We had our hearts set on tramping, the purpose of the long trip North. Signing up for an 'ethnic tribe trek' for 4 days 3 nights sleeping in villagers homes, we didn't know what we were in for! This route has only been opened up in the last couple of years with an odd party coming through. Our guide spoke good English and a smattering of the various hill tribe dialects of the villages we visited. Fortunately a lot of the men spoke some Lao too so our guide could converse with them.
Accommodation was interesting. We slept in a smoky room with the family just through the bamboo thatch wall, eating off a low table on a mud floor with cats and dogs close to our elbows, waiting for any edible scap that might drop on the ground.
The society is patriachal. The men laze around a lot while the women work in the fields and carry back a big basket of firewood every night. The women don't speak any Lao only their own dialect. Most wouldn't allow us to take photos of them. A group of women and children ran away when I fished into my pack pocket for my sunglasses!
We trekked 6-8 hours each day battling with heat at 35 degrees, thunderstorms, a heavy downpour, slippery trails and dodging leeches. We trekked through some forest, but mostly hillsides of cut and burnt agricultural plots for upland rice and corn. The villagers clear the forest, get one crop off it, leave it fallow for 3-5 years to grow back in weeds and saplings before cutting it off again and burning it for another crop. There's some big forest in the steeper gullies but most of the gentler slopes are cleared. These plots could be a couple of hours walk away from the village.
On more accessible hills we saw crops including coffee, tea, rubber trees and some cash crops like galangal but most of it is subsistence crops to feed the large families. The women forage from the forest or fallow fields for greens. At the moment it is pretty much hardscrabble as the rice is now being planted with the onset of the rainy season. The women collect bamboo shoots to cook as they are in season now, peanuts and steamed rice were the stapes of our meals. As part of our trek the hosts had to supply us a meat dish so one of the numerous roosters would get the chop in front of our eyes and be on a plate 30 mins later. We were also offered dry squirrel. Distilled spirits from corn or rice was always offered and (Jos words) it was obligatory to have at least several big shots during the evening meal (and sometimes lunch and breaky.) No suprise the women are not allowed to partake and don't even eat at the same table as the master of the house and us trekie guests. Sanitation was rudimentary and some villages people have to trek to one spring to wash and collect water. Our wipes and had sanitiser took a hammering. A scummy DOC hut started to look appealing. A big jolt. Each tribes women and babies wore distinct clothing, hats and ornaments. It was hard to take my eyes off them!
Accommodation was interesting. We slept in a smoky room with the family just through the bamboo thatch wall, eating off a low table on a mud floor with cats and dogs close to our elbows, waiting for any edible scap that might drop on the ground.
The society is patriachal. The men laze around a lot while the women work in the fields and carry back a big basket of firewood every night. The women don't speak any Lao only their own dialect. Most wouldn't allow us to take photos of them. A group of women and children ran away when I fished into my pack pocket for my sunglasses!
We trekked 6-8 hours each day battling with heat at 35 degrees, thunderstorms, a heavy downpour, slippery trails and dodging leeches. We trekked through some forest, but mostly hillsides of cut and burnt agricultural plots for upland rice and corn. The villagers clear the forest, get one crop off it, leave it fallow for 3-5 years to grow back in weeds and saplings before cutting it off again and burning it for another crop. There's some big forest in the steeper gullies but most of the gentler slopes are cleared. These plots could be a couple of hours walk away from the village.
On more accessible hills we saw crops including coffee, tea, rubber trees and some cash crops like galangal but most of it is subsistence crops to feed the large families. The women forage from the forest or fallow fields for greens. At the moment it is pretty much hardscrabble as the rice is now being planted with the onset of the rainy season. The women collect bamboo shoots to cook as they are in season now, peanuts and steamed rice were the stapes of our meals. As part of our trek the hosts had to supply us a meat dish so one of the numerous roosters would get the chop in front of our eyes and be on a plate 30 mins later. We were also offered dry squirrel. Distilled spirits from corn or rice was always offered and (Jos words) it was obligatory to have at least several big shots during the evening meal (and sometimes lunch and breaky.) No suprise the women are not allowed to partake and don't even eat at the same table as the master of the house and us trekie guests. Sanitation was rudimentary and some villages people have to trek to one spring to wash and collect water. Our wipes and had sanitiser took a hammering. A scummy DOC hut started to look appealing. A big jolt. Each tribes women and babies wore distinct clothing, hats and ornaments. It was hard to take my eyes off them!