My friend Sara and me are emerging from a day of hiking in the thick jungle. 

We are exhausted but the view in front of us is breathtaking.

A valley surrounded by square kilometres of rice fields.

In between, a small town with only a few wooden houses.

A breathtaking view. 

Eco tourism at its best – 3 days trekking and kayaking 

We decided to fully emerge in the wildlife and people of Laos, the wildest of the south East Asian countries. So we booked the Nam Tha Full experience with Green discovery. A 3 days tour with two days trekking in the jungle and one day kayaking, sleeping in remote camps and villages and eating local foods. 

What’s included? The most delicious food, accommodations (homestay and jungle camp), equipment such as sleeping bags and kayak equipment 

Price? Depending on the size of group the tour costs from 150$ to 250$ per person.

How to get to the starting point Luang Namtha? The newly constructed train (spring 2022) runs twice a day all the way from Boten (most northern town in Laos) to the south. Train tickets can be purchased via your hotel or hostel. The transfer to and from the tram station can be organised by them as well. Total costs is approx, 10-15$ per person.

Day I – a day in the thick jungle

Our starting point is luang Namtha. A tinny village in the northern part of Laos approx 50km away from the Chinese border. Early morning our guide „Ae“ , a 50 year old farmer who does those tours to earn additional money for his family, takes us to the local market to buy the ingredients for our food for the next couple of days: eggs, seaweed, fresh fish and plenty of spices and vegetables and of course bananas. After a one hour car drive north we reach the starting point of the hike from where we emerge in the wilderness.

First we spend hours passing rice field terraces watching the local people harvesting and preparing the fields in the traditional way: with buffalos. From there we emerge into the thick jungle. Hiking for hours in the next to waterfalls, huge bamboo and bananas trees and loosing ourselves in the richest shades of green that we have ever seen. 

Our first night we spend in what Ae calls the jungle camp. In reality it was a bamboo hut in the Modelle of nowhere. Our guide Ae prepared dinner for us over the open fire. It was the most simple and simultaneously delicious dinner We had in a long time: rice, fish soup, and tomato soup. 

Day II – village life

After a pretty short night sleeping under the stars of the jungle, taking a cold “shower” in the spring next to the camp and full of curiosity of what is yet to come we started our hike in the Nam Ha national biodiversity park. What we saw was untouched nature and unbelievably scenic views of the most beautiful and untouched jungle I have every seen. 

After 6 hours of hiking and having a delicious lunch served on banana leaves we reached our home for the night: Nakun village. When we arrive at the village our guide Ae speaks to the village people in a language that is very different from Lao and sounds unfamiliar to any European language that we are familiar with. He organised coffee for us. The one thing we cannot live without, not even in the jungle. 

People in the village live simple: most of them are farmers or fishers, they use solar panels to generate electricity and an open fire for cooking. The village is simple but neat. And it felt like time has stopped: women of the Nalun village boiling water over the open fire, cleaning the sea weed of the Nam Tha river close by, dogs and chicken roaming the dusty streets and  the men getting ready to head to the surrounding rice fields for the day. Despite not being able to talk to the villagers, we had the chance to interact with them in a different way: they showed us how to make rice , how to hunt and in the evening we were dancing with the kids like we ourselves were 10 years old again. It was the purest form of getting to know another culture I’ve ever ever experienced. We went out home stay bed tired and full of joy and gratefulness of this experience. 

Day III – Jurassic park is real

Our last day in the park was dedicated to aqua activities, kayaking the day along the Namngeen river. Thinking we were experienced enough Sara and me decided to share a kayak. After a few minutes of uncontrolled kayaking down the stream we realised that we actually cannot kayak. So we received some help from Ae and the kayak guide making it a more tranquil and less live endangering experience. The scenic views remained the same: we were in Jurassic park. Going by kayak not allows you to change perspective but it also allows you to access locations that are otherwise inaccessible. We found ourselves kayaking in the most beautiful nature in Laos. After approx. 5 hours of Stromschnellen und calmer waters our trip came to an end in a remote village from where we took the Tul Tuk back to Luang Namtha. 

We were tired and dusty. 

But we returned richer, grounded and more humble. Being even more aware of how important it is to protect this breathtaking nature, this ancient culture and the authenticity of its peoples. 

Kop Chai Lai Lai Laos and Laotians. You were great teachers.