Treck in Luang Nam Tha National Protected Area
We leave in the morning, as the clouds fill every inch of the sky and I wonder to myself, whether it was a good idea to go: given my yet unrecovered cold. After a ride in a tuk tuk (mini truck), I come out into the sunshine and completely blue sky; the sun has broken through as it did every day here since I've arrived.
I walk trough a village full of local Lantel tribe ... a few women here are making parts of the roof for a new house; they string a bunch of leaves together from a specific tree in the forest. We continue through the fields and into the forest. After an hour of hiking, my nostrils seem to clear up ... the exercise is helping me.
As I walk through the forest, I feel the ever slightest wind on my hands: it feels soft as it passes me by and I enjoy the moment.
As I walk along the path, I hear the birds singing ... and as I listen in closer, their singing becomes louder and louder with more and more birds joining in: they sing beautiful songs and I enjoy the moment.
As I walk through the forest, I smell many wonderful plants and flowers, I sense the moisture and I enjoy this moment.
As I walk through the woods, I see little lizards camouflaged in the leaves and spiders hiding in their nicely nit webs; I enjoy these moments.
As I walk through the forest, I live and enjoy every moment.
Not long after, we enter the deep forest; in a blink of an eye, everything turns larger ... the trees become massive, like sky scrapers, they hide away the blue sky. The plants become more wilder and the cliffs become more steep, the colours become darker and we pause to take it all in, as our senses jump out of control. We walk along a narrow paths along the cliffs and enjoy the beauty of this majestic forest. As we walk through the deep forest, our guide finds us and informs us of the many plants and their uses for consumption or medication. We pause by what is called an "elephant plant", whose roots, we are informed, are used to treat malaria: typically 1 week is enough to cure it.
We walk up and down the mountains, as magnificent views present themselves to us, like blossoming flowers in the spring; we enjoy every one. We pause every once in a while and during the breaks our guide distributes some "Dynamite" candy; and I ponder to myself why he keeps offering those to us ... my best guess is for a little energy boost with a finishing touch of some chocolate inside them. It is now mid-afternoon and we have arrived in local tribe village, hidden well inside the park and conveniently situated by a river. This will be our stop for the night.
I waste no time, I leave my bags and go for a walk around the village. The people here have well adapted to tourists and all welcome me to take their picture, as I ask for permission every time. Life for the living is very dynamic in this village; I see chickens and running around randomly with their chicks; I see roosters walking around and announcing their presence. I observe pigs of all sizes wonder around and shy away from me. I observes dogs relax freely in the sun, a few little puppies chance the chickens and some angry dogs barking as I approach; I pity the angry ones, for they have been mistreated and now live an angry life. I stop to observe a woman and a child crushing rice with long and powerful pieces of wood, as they interchange their movement, fisting the stick up and down into the stone container for the rice. I observe a little girl, practicing being a mother as she carries a little kid on her back around the village ... I stop them for a picture; they look into the camera with their big eyes as I snap the picture. I say hello to everyone I pass by, and they reply not bothered by my presence. I avoid the barking dogs and go to the only school in the village.
At the school, there are 3 classrooms and about 5 grades; only Lao language and math are being taught here; there is a special class for self study: here you choose to study what you like from the small selection of material available to me. I leave a couple of books for learning English with the teacher. As I peak into the classroom, the brave kids wave and say hello; as I reply, a few more are glad to join in. They smile and some even joke around, I also joke with them in an international language of sounds and facial expressions. One brave kid, perhaps the popular kid in the class, smirks at me and makes gestures that I interpret as unfriendly. In a neighbouring classroom girls are singing ... I am told they are singing a song about the end of school day. And sure enough, somebody hits the metal drum and school is over. Out of nowhere they appear, they run out screaming and joyful from all possible exits. As they rush home, I walk back to our guesthouse on the river; on my mind, I look forward to learning fishing with a net: traditional way.
(To Be Continued)
I walk trough a village full of local Lantel tribe ... a few women here are making parts of the roof for a new house; they string a bunch of leaves together from a specific tree in the forest. We continue through the fields and into the forest. After an hour of hiking, my nostrils seem to clear up ... the exercise is helping me.
As I walk through the forest, I feel the ever slightest wind on my hands: it feels soft as it passes me by and I enjoy the moment.
As I walk along the path, I hear the birds singing ... and as I listen in closer, their singing becomes louder and louder with more and more birds joining in: they sing beautiful songs and I enjoy the moment.
As I walk through the forest, I smell many wonderful plants and flowers, I sense the moisture and I enjoy this moment.
As I walk through the woods, I see little lizards camouflaged in the leaves and spiders hiding in their nicely nit webs; I enjoy these moments.
As I walk through the forest, I live and enjoy every moment.
Not long after, we enter the deep forest; in a blink of an eye, everything turns larger ... the trees become massive, like sky scrapers, they hide away the blue sky. The plants become more wilder and the cliffs become more steep, the colours become darker and we pause to take it all in, as our senses jump out of control. We walk along a narrow paths along the cliffs and enjoy the beauty of this majestic forest. As we walk through the deep forest, our guide finds us and informs us of the many plants and their uses for consumption or medication. We pause by what is called an "elephant plant", whose roots, we are informed, are used to treat malaria: typically 1 week is enough to cure it.
We walk up and down the mountains, as magnificent views present themselves to us, like blossoming flowers in the spring; we enjoy every one. We pause every once in a while and during the breaks our guide distributes some "Dynamite" candy; and I ponder to myself why he keeps offering those to us ... my best guess is for a little energy boost with a finishing touch of some chocolate inside them. It is now mid-afternoon and we have arrived in local tribe village, hidden well inside the park and conveniently situated by a river. This will be our stop for the night.
I waste no time, I leave my bags and go for a walk around the village. The people here have well adapted to tourists and all welcome me to take their picture, as I ask for permission every time. Life for the living is very dynamic in this village; I see chickens and running around randomly with their chicks; I see roosters walking around and announcing their presence. I observe pigs of all sizes wonder around and shy away from me. I observes dogs relax freely in the sun, a few little puppies chance the chickens and some angry dogs barking as I approach; I pity the angry ones, for they have been mistreated and now live an angry life. I stop to observe a woman and a child crushing rice with long and powerful pieces of wood, as they interchange their movement, fisting the stick up and down into the stone container for the rice. I observe a little girl, practicing being a mother as she carries a little kid on her back around the village ... I stop them for a picture; they look into the camera with their big eyes as I snap the picture. I say hello to everyone I pass by, and they reply not bothered by my presence. I avoid the barking dogs and go to the only school in the village.
At the school, there are 3 classrooms and about 5 grades; only Lao language and math are being taught here; there is a special class for self study: here you choose to study what you like from the small selection of material available to me. I leave a couple of books for learning English with the teacher. As I peak into the classroom, the brave kids wave and say hello; as I reply, a few more are glad to join in. They smile and some even joke around, I also joke with them in an international language of sounds and facial expressions. One brave kid, perhaps the popular kid in the class, smirks at me and makes gestures that I interpret as unfriendly. In a neighbouring classroom girls are singing ... I am told they are singing a song about the end of school day. And sure enough, somebody hits the metal drum and school is over. Out of nowhere they appear, they run out screaming and joyful from all possible exits. As they rush home, I walk back to our guesthouse on the river; on my mind, I look forward to learning fishing with a net: traditional way.
(To Be Continued)
posted by Alex Pilchin at 5:08 AM
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