River Runnin' on the Nam Ha River

Hi folks-

We got back last night from a great couple of days in Nam Ha National Protected Area. We managed to scrounge up a group (OK, more like we were scrounged ourselves) big enough to make the cost of this guided trip really reasonable. There were 8 of us; Sarah and I, a pair from Quebec, a guy from Poland, a girl from Sweden, and a pair from England (well, one of them was technically from the Isle of Man, but that's close enough to England). The hardest accent of the entire group to understand was the guy from Northeast England. =)




Northern Laos


We loaded up into a truck and drove about 20 kilometers out of town, where we were dropped off on the side of the road by a small village. The people living here are Lenten, an ethnic group that emigrated to the areas from Yunnan China a few hundred years ago. It was your typical third world village scene; chickens, naked children, thatched huts, dogs, and cattle. An old woman (at least I'm assuming she was old -- village life is pretty hard on a body) was making paper out of bamboo pulp, so that was neat. From there we hiked up the mountain side, passing through hillsides of slash and burn agriculture -- some fairly fresh, with charred trunks of trees still littering the fields. The main crops up in the hills seem to be corn, cotton, indigo, and various fruit or sap producing trees.


Bamboo paper making, Khmu village, Laos

We slowly left behind the farmed hillsides and entered into secondary forest filled with bamboo and tall but skinny trees. Bird life in here was vocal but very obviously hidden. The hike continued steadily upward for a few hours until we reached the ridge (and older forest). Here the guides set out a Lao lunch feast, all laid out on banana leaves cut from the jungle. Everyone got a packet of sticky rice wrapped in a banana leaf, and the meal was eaten with our hands from communal piles on the "table". There was an awesome salsa (the Lao know how to do spicy), a squash dish, steamed greens with ginger, and dried strips of water buffalo meat. It was an awesome meal! After doing the dishes (i.e. tossing the banana leaves back into the jungle), we continued down the other side of the ridge, eventually coming out of the jungle at a little village along the Nam Ha River and within the protected area. This was a Khmu village, whose ancestors hail from Cambodia. There weren't a lot of villagers living in the village, as they have been slowly been moving to a newer village established downstream where the Lao government built a school. All of the villages within the National Protected Area are in charge of managing their area, with the intention of somewhat sustainably living off the land without deforesting it and killing all the animals. They also benefit directly from visits like ours, since we spent the night in their "lodge" (bamboo hut). Part of our fees for the trek go directly to the village. We spent the afternoon swimming in the river and hanging out with the kids and pot-bellied pigs. I attempted some pathetically bad bird watching, but the real highlight of the evening was the dinner; a similar affair to the lunch but prepared by the villagers over the course of three hours. This great meal was followed by some lao lao (rice whiskey) shots handed out by the village chief. It actually tasted pretty good! Especially the fifth shot.... =)

A Lao lunch!





Sarah at our home for the night

We slept on the floor under mosquito nets and woke early. The villagers and livestock were awake and noisy by 5am, but the foreigners slept in; Sarah and I were the first up by 6am. Once again I attempted to birdwatch, but ended up very frustrated. I expected your typical difficult jungle birding, but wasn't prepared for seeing almost nothing at all (literally) for the whole first day and the next morning. Grrr.... I think part of the problem is the season. Birds are really hunkered down on nests or singing from deep in the brush.


Lenten children, Laos




After breakfast we bid farewell to the villagers and headed off downstream in the kayaks. The water was fantastic -- easy kayaking along a beautiful river. We stopped briefly at another Lenten village where we did a lot of standing around -- we're still not sure what that was about. My camera also decided to break, so I'll have to get a new one or get it fixed soon. Once back on the water, the forest quickly closed in, and for 15 kilometers we paddled through undisturbed jungle. The steep slopes of the surrounding mountains were covered in huge trees and amazing bamboo that climbed the tree trunks and then cascaded down in beautiful spills of greenery. Pretty fantastic. The water was pretty sedate -- there were quite a few small rapids, but nothing big. Sarah had a great time in her kayak. I could tell by the big grin on her face she was loving the ride. We swam a couple times in calm stretches. During the lunch break I finally ended up with a land leech on my foot! Sarah doesn't think these are nearly as big a deal as I do, but I was pleasantly surprised that there weren't many on our trek. Yuck!




Water Buffalo in the Nam Ha River


When we finally left the park, we landed at a village near a dirt road and took that back into town. It was great to get back and take a shower and wash some clothes in the sink. We drank a nice cold, big bottle of Beerlao with our dinner and celebrated our trip (and the fact that we don't live in villages like we visited....).




Our traveling companion, Gandalf the Pastel


I did end up seeing a few birds, such as a Besra (a hawk), Black-crested Bulbul, White-rumped Munia, Green-billed Malkoha, Blyth's Kingfisher, Marron Oriole, White-rumped Magpie, Little Spiderhunter, and Slaty-backed Forktail. That's literally about it. Beautiful, but not plentiful.


-Matt!