TrekPhongsali.com

Seventeen day in Phongsali, the author detailed his travel here and told the changes there in 10 years

18/1/2008

A lot of plans running through my head, Namtha…Muang Sing…MuangLueng..Vian… But finally there was no plan as “no bus today to Namtha” was heard this morning at the bus station. I really don’t want to hang around in China for another day, so I brought the one available for Laos, heading to MuangSai, no idea where it is. But was told I can switch bus to Phongsali from there, why not then. We rolled out of Mengla in time, road to Mohan was smooth and there actually another more better highway under construction nearby. We arrived the border in an hour. Together with a Danish man, a Spanish woman and a girl from Dali, we heading for immigration. The China side was smooth and fast. And before cross over the no man land, women surrounded us with block of paper money for exchanged, openly we swapped yuan to kip in front of the officer eyes! In the Laos side. A wooden Thai style house act as the Laos immigration office stood in front of us, saw the visa on arrival sign. Only me need it as all of them got the visa before hand.

Phongsali town

It made thing easier and quicker. Same…straight forward, form filled, one photo and 30 dollar, no question asked and no delay, the only problem was my dollar bill was too old and the green color had been faded, and the guy forced me to renew to another bill. Of course not finish, go next window and do as the other do…wait! still…very fast and a 30 days visa granted! Back on the road we drove down the Laos motorway. The surrounding are so green and lush, no wonder we Chinese came and invaded the forest for wood. We passed many settlement, people still live in simple wooden or bamboo stilted houses, poor I would say compared with China. I didn’t mean we hadn’t this kind of villages in China, but at least we wouldn’t see it along the main road, or should I say…the Chinese will not let you see it…it is our face that matter, so all you will see is nice looking houses when you speed through China through the window.
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This blog entry not only told about the trek in Phongsali but also the unique and strange custom and history of hill tribes there.

As always I hope you and yours are doing well.

This is the 4th and final blog on laos titled hill tribes. Currently I am in northern Vietnam on a 3 day motorcycle trek. Today is day one and if tomorrow and the next day are the same as today I should have a few great photos to share, anyway, onto the hill tribes.

The first hill tribe trek that I took left from Muangngoi on the Nam Ou river. First, let me mention that they are called hill tribes because they live on the “tops” of hills. We walked for a few hours with our guide before stopping in a village for lunch. From there it was about a four hour walk up to the Seang savang, a Khmu village. We arrived shortly before dusk all nice and sweaty after the climb uphill. When we arrived we left our bags at the chiefs house who wasn’t home and sat outside. Many of the “locals” came out to watch us. This was a “privative” village without electricity, toilets (not even outhouses) and water. The villagers had to carry water uphill for about 25 minutes from a creek.

Laos Akha November 19

Seang our guide who got lost a few times went back to check with some of the locals on where to go and he ended up getting caught carrying her pack Savang is also a village that doesn’t get many outsiders.
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Kathy described the landscape, the people, the life style,… when trekking in Phongsali. Read the entry to find out more.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Entry into Laos is like slipping into a cool, peaceful dream draped with green in every directions.  While of tourists raced down the Mekong in loud small speed boats and transport boats holding 50 people, I gathered a small group of 3 new friends (a Canadian, German, and Holland guy) and renting a 5 person leaky wooden boat we chugged our way up the swift current and occasional rapid of the Nam Thaw river (a tributary to the MeKong) towards the north of Laos.  That night we slugged our way up a muddy embankment to small native village and house built on stilts.  Sitting on the wooden floor in a circle, the Beer Lao flowed till we found fried mole crickets a delightful accompaniment to more familiar Lao Food.

After two days, engine churning through muddy water, tropical sun beating down from above, countless native village and smiling naked waving jungle babies, patches of slash and burn, subsistence agriculture, towering bamboo groves and primary forest we arrived in the small town of Nam Thaw – my new friends were off in many directions.
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“We had a beautiful view over the valley and the endless banks of clouds for about ten minutes before we descended into clouds and I had my last glimpse of blue sky for three days.” - Peter Keusgen describes his trekking tour in Phongsali.

December 16th 2006

On the first morning of my trek I met my guide, Sook, at my hotel for breakfast. He was a good guy, very earnest, and just passable in English. More importantly, he was trilingual in Lao, Punoi, and Laosang, which would cover most of the areas in which we would be trekking. He also had a most irritating habit of laughing if he didn’t understand me and laughing again whenever I rephrased the question in simpler terms. We got along well though, and I avoided strangling him because he was such a nice guy.

After breakfast we walked to the market where I picked up the two necessities of trekking - a flashlight for finding a convenient place for night time ablutions (toilets don’t exist in mountain villages, or any Lao villages for that matter) and toilet roll because such a thing doesn’t exist in the villages.

Fifty meters from the market we began our trek. One moment we were in the provincial capital with cars, shops, hotels, paved roads, and brick buildings, the next moment we were headed down a narrow track which was the main route for villagers brining their produce to market. It was wide enough for a small 4×4 but constant wash away ensured that the government’s efforts to introduce infrastructure stopped short of actually allowing development in the area, not a bad thing from my point of view.

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“The trek from Muang Ngoi Neua up to Phongsali in northern Lao has to be the most adventurous part of my trip so far” – Canukctravel discrible her trek to Phongsali

Jun 13, 2005

Well, the trek from Muang Ngoi Neua up to Phongsali in northern Lao has to be the most adventurous part of my trip so far. I joined up with 2 Canadians (Joanne and Kyle), an American (Mark) and a Brit (Dan) and we set off.

Another Breakdown

Day One: The first leg of our journey involved chartering a long-tail boat north up the Nam Ou (about 5 hrs). Along the way, we stopped in a lovely little village, a smaller and much quieter version of Muang Ngoi Neua. The locals were very surprised to see foreigners. I suspect that most people that do head up this way don’t bother to stop. It actually felt a bit uncomfortable, intrusive - almost like we shouldn’t be there.

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A trip to Phongsali, Laos was told by Piegu in his blog: “Phongsali is perched like an eagle’s nest on a ridge among the mountains of the far North of Laos. The town itself is not of great interest, but the setting is like nothing I had ever seen before. In the morning the fog blankets the valleys below, leaving residents with the feeling of being high above the clouds onboard an airplane.”

December 25, 2004

Early one morning in Oudomxai I wedged myself into an overly packed bus and wondered how I was going to survive the nine hour journey to Phongsali as several more people packed and crammed themselves onboard. I shared my seat with someone who thought it was more comfortable than sitting on the bags of oranges (he was using me as a backrest), and I let a little girl who had no seat take the last few square centimeters of my bench. We started out of town but not before picking up a few more people and cargo along the way. It got to the point where closing the door became a problem, but you can always fit more. In the first village we picked up still more people until finally, when the driver had to use his window to enter and exit the bus, and my bottom and my back were aching, we really took off on the dirt road.

Phongsali is perched like an eagle’s nest on a ridge among the mountains of the far North of Laos. The town itself is not of great interest, but the setting is like nothing I had ever seen before. In the morning the fog blankets the valleys below, leaving residents with the feeling of being high above the clouds onboard an airplane.

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