Phongsali, Laos

Northern Laos is famous for a two things in particular: terrible roads and trekking. I had avoided the roads until Hat Sa (where you actually get off the boat to get to Phongsali) by taking the river and I ventured this far north with the purpose of going trekking. Well, both the roads and the trekking live up to their reputations. The roads are awful: dust is everywhere, constantly curving and swerving, up-hill and down-hill and then again, too narrow for one-way traffic yet the traffic goes both ways. What should take an hour takes two. Minimum.

On the transport in between Hat Sa and Phongsali, me, the American woman, and the Canadian guy met a Spanish couple and a another Canadian guy and his English girlfriend. The Spanish couple and the American woman and myself ended up doing the same trek and going together so the cost decreased. We opted for a three-day, two-night trek along a river, with the nights spent in tribal villages. We were told that fewer than 50 Westerns have ever done the trek.

The trekking was good, especially the middle day when we were in the most densely forrested part. During the trek we had to cross the river many, many times, supposedly 27, though I lost count myself. The guide left something to be desired but I did not have such a problem with him not telling us about the villages too much or about the forest. A little information here and there is nice but mostly I just wanted to enjoy the scenary and the hike. Both nights were spent in villages along the way and in each we slept in what was, we were told, the chief's residence, though I am not sure how true this was. In addition, the chief ate dinner with us while our guide did his best to translate. Again, I have my doubts that the guy was actually the chief, but it was interesting and pleasant all the same.

After arriving in the first village, putting our stuff down, and exploring a little our guide told us that there was a hotspring about a 30 minute hike away. All four of us were interested, to varying degrees. I had other priorities. I had been trying for weeks to get a haircut, but not just any haircut. I wanted to get a haircut outside. This is actually how most barbers operate out here so the fact that I had trouble is confusing. (It has to do with the fact that they do not wait at their location for customers. Instead there is a sign with a phone number. I assume you have to call them, tell them you want a cut, and then the come by, but I really do not know nor do I know why they do this nor can I explain how it is a good business model.) So, since we had arrived there was some guy cutting some other guy's hair. I watched attentively and he was taking his time and appearing to do a good job. I asked the guide to ask him if he could cut my hair as well. The guide went over to him, said something in Lao, and then many villagers laughed often saying the word "falang," which is used to describe anybody that is white. The guide came back to me, said he agreed to cut my hair, but asked that I give him 5000 kip (about US$0.60). Dice. Shortly after I was getting my hair cut while the others went to the hotspring. (I could not do both because daylight was coming to an end soon and electricity is not wasted on things like lights. Only TV is deemed worthy.) As he did with the other guy, the barber guy took his time cutting my hair. There was an audiance the maxed out at about 15 and any villagers walking by laughed, often watched for a bit, and nearly always said "falang."

As it turns out, the hotspring sucked and I was told I made the right decision not to go even if I had not gotten my haircut, which I have been told looks good.

The final day of the trekking was a little rushed. We were walking pretty briskly almost the entire time. The reason for our hurried pace was that we needed to catch a bus that departed at 4PM at our destination. We made it, barely, arriving at 3:54. My feet were so wet that I had crevicies that were about a half inch deep. One of the coolest aspects of the trek was something that was not mentioned to us when we were deciding which trek to do: I crossed into China during the trek, without a Chinese visa, and back into Laos using a boarder crossing that is not open to Westerners. It all went smoothly but potentially could have been disasterous. I guess that might be the reason it was not mention beforehand.

Other than the trekking I did not do much in Phongsali. I took a day to relax and catch up on some stuff and wander around the town, but there is not much there. Still, my time here was awesome and have recommended it to anybody going to Laos.