Though jungle treks have been popular in northern Thailand for decades, similar adventures in Laos are just starting to get popular.
Justine Vaisutis, Lonely Planet travel guidebook writer, published a brief article.
In a pocket of the world renowned for package holidays, shoestring extravagance and faux bling, Laos remains an unadulterated enigma. It’s the ideal asylum for fugitives from urban routine, with the majestic curves of Luang Nam Tha Province offering the best refuge of all.
Hemmed in by the mighty Mekong to the west and China’s great girth to the north, this province devotes almost a third of its ground cover to the Nam Ha National Protected Area — 550,000 acres of untamed forest.
The jungle, mountains, waterfalls, rivers and lofty plateaus in this conservation area, coupled with the culture of some 30 ethnic groups, created the ideal canvas for hiking, which in this densely forested region translates to “eco-trekking” — one of those phrases often hijacked by wily sharks with eyes for the tourist trends and appetites for commerce. …
I’m joined by seven fellow trekkers on my two-day escapade. Our destination is Ban Nam Lai, a small Akha village tucked high in the folds of a mountain. The Akha are woodsmen, and their affinity with the forest is legendary. Our multilingual guides each lead a trek once a month, sharing the vocation with 30 others, a number that ensures the tourist wealth is evenly spread and that no one discards his or her traditional source of income….
The progress and the crowds are inevitable, but we have a quiet faith that Nam Ha is destined for years of preservation yet.
Trek though jungles, mountains of Laos
source – Flickr – Mat Honan
(via Two-Heel Drive)
Back in the 1970s I collected patches from my travels. Sewed them on to my old backpack travelling Europe.
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