We first heard about it in a great little booklet called 'Stay Another Day in Laos' which focuses on eco-tourism type activities, and getting down with the locals in Laos - what we love best. The focus of this trek was two Katang villages, where the people believe in the spirits and welcome guests to their village with a baci ceremony as an offering to the spirits. Since the trek is organised by the local tourist office, only runs twice a month, and is almost prohibitively expensive for backpackers (US$150 each), this seemed to be one of the few opportunities in Laos to see a real village, not a touristy one.
We tried to call the tourist office beforehand, and in typical Laos style no-one answered, but since the trek looked so interesting, we took a risk and got on a 8-hour bus from Vientiane to Savannakhet on the off chance that there would be a trek going the next day, and there was. Yes!
Then after lunch, we walked 8km through dense forest, over rocks, and through fields of bamboo, and arrived at the first Katang village, Vong Si Keo, at about 4pm. The village children ran to greet us, and the whole village seemed genuinely happy that we were there, with our camera - they are all obsessed with digital cameras! The guides ask that tourists ask before taking a picture, and then only take pictures if they can promise to send a copy to the villagers. In a world with no mirrors, and few personal belongings, a photo is a big deal, and soon everyone was posing for photos (which involves pulling a stern face, and never smiling), and giggling at the results.
Then the baci ceremony! During this ceremony, head members of the villagers made offerings to the spirits, sang local songs, and blessed us whilst tying yellow threads round our wrists; then we all drank Lao Lao (paint stripper strong "whisky") and Ben and I sang "I'm forever blowing bubbles" and "You are my sunshine" to the claps of the villagers. Very surreal.
We retired early, and slept like babies - helped along by the Lao Lao and our aching legs. If only we'd known how difficult the next day was going to be.
It was hell. We set off at for an 18km trek in the sweltering heat. No joke, it was 35 degrees outside! After marching through the first 8km, I stumbled one too many times, and started crying, snotting out "I'm too hot!" Oh dear. Bit embarrassing, but it just all got too much, and even the guides were struggling. It was really hot, and I was seriously worried about our health - since the guides only supplied us with 2 litres of water each - definitely not enough. Anyway, after the initial shock, we took it a bit easier, soldiered on through the other 10km and made it to Yang village, dreaming about our promised swim in the Xe Bang Hieng river. Bliss!
The river was a joy. Ben said he felt reborn, and I dropped the wet sarong I was trying to get dressed underneath, and showed a local boy my muff! Oops! Here's Ben washing our clothes in the river:
After dinner there was an enormous rain storm, and the men of the village spent all night collecting frogs. We woke to the sound of a bag of croaking frogs on the veranda, and looked on as the villagers rejoiced. These 2 girls were very happy with their new pets - not sure the puffed up frogs are so happy though...
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