Trek Day 1: Nong Khiaw to Ban Na Luang

We had a great day trekking through the jungle, seeing gorgeous sights along the way but the real fun only started when we arrived at the remote village of Ban Na Luang around 4pm. We met our homestay family and then walked around the village. There are around 40 families and they first got electricity seven months ago.

We were greeted warmly and children started to appear and gather around us. Aside from a few shy ones, most wanted to play with us and have their photo taken. They started to give us gifts of kaffir lime leaves, then various other plants and flowers, until our hands were full.

When we returned to our hut, all the children followed us and sat around with us for about an hour. They sung to us, played games and some made me pick them up and swing them around. It was pretty exhausting but amazing.

Later on we had traditional Lao food in the homestay and then drank Lao-Lao (the local rice whisky) with Bounlit, the village chief, who referred to himself in the third person at least once per sentence.