Luang Namtha (南塔)
2 July 2019.
Luang Namtha is known for its trekking around its natural highlights and I decided to sign up for one as soon as I settled down. There were a number of tour operators just outside Thoulasith Guesthouse with chalkboards that detail the number of tourists that they have for the treks they offered in the coming days. That day, all of the boards were empty except for one tour operator who had listed two tourists for a kayaking tour the next day. It wasn’t surprising, considering that it was still the rainy season in early July when I went. Thoulasith Guesthouse also offered their own treks and I was excited to hear that there was a lady who had signed up for one of the two-day treks. I decided to join her, at a rather hefty cost of 700,000 kip. It would have been more expensive if one signed up alone. Although I personally would reconsider joining such treks in future, they do introduce one to places that one will not be able to reach by oneself.
Treks offered at Thoulasith Guesthouse. 1730 hr.
Thoulasith Guesthouse.
Night Market. 1913 hr. Lao Noodle, 20,000 kip.
3 July 2019.
The next day I was down at the guesthouse’s lobby at 0830 sharp, as instructed by the manager of the guesthouse the night before. That lady wasn’t in sight. The manager informed me that the lady had a change of mind, she was going for the one-day trek instead and asked if I would like to join her. I agreed and got a refund of 350,000 kip. The one-day trek will start once I finished repacking my bag – I gladly left most of what I packed last night for the supposed two-day trek in my room and proceeded to the lobby to wait.
The manager then asked me if I was alright with a motorcycle tour instead of a trek. He added that the guide didn’t want to do any walking today.
“Is the other lady alright with this motorcycle tour?” I asked.
“Yes, she is ok with it.” the manager replied.
I wasn’t so sure about that. These changes seemed a little too drastic for one to be readily agreeable to.
“Is there really no other way we can go trekking?”
“You want to walk?”
“Yes”
“Ok. I like walking too.”
“Yes, it would be great if we can continue trekking.”
The manager punched at the calculator. He wanted 500,000 kip for the trek, 150,000 kip more than the supposed trek we had earlier agreed on. I decided to go ahead with the motorcycle tour, my guide would allegedly bring me to an Akha hill tribe village located inside the Nam Ha National Protected Area. At 0920, the manager caught up with a local who had just arrived at the lobby on his motorcycle. At 0945, the local came forward to introduce himself as my guide for the day. My guide seemed to be rather relaxed for someone who appeared an hour later than agreed. I mentioned nothing about it but he later apologized, stating that he had biked from his village ten kilometres away from town. I asked about the whereabouts of the other lady and he replied that she had already gone off with another guide.
My guide had an amiable smile and was easy to get along with. We were going to the morning market first, to buy ingredients to cook for our lunch. I wasn’t informed beforehand about this but I had read online blogs about these treks and wasn’t too surprised at the arrangement. Once at the market, we started with the vegetables section where he introduced some unfamiliar greens. Lemongrass, rattan, reddish brown ginger. “Lao people eat everything.” he grinned as we approached the meat section of the market. As we walked past slabs of dog meat, buffalo heads and innards, my guide announced that we would be having barbecue fish for lunch.
“Isn’t fish expensive?” I asked. From what I know, Laos was a landlocked country and fish was the last thing I’d expect to hear.
“No, it’s about 20,000 kip per kilogram.” My guide answered. That certainly didn’t sound expensive.
“Where do you get your fish from? Laos is a landlocked country.”
“The river.”
“Mekhong River?”
“No, Mekhong River is far away from Luang Namtha. We have the Nam Tha River.” He laughed. Indeed, the Mekhong River flowed along the western edge of the province to meet the borders of Myanmar and Thailand at the Golden Triangle before flowing eastwards towards Luang Prabang and then Southwards towards the Laotian capital city, Vientiane. The Nam Tha River on the other hand, was beside Luang Namtha town and can be seen if cycling along the Nam Tha Valley Route.
We proceeded to purchase a kilogram of fish. The vendor caught two live fishes in her basket from their tanks and sat on a stool to slaughter and de-scale them. There were live chickens and ducks in cages beside the fish section of the market with two teenage girls manning the area. They would slaughter the animal on the spot upon purchase. “Everyone knows how cook in Laos.” my guide explained.
Getting ingredients for lunch. 1001 hr.
The people of Laos also understood Thai language. Thai and Lao language are already rather similar in nature and Laotians watch Thai movies in their spare time. There were allegedly no cartoons translated in Lao language, Laotian children would watch cartoons in Thai language. My guide could speak all three languages, having studied English at university. I decided to ask him about today’s trek.
“So you didn’t want to do any walking today?”
“You want to do trekking?”
“I wanted to.”
“Why not then?”
“The manager said you didn’t want to walk.”
“No, if you want to do trekking, I’ll do trekking. If you want to do motorcycle tour, I’ll do motorcycle tour.”
“So they told you to do motorcycle tour today?”
“Yes, they said you wanted to do motorcycle tour.”
Whatever the issue was, it didn’t matter anymore. With a kilogram of sticky rice, a kilogram of fish and some lemongrass, I rode pillion as we set off into the Nam Ha Protected Area. The ride would take about an hour and I had a delightful task of observing the passing countryside as my guide concentrated on avoiding potholes on the road.
Ride to the Akha Village. 1041 hr.
The Akha village we eventually arrived at was literally in the mountains, as previously claimed by my guide. There were about 200 people in this particular village and the households had no running water. A German non-profit organisation built a water tank twelve years ago outside the village, providing permanent water supply through communal taps around the village. It was the school holidays, the children will only start school in September. The Akha people had their own language, some of them spoke Laotian and my guide was adamant in building relations. After walking around the village, we retreated to a local lady’s house to cook our lunch. The fish had to be prepared and roasted over a fire, it wasn’t exactly clean and I was surprised the lady would let us use her kitchen.
“Do you always bring tourists to her house to cook lunch?”
“No this is the first time.”
“You mean you don’t know her?”
“Nope, the other time I brought the other tourists to another house. I like to get to know other people.”
“How did you ask her?”
“She asked if we have eaten lunch. I said no and she said we can go to her house and eat.”
“That’s nice of her.”
The barbecue fish my guide roasted was extremely tasty. Instead of ginger, he had stuffed the fishes up with lemongrass. We brought a small table out and ate together at an open deck outside the kitchen with the lady. Her bamboo house looked new, I asked her how much it costed. “No cost, no cost,” my guide explained. Villagers would come together to help build their fellow villager a house and as a token of appreciation, she would ensure that they were well fed and rested during that time. We later walked around the village another time at my request. There were little dwellings houses on tall stilts behind some of the wooden houses in the village.
Lunch at the Akha Village. 1319 hr. The fish was extremely tasty!
“This family has an unmarried son.” My guide explained.
“How old is he?”
“15 or 16”
“That’s young.”
“Old enough to find a partner. That small house is for him to sit in with a girl he fancies.” he said, pointing to the small dwelling. “There’s a lock on the door. After they talk, they can go into the house and …” his voice trailed off.
“I know what you mean. The space looks small though.”
“Yes it is” he laughed. “But they are young, only 15 or 16. Nothing’s too small for love.”
Allegedly, if the girl did not fall pregnant, the boy could ‘move on’ to another girl of his choice. The Akha people also believed in the supernatural. Only animals and spirits could give birth to more than one being thus if a village girl gives birth to twins, the new family is escorted to build a dwelling in a forest next to a stream and can only be allowed back to the village after they have killed their new-born twins.
“Only the Akha people have this tradition.” my guide continued. I later watched a video on the Akha, trying to understand their beliefs and their preference for life in the mountains. I have yet to forget about the crates of Beer Lao outside the village.
At nightfall, I returned to the daily night market. Lao Noodle quickly became my constant choice for dinner, the broth was so flavourful I didn’t need additional sauces that stood around us on the table. For desert, I had choices of crepes and packets of sweet milk at 7,000 kip and 5,000 kip respectively. The convenience stores along the street next to the guesthouse also sold small snacks and bottled water which I gladly brought back to my room for another night of planning.
Fried Pig Skin. 1000 kip.
Another village the tour included. 1618 hr.
Repeat order of the Lao Noodle at the Night Market, 1925 hr.
Small bites! Right: Lao Spring Rolls (ຢໍ່ຂາວ). 10,0000 kip for next morning’s breakfast (4 July 2019.).
Something I came to realize in Luang Namtha is that one can choose to pay in Chinese Yuan. Whilst not every shopkeeper on the street will accept it, restaurants, big establishments and government services like bus stations will accept them. Thai is widely understood here and some locals can also understand Chinese.
4 July 2019.
The next day. I woke up later at about 0900 to get some Lao Spring Rolls for breakfast. This day, I intended to rent a bike and simply ride around the outskirts of Luang Namtha to see the rice fields. Unfortunately, I had come in the middle of the rainy season and heavy downpour fell from the skies from morning till late afternoons. I spent the day catching up on sleep, getting up once in a while to check if the rain had subsided. By 1400, I rode down the street on a rented bike, trying to recall the route my guide had brought us through the day before. I had seen some telephone shops from which I hoped to buy a local SIM from and stretches of paddy fields around the outskirts of town which I wanted to take a closer look at.
I had previously bought a Beeline pre-paid SIM at Changi Airport in case I was unable to get a Lao SIM card at the Chinese border. In Luang Namtha, there has been no signal when I inserted my Beeline prepaid SIM into my phones. My Chinese Vivo phone had three SIM card slots compared to my single sim Google Pixel thus I decided to use my Chinese phone in Laos. I locked up my rental bike along the sidewalk and approached a telephone shop I had seen the day before. Unable to express the fact that my Beeline SIM card was not working in Thai, I simply presented the shopkeeper with my Chinese phone and the prepaid SIM. He took one look at me and asked if my SIM card had a problem, in Chinese.
“You’re Chinese!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, you’re here to travel aren’t you?” he asked.
“Yes, I bought this prepaid SIM back in Singapore and it’s not working now.”
“This SIM card won’t work here.” he replied. I interpreted his reply as the Beeline operator did not work in Northern Laos.
“Oh dear, I paid a lot for it.”
“How much was it?”
“About 110 yuan.” I sighed.
His eyes widened. “Well, you can buy a three day data only local SIM from me at 20,000 kip,” he offered. I agreed, the signal appeared almost as soon as he installed the new SIM card (Unitel 3 Day Tourist SIM: 20,000 kip (Data Only)). I downloaded Google Maps onto my Chinese phone with his help and was soon on my way to locate the rice fields. They were along a long stretch of main road, behind rows of bamboo dwellings. I came upon a dirt path leading one off the main road into one of the rice fields. Some ladies planting in the fields and I cautiously approached. A man was resting in a nearby hut and I asked if I could take videos. “You can, but there’s nothing to take here,” he replied, blowing into his cigarette. “There’s a lot I like about here,” I insisted in broken Thai.
The fields along the outskirts of Luang Namtha.
There were about twenty ladies, both young and old, squatting around to plant new shoots in groups of four or five. We were all balancing on clumps of dried mud and I was incredibly slow in my movements. I asked if I could take videos to which the eldery women in the group agreed. The younger girls laughed, glancing back and forth into the camera whilst the elderly women made conversation. A man approached and I had to reposition myself as the narrow strip of dried mud I was standing on wasn’t wide enough for two people. “You can go first,” I emphasized one of the few complete sentences I knew in Thai.
“You’re Thai!” he exclaimed.
“No I’m not.”
He thought for a moment. “These are my father’s fields,” he said in Chinese.
“You can speak Chinese!” it was my turn to exclaim.
“I can, a little” he smiled.
I asked for his permission to move further out into the fields. I didn’t venture too far out in the end as I found it hard to balance on the strips of dried mud which were slippery at times. Figuring that it won’t be nice if I fell off the tracks onto their newly planted crops, I thanked them, retreated back to the main road and cycled on to visit other rice fields before the skies started pouring again at 1730. On hindsight, I should have gotten a cycling route map from the Tourism Office before setting off for any cycling route. There appears to be a set route one can follow.
Barbeque Dinner. 1849 hr.
Other Notes:
Lunch and Dinner
Lao Noodles: 10,000 kip
Barbeque: 20,000 kip
Water:
5,000 kip (1 Litre)
Intercity Buses
Head to the provincial Bus Terminal to purchase tickets to your next destination. You can also buy bus tickets from your guesthouse which willl offer a pricetag that includes a Songthaew pickup on your day of departure although if you were to self-manage, the songthaew ride can beconsiderably cheap with shared with other travellers. Bus tickets are also cheaper when bought over the counter in person at the Bus Terminal.
3.) Accomodation
Length of Stay: 3 Nights
Type of Room:
80,000 kip per night (Fan)
100,000 kip per night (Air-con)
The smallest room Thoulasith Guesthouse has is its double bed room. There are dormitory options at 30,000 kip too, at the nearby Manychan Guesthouse.
Address:
Towels: Provided. Toiletries are also provided.
Location: Thoulasith Guesthouse is located along a main street occupied mainly by various accommodation and trekking tour operators. There is a small night market a short distance from the guesthouse which mainly sells local food and snacks. Bicycle rental is available in shops along the street at 15,000 kip per day. The morning Luang Namtha market and mobile shops are just behind the guesthouse, within walkable distance. The provincial bus station is located outside town area and can be reached with a songthaew ride for 10,000 to 20,000 kip depending on the number of passengers.
Further Comments: Water is provided in the rooms. Towels and toiletries are freshly changed everyday.
The Laos leg of the Xinjiang-Singapore Overland journey is completed!
Click below to return to continue towards Chiang Khong in Thailand.