Lions and tigers and bears...

We left China and entered Laos through the border crossing at Boten. The border crossing itself was indicative of how things were going to be in Laos. On the China side it was all very organised, with a big new(ish) border control building, security guards and customs officers with the latest computer equipment. The Laos side was a lot more...relaxed. There were a couple of guys in uniform in a small shed who were in charge of issuing visas and checking passports; no computers, all paperwork. The main features of the Laos side of the border crossing were the volleyball court and the charcoal remains of bonfires. Obviously the Laos border guards know how to live it up when there are no pesky tourists around!


From the border we proceeded on to a small town called Luang Nam Tha. The town reminded me a bit of a small, country town in NSW, with its wide main road, dusty streets, old wooden buildings and rolling hills in the distance. However, the tuk-tuks and abundance of backpackers were a constant reminder of where we really were.

Luang Nam Tha is right near the National Biodiversity Conservation Area, the town is famous for its eco-friendly treks into the jungle and to surrounding hill-tribe villages. The treks are pretty pricey though, Dan and I ended up paying approximately $30 each for a one-day trek through the jungle and to a Hmong village. Apparently a lot of the money goes to the villages and to conservation efforts, although it also seems that every layer of government (local to national) has imposed some kind of taxes or fees.

The trek itself was a bit disappointing. We basically climbed up a really steep hill in the jungle. Upon reaching the summit we found that the vegetation was too dense to actually see anything other than the trees immediately surrounding us. Then going back down the other side of the hill. The visit to the Hmong village consisted of us walking past a village on the main road, back to where a tuk-tuk was waiting to take us back into town. So trekking in Luang Nam Tha is not something I would recommend.

That being said, it was good to hear our guide’s stories about tigers and bears living in the jungle. He pointed out some bear claw marks on a tree and found evidence of a bear having passed along our track sometime earlier that morning. We also heard stories about tigers entering some of the more remote villages and being seen walking along the mountain crest where we passed by. Sadly no lions though, oh my!

 Dan in the jungle in Lao. Did I mention that Dan fell over while he was trekking through the jungle? And that I didn't fall over while I was trekking through the jungle? Mwahaha!

The track which led us out of the jungle and into agricultural land. The track was really, really, really steep. We ended up sliding most of our way down it. It really did seem like the jungle had finished with us and was spitting us out.