good I wake up the day after, eat breakfast and we set off again. Compared to yesterday today's trek was a walk in the park. I compare our trek to Lord of the Rings, a bunch of random people walking through spectacular nature. I soon assume the role as both Merry and Pippin as I manage to hit my head in tree and then only 5 minutes later slip on a bamboo bridge and almost falling into the water.
The afternoon is spent relaxing at Tad Sae Waterfall, a perfect activity when one have walked all morning.
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