Vieng Phouka, Luang Nam Tha, Laos 2006, Pt 2

This is Part 2 of the caving expedition to Vieng Phouka in Luang Nam Tha, northern Laos, in Feb 2006. See Part 1.

Every time we went to a new area we stopped in the village to talk to the head man and get guides. This is a White Hmong village

We went to Tham Pasat Thia 1. Normally cave passages are large but this one had a small section

Each night after dinner the survey data was entered in the computer. The electricity was supplied by a generator for just a few hours each day.

Whilst waiting for us to finish caving, the guides kept themselves amused

A phallic stal!

We were watched as we walked to Tham Kuat

Tham Nam Eng is the biggest cave in the area and is used for ecotourism.

Black Hmong village

and our guide

Tham Pasat has a large entrance

graffiti in different languages

A bamboo ladder

See more on the people of Vieng Phouka , and bats.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Vieng Phouka, Luang Nam Tha, Laos 2006, Pt 1

The Northern Lao - European Cave Project is a team of European cavers that has been exploring caves in Laos since 2000. The aim is to achieve an overview of caving areas located in the northern provinces.

They cooperate with the local authorities and development projects and promote cave eco-tourism as part of conservation and contribution to the local economy.

Cavers of all nations are welcome to join. My first expedition with this project was in Feb 2006.

The 2006 expedition was to Vieng Phouka district to continue the work started in 2005. Vieng Phouka is in Luang Nam Tha province, which is close to the Chinese and Myanmar borders.

The team met in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. We used the border crossing at Chiang Khong - Houay Xai, which is separated by the Mekong River. At Houay Xai we found our 4WD, which was a UN car. The European Union Micro- Project in Vieng Phouka had partly sponsored our trip and also helped in arranging permits and guides.

From Houay Xai it was a very dry and dusty drive to Vieng Phouka. At the time a new highway was being constructed through Laos to connect Thailand to China. There were scores of excavators and bulldozers and diggers etc.

Our home in Vieng Phouka was the Thong My Xai guesthouse. View from my room

We spent the next 10 days caving in the area.

On the 2nd caving day we visited Tham Houay Put. It is a resurgence cave and about 15 m in from the entrance is a duck. Our guide Hong Tong stripped down to his underpants and went through.

He then went back and forth several times and started digging out the gravel floor. It was a flat out crawl, only about 4m long. Some time was spent digging it out then the others went through but I decided to stay put as the water is so cold.

Having come from a warm Malaysia, a water cave in winter in northern Laos was too cold for me! When Hong Tong came back he was surprised that I wasn’t afraid to be alone, because of the ghosts.

Lunch was sticky rice, bamboo tips, green veg, bananas and fried banana.

It was only the 2nd day, but Michael's overalls had had enough!

Some days we had problems with the mud and had to dig out the car and push it.

Tham Ban Thung - the main feature of the cave is the amazing bamboo scaffolding. It is used by the bat catchers.

We stayed overnight in a small village. This lady is smoking a long pipe

The village had a communal water source

Dinner was sticky rice, boiled chicken bits and some banana flowers and ferns.

Breakfast was colourful

From this village we walked to Tham Ong Pra Ngiene

See continuation on Part 2.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Luang Namtha, Laos - Brunei Times

Roger posted a blog on OneAsean about the Luang Namtha area, and this was of interest to me as I've written a few things about this great area. One of these is below, see also
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/classification/life/travel/2007/07/22/trekking_in_cool_unspoilt_northern_laos
Published on The Brunei Times (http://www.bt.com.bn/en)

Eco-tour treats await in Laos

Hole-in-one: Among the many natural spectacles in the Luang Namtha province are the Tham Nam Eng cave (Top), with its 'cavernous' entrance and passageways, and local ethnic minority villagers, who have not forgotten their traditional costumes and customs.Pictures: Liz Price

Liz Price

LAOS

Sunday, February 1, 2009

LUANG Namtha Province is one of the hidden secrets of Laos. It's an area rich in biodiversity and is unspoilt by mass tourism. All the tourists who go there have made the effort to reach this beautiful part of Laos. It's not the easiest place to get to as it isn't on any major routes. Tourism is still on a very small scale and fortunately the area is not on the itinerary of tour groups, making it a great place for eco-tourism.

Luang Namtha is in northern Laos, and borders China and Myanmar. The main city in the province is also called Luang Namtha and lies on the banks of the Namtha River. To get there by bus from the World Heritage city of Luang Prabang in the south takes between nine and 12 hours. Alternatively, it takes five to six hours to arrive from Huay Xai in Bokeo province, which is the border crossing to Chiang Khong (Chiang Rai) in Thailand.

Most of the eco-tourism activities are based around Luang Namtha. However, Vieng Phoukha to the south is a small town — or more accurately, a large village — which also offers similar adventure tours.

Trekking is the main activity, but you can also participate in mountain biking or kayaking. Any of these options gives you a chance to see the beautiful landscapes and meet the wonderful local people. I found the people fascinating. They belong belong to a whole range of ethnic minority groups and many of them go about daily life wearing colourful traditional outfits.

As we venture around the market, our guide points out the different tribal costumes and hats. There are about 14 ethnic groups living locally, with the main ones being the Akha, the Hmong and the Khmu. Over the years, local tribespeople have migrated throughout Burma, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. This mix is reflected in the physical features of the local people. They all look quite different from each other as there are many different ethnic groups living here.

The women from different groups wear their hair in distinct styles, with or without ornaments. Some men sport colourful jackets, but generally the children dress in western-style clothes.

Trekking is strictly controlled and it is illegal to take an unlicensed guide or to trek independently. This prevents tourists getting lost, and more importantly it stops them from offending the local people's tribal customs. It also helps in that it sends the message to the local people that they, their culture and their natural resources are important and have value. They learn that tourists like to trek through forests, and therefore forests should be left uncut.

There are a couple of agencies in Luang Namtha that offer trekking and other tours. In Vieng Phouka, the Eco-Guides office arranges treks. This area is the newest trekking area in Laos, and the Eco-Guides service is a community-based scheme being helped by the provincial government and the European Union. They currently offer four treks, ranging from one to three days, which visit various ethnic minority villages.

Participating in these eco-tourism activities gives the villagers an income, and also contributes to wildlife and forest conservation projects through access permits.

Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world. As we start our trek, we meet a trio of girls carrying nets and baskets. Our guide explains that the girls are looking for animals to catch. These people eat virtually any animal that they can find, and so they search the rice fields and forests. They use bamboo traps to catch birds and small mammals and they go into caves to hunt bats.

Caving is another activity that can be done in the Vieng Phouka area. Tham Nam Eng is very impressive, with very large chambers and passageways, and lots of beautiful stalagmites and stalactites.

At night, you sleep in ethnic villages. The houses are basic: there are no bathrooms and no running water or electricity. You use the river for washing and the village has a communal water pump and toilet. The nights are noisy with people coughing, dogs barking and chickens clucking.

Luang Namtha's Nam Ha Protected Area was named an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2005. It covers 2,224 square kilometres of unspoilt land ranging from lowlands to 2,000-metre peaks in the northern highlands. The park includes some of the most significant and largest contiguous wilderness areas in the country.

The terrain is quite mountainous, and mountain biking is an increasingly popular activity. The roads are virtually traffic-free and it's a great way to see the countryside. Most tour companies rent out bikes.

For those who prefer playing on water, kayaking and rafting in the province is some of the best in Laos. Negotiate rapids whilst passing lush forests and ethnic villages, or for something more sedate, why not settle for a boat trip on the Namtha. From Luang Namtha, drift downriver to the Nam Ha Protected Area and see Khmu and Lanten ethnic villages along the river banks.

The area also offers much for lovers of flora and fauna, especially birdwatchers. In fact, there is something for everyone who has a love of eco-tourism. And as it is still unspoilt by mass tourism, now is the time to go. Once the new highway opens between China and Thailand, it will bisect this amazing corner of Laos and change the landscape forever.

The Brunei Times

---

Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/travel/2009/02/01/eco_tour_treats_await_in_laos

Caving in North Laos - Star

THE STAR
L I F E S T Y L E
Travel & Adventure
Saturday July 8, 2006


Caving in North Laos

STORY AND PICTURES BY LIZ PRICE

WE were in Laos, readying to explore a cave in the northern province of Luang Namtha. But before we could enter, it was necessary that the village headman or guide first “obtained” permission from the cave spirit.

This involved a prayer. When I was caving in Madagascar some years ago, we had to pour an offering of rum to appease the ancestors. But the Lao cave spirits were content with just a verbal request.

I was on a German-Dutch expedition, partly sponsored by the European Union, to set up eco-tourism and help the locals. Our base was in the village of Vieng Phoukha, close to the Burma-China border. Although Laos is considered a Buddhist country, the people to the north are animists. Most of the people in Vieng Phoukha are Khmu, and we had a few of them as our guides.

There were six members in our expedition and each day we split into two teams to look for potential caving attractions. We would drive to a village and ask the headman if the people knew of caves in the area.


The entrance to the cave in Laos.

Many of the caves required a long walk to get to, sometimes up very steep mountains. One day, we were told of a cave close to the road. Some 45 minutes later, we were still huffing and puffing and soon found ourselves climbing up a mountain. From that day on, we asked the distance in terms of how long it took to get to the caves.

The biggest difference between Malaysian caves and those in northern Laos is the temperature. The caves are definitely cooler over there and the water is cold. On the first day we did a river cave and were up to our waists in water within minutes. The next day we entered a cave and had to crawl through water, where the roof almost met the floor. Our guide Hong Tong stripped off down to his underpants, lay in the water and disappeared through the hole. Seconds later, we heard his excited cry, “It goes”.

And then he was back, looking very pleased. Luckily for me, the cave didn’t go much further.

The local people eat any animals they can find in the forest and paddy fields. They also go into caves to hunt bats during June and July, when bats move into the caves. One cave we went into had very large and high chambers, and we saw lots of scaffolding, which the locals use to climb to reach the bats.


The wet passage through the caves.

In Gomantong Caves in Sabah, they use rattan ladders but here people use elaborate scaffolding. Occasionally, men fall to their deaths.

A few of the caves were home to large rats. These were much bigger than any rat I’ve seen in Malaysian caves and were quite pretty with cream-coloured chests. Once we were surveying a small passage and I was in front and could hear bats squeaking ahead of me. The minute I said, “I hope this passage isn’t a dead end and the rats don’t run into me”, a rat did just that.

It ran towards me and landed on my foot with a soft thump. I don’t know who had the greater shock. The locals leave the rats alone, because they believe if they killed the rats, the cave spirits would do bad things.

Other interesting creatures living in these caves include leeches. Large pink leeches. We saw them on stalactites and also on the cave walls.




Some of the caves in Laos are ‘gated’.

Many of the caves had large passages and chambers and were full of stunning stalactites and stalagmites. Several of the caves would make good tourist caves. In fact one – Tham Nam Eng – is already used for tourism after it was explored and mapped in 2005.

The cave now has a large wooden gate that is padlocked, and there is a handwritten list of rules on the gate. These include no smoking, no littering, and no kissing (apparently, young couples use it for that as it is a secluded place).

We spent 10 days in the area, during which time we explored 20 caves and mapped more than 5km of passage. On the last evening, we held a farewell dinner for all the guides and locals who had helped us.

Before the dinner, we had the farewell baasii ceremony, an important part of Lao culture. The baasii and other elements of spirit worship exist side by side with Buddhism. A village elder arrived and we all sat in a circle around a small table on which a variety of offerings were displayed – a small chicken, sticky rice, biscuits, money, flowers and lào-láo (rice whisky). The old man recited a blessing to ensure that our guardian spirits would remain with us on our long journey back.

The elder then tied a piece of string around each wrist of the expedition member next to him. He then moved around the circle and tied strings to each of our wrists. He was followed by all the guides and locals, who did the same while wishing us well on our journey.

In Lao tradition, the soul consists of many guardian spirits that occasionally wander away from their owner. These must be called back and bound to the body to ensure a person is properly protected before any important undertaking. It is believed that the string must be worn for at least three full days to ensure the desired effect.

When we left for Houay Xai we still wore our bracelets of white string.

The old man then left and we adjourned to the tables outside for dinner, speeches and beer. The following morning we bid farewell to everyone and set off for the border town of Houay Xai, making sure we had our spirits firmly attached to us.


Vieng Phoukha is a new area for trekking and caving. It is a three- to four-hour drive from the border of Houay Xai, which is easily reached from Chiang Rai in northern Thailand.
ECO-GUIDES SERVICE
Vieng Phoukha
Luang Namtha Province
Lao PDR
Tel : +856-81-212-400
E-mail: mpvpk@laotel.com

Trekking in Northern Laos - WildAsia

Among the Akha, Hmong and Khmu: Trekking in Northern Laos

Exiting the tourist haven of Thailand to Laos, LIZ PRICE traverses across dusty highways and leech-ridden trails to discover the diversity of tribes and customs of people having migrated from Vietnam, China, Myanmar and Thailand.

[published on Wildasia 04 Apr 2006]

The hillside was so steep I had to pull myself up using tree branches and roots. The terrain underfoot was really slippery, as the carpet of dry bamboo leaves provided no grip for my shoes. It was actually more difficult than walking on mud as the dry leaves tended to slip downhill whilst I was trying to go up. It was frustrating how the local guides just sped up the hill in their slippers as if it was a Sunday stroll.

And of course there were leeches, even though it was the dry season. Actually I don’t mind leeches as hundreds over the years have bitten me. Quite often I don’t even feel the bite, its only when a bloody patch appears on my socks that I realise the leeches have gotten me. But this day was different; I felt something on my kneecap and looked down to see red seeping through my trousers. I managed to roll up my trouser leg and found the culprit. It’s the first time I’ve ever had a leech bite my kneecap. I didn’t think there was enough blood there to make a good meal.

We were in northern Laos, close to the Chinese and Myanmar borders. We had our base in the small town, or more accurately a large village, named Vieng Phoukha, which lies on route 3 in Luang Namtha province. Very few tourists venture up here as they generally concentrate on the more popular areas of Vientienne and Luang Prabang, a World Heritage site.

However Luang Namtha will soon open up to the world as China and Thailand are constructing a highway through this area to connect their respective countries. Consequently the journey from the border was incredibly dusty. Our rucksacks were on the roof of the pickup and when we arrived all the packs were the same shade of red-brown and covered with dust!

We had entered Laos from Thailand. From Chiang Rai we went to the border town of Chiang Khong, took a ferry across the Mekhong River to Huay Xai. Immigration was a breeze as we got our visas on arrival and found our transport waiting for us. It then took 3 hours to do the 120 km of dusty track. It was absolutely amazing to see the highway construction, vast swathes of terrain had been cleared as earth-moving machines ate up the land and cleared steep hillsides.

Several times we had to stop and wait whilst bulldozers cleared huge boulders and rubble, which had been brought down from the slopes. It really was a mammoth undertaking.

We reached Vieng Phoukha and went to the Eco-Guides office to arrange a trek. This area is the newest trekking area in Laos, and the Eco-Guides Service is a community-based scheme being helped by the Provincial Government and the European Union. They currently offer 4 treks, ranging between 1 and 3 days, which visit various ethnic minority villages.

I was surprised to learn how many different ethnic groups live here. The main ones are Akha, Hmong, and Khmu. Over the years people have migrated around Burma, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. The people wear their traditional clothes every day and as we went around the market our guide pointed out the different tribal costumes and hats. The women from two different groups wear their hair in a bun on the forehead, with or without ornaments. Some men sported colourful jackets, but generally the children were dressed in western style clothes.

Our trek started by crossing dry padi fields, and we met a trio of girls who were carrying nets and baskets. Our guide explained that they were looking for animals. These people eat virtually any animal that they can find, so search the padi fields and forests. They use bamboo traps to catch birds and small mammals and they go into caves to hunt bats during the right season. This area is rich in limestone so there are several extensive cave systems, some with some stunning stalactite formations.

The first obstacle on our trek was crossing a small stream using bamboo poles. Three poles spanned the stream and each one bounced in different amounts as you stood on them, which was a bit unnerving. I learnt just to go across quickly and not think about it, but one of our group resorted to crawling across on hands and knees. We then entered the forest and began the uphill climb. I was surprised how cool the forest was. In Malaysia I always find the forest to be a hot, humid and sweaty place, but here in northern Laos the forests were definitely cooler.

We followed a pleasant trail alongside a small river. Then we were surprised to hear a banging sound and our guide Hong Tong told us it was rice-pounding machines. Intrigued we went to have a look. We saw an ingenious system of bamboo pipes attached to a large wooden pounder above a pile of rice. When the pipes are full with water they tip down which in turn forces the pounder onto the rice. I later saw a manual version in the villages where the women were using a treadle system to deploy the pounder.

Throughout the trek our guides pointed out various leaves and shrubs that they use for medicine and food. Lunch was a pleasant meal; we came to a clearing and one guide cut several banana leaves and laid them on the ground as the tablecloth. Then whilst one guide unpacked the food he had carried, the others disappeared into the bushes and came back with an assortment of ferns and leaves. We ate these with sticky rice, some vegetables and Laotian sambal. I found the sambal to be rather bitter despite the strong chili flavour. The bananas were always nice although somewhat battered after being carried for a while.

That evening we stayed in a Khmu village. We arrived late afternoon and went down to the river to wash, even though the villages now have 2 or 3 communal taps. I found the river water so cold I couldn’t fact totally immersion. Luckily I hadn’t sweated too much during the day. We sat around under the house waiting for dinner and lots of villagers came to sit and watch us. The women smoke from long stemmed silver pipes. Earlier we had watched a Chinese peddler selling his wares and I was interested to see he was buying human hair.

As soon as the sun went behind the hills it really cooled down and I was quite cold huddled by the small fire. I was also very hungry so was relieved when we were given plates of pumpkin to snack on. It tasted good and the village dogs enjoyed eating the rinds. After what seemed hours we were called to dinner in the house. The village houses have no furniture, so we sat on the floor. A blue plastic sheet was covered with the ubiquitous banana leaves. Piles of sticky rice were laid out, then different dishes of vegetables, chicken parts and bowls of chicken bone soup. The guide opposite me took the chicken’s head out of the soup and ate it with relish. We had bought a pig for dinner, but all we were given were small piles of fat, there was no meat to our disappointment.

Before we could eat the village headman gave a blessing and we had to toast him with lao lao. This is the local rice whisky and you drink down a small glassful in one go. The people here are all animists, and some groups, particularly the Khmu have a hierarchy of spirits, the most important ones have guardianship of villages and houses. We were told not to pass straight through villages, that we should stop and chat, otherwise the villagers think evil spirits have visited them. The following day we went to a cave and before we entered the guide had to ask permission from the cave spirit. The cave, Tham Nam Eng was really impressive with some very large chambers and passageways, and lots of beautiful stalagmites and stalactites.

Over the 2-day trek we visited 3 different villages, Akha, Khmu and Lahu, but different groups live together in one village, so we also saw Black Hmong and Hmong Mien. They build houses of differing style and of course their clothes are different. The locals were ok about having their photos taken even though it is a new concept for them.

The best thing about trekking in this area is that the idea of tourism is still new; therefore, the ill effects of tourism have spoiled nothing. And because it is community based, the local people benefit. The project was set up in September 2003 and the guides are learning English. It was certainly a great experience to go somewhere off the beaten track and get away from mass tourism to see villages totally unaffected by foreign visitors.

© Liz Price - article may only be republished with the author's permission.

Travel Notes
Vieng Phoukha has 4 guesthouses. We stayed at Thong My Xai, which charges approx US$3 per room. Accommodation is basic, and the only electricity is a generator used about 3 hours each evening. Breakfast and dinner can be arranged, or there are local eating-places in the village. Click here for information on travelling to Vieng Phoukha.

Trekking Northern Laos - Star 2006

Trekking Northern Laos

By Liz Price

THE STAR Lifestyle
Saturday March 11, 2006


The hillside was so steep that I had to pull myself up using any available tree branch or root. The terrain underfoot was slippery as the carpet of dry bamboo leaves provided no grip. It was actually more difficult than walking on mud.

The local guides, however, just sped up the hill in their slippers as if it was a Sunday stroll.

And, of course, there were leeches, even though it was the dry season. Actually, I don’t mind leeches. Often I don’t feel the bite. It’s only when I find a bloody patch on my socks that I realise I have been “leeched”.



A jungle lunch — Pictures by LIZ PRICE

We were in northern Laos, close to the Chinese and Myanmar borders. We had our base in the small town (or more accurately a large village) of Vieng Phoukha, on Route 3 in Luang Namtha province. Very few tourists venture up here as they generally concentrate on Vientienne and Luang Prabang, a World Heritage Site.

However Luang Namtha will soon open up to the world as China and Thailand are constructing a highway through the area. Due to the construction, the journey was incredibly dusty. Our rucksacks on the roof of the pickup were the same shade of red-brown and covered with about a millimetre of dust by the time we arrived!

We had entered Laos from Thailand. From Chiang Rai we went to the border town of Chiang Khong and took a ferry across the Mekong to Huay Xai. Immigration was a breeze as we got our visas on arrival. It then took 3½ hours to do the 120km of dusty track. Vast swathes of terrain had been cleared as earth-moving machines ate up the land and cleared steep hillsides.

At Vieng Phoukha, we went to the Eco-Guides office to arrange a trek. This is the newest trekking area in Laos, and the Eco-Guides service is a community-based scheme that currently offers four treks that stop at various ethnic villages like the Akha, Hmong and Khmu.

We began by crossing dry paddy-fields, where we met three girls carrying nets and baskets and hunting small animals.

Our first obstacle was crossing a small stream using bamboo poles. Three poles spanned the stream and each one bounced to different degrees as you stood on them, which was a bit unnerving. We then entered the forest and began an uphill climb and followed a trail alongside a small river when we heard a banging sound. Our guide said it was rice-pounding machines.


Tough terrain.

Intrigued, we went to have a look. We saw bamboo pipes attached to a large wooden pounder above a pile of rice. When the pipes are filled with water they tip down and force the pounder onto the rice.

Throughout, our guides pointed out various leaves and shrubs used for medicine and food. When lunchtime came, a guide cut several banana leaves and laid them on the ground. Another unpacked the food, while others disappeared and came back with an assortment of ferns and leaves. These we ate with sticky rice, vegetables and Laotian sambal.

That evening we stayed in a Khmu village. We arrived in the late afternoon and went down to the river to wash. Later, as we sat around under the house waiting for dinner, lots of villagers came to sit and watch us.

As soon as the sun went behind the hills, it really cooled down and I huddled by the small fire. We were given plates of pumpkin to snack on. It tasted good. After what seemed hours we were called to dinner.

The houses had no furniture, so we sat on the floor. A blue plastic sheet had been laid down and covered with banana leaves. Piles of sticky rice were served, then different dishes of vegetable, chicken and bowls of chicken bone soup.

We had bought a pig for dinner, but all we were given were small piles of fat and no meat.

The village headman gave a blessing and we had to toast him with lao lao, a local rice whisky.


Hmong people.

The people here are all animists and a bit superstitious. We were told not to pass straight through villages, that we should stop and chat, otherwise the villagers might think we were evil spirits.

The next day we went to a cave, whereupon the guide asked for permission from the cave spirit to enter. The cave, Tham Nam Eng, had some very large chambers and passageways and lots of beautiful stalactites and stalagmites.

Over the two days, we visited three different villages, Akha, Khmu and Lahu, but different tribes will sometimes live together in one village so we also saw Black Hmong and Hmong Mien. They build houses of another style and, of course, their clothes are different.

The best thing about trekking here is that tourism is still new. It was a great experience to go off the beaten track and see villages unaffected by foreign visitors.