Imagine the main street of a medium-sized town somewhere in the world: Heavy traffic, bumper to bumper, traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, hectic rush, honking, noise ...
Not here in Luang Namptha, here the clocks are still ticking like they did 30, 40 or more years ago .. You could have a picnic in the middle of the street, it would hardly lead to a major traffic problem.
Luang Namptha
Every few minutes an old-fashioned tractor chugs past, emitting black-and-blue fumes of diesel. In between scooters, many scooters, sometimes with children, babies, grandmothers packed up, in between pompous SUVs, probably from the northern neighboring country.
The true highlight of Luang Namphta
Before the trek starts, the guide takes us to the market. It's about shopping for groceries for the one-day trip. And indeed - only now do I recognize the real highlight of Luang Namphia.
One of the most beautiful markets in a long time.
Noisy, friendly confusion of many voices, of women, children, dogs, welcomes us on a hidden place in the middle of houses. Against the sun, which makes itself scarce this morning, there are coloured parasols ready, beside and below them colourfully dressed women are sitting in front of their fruits and vegetables of all kinds, spread out on the ground. Some of them are completely unknown to me.
Carefully arranged vegetables and fruits
What is noticeable – all fruits, every vegetable is carefully arranged, sometimes spread out in straight lines.
Three Seniors in the Jungle
Variety is good, at least when it comes to not always being the oldest. I am definitely not today. The German couple - Rainer and Angela - have passed the zenith of their lives a few years. He 78, she about 70. In any case, no jump-and-rush expedition is to be expected at our jungle trek.
On the way to the starting point it turns out that Rainer and Angela are two experienced travelers. In the course of the day it becomes clear from their stories that they have not only traveled almost every country, but have also done so in more than adventurous ways.
It may well be - we didn't fully check this - that our paths in India and Nepal 1974/75 might have crossed. Rainer travelled by truck or other vehicles. And many years ago they mastered the whole way from California to Alaska by bike. My respect is immense ...
Prerogative of age
It's a not very adventurous but quite exciting hike through dense jungle, past lively bubbling streams, steep cliffs and tree giants felled by age or storm, accompanied by the incessant chanting of crickets and invisible birds.
The two fellow trekkers are not in a hurry (a prerogative of age), in any case, every flower, every fungus, every tree and shrub is scrutinized and photographed. Their knowledge is immense: even the most rare plants, of which I never heard of, can even be explained etymologically. Chapeau!
A wonderful meal in the jungle
The preparation of the lunch is a particularly impressive happening. The guide named Sai went shopping before departure - vegetables, rice, duck or chicken, bananas - but there are no pans or other tools to prepare.
A young girl whom he took with him on the outward journey (and who unfortunately doesn't speak or understand a single word of English) helps him cooking. First the machete is used to cut large bamboo tubes (at first the purpose is rather mysterious to us), then they are cut into meter-long pieces and laid diagonally over the burning fire. Then water is poured in for the soup (I don't know why it doesn't flow out on the other side) and soon it steams and hisses from the upper opening.
A halved bamboo tube serves as a soup plate, which is placed horizontally on the table and eaten with soup spoons made of bamboo leaves. Overwhelming! And still delicious. The menu that was prepared at the end consists of vegetable soup (very good), rice, which you mash by hand into bite-sized morsels and dip in the hot sauce (also made with bamboo tubes and absolutely perfect), vegetables (no idea what it could be , but tastes good) and a few bites of extremely tough duck meat.
Honestly - I swap every Gault Millau noble meal for this wonderful meal in the jungle, accompanied by the stories of the two old, but still very virile Travelers ...
Also the way back is comfortable, exciting, highly interesting, because Sai knows a lot about almost everything that interests us. Cardamom, ginger, grapefruits, wild bananas, mushrooms (edible and deadly poisonous), giant trees whose tops you can only guess, leaves that you better don't touch ... Rainer - after all he's heading towards his eighties - is maybe a bit doddery after all and so we just need a little longer back to the waiting Tuk-Tuk ...
A village offside
On the way back we stop in a village far away from the usual tourist hustle and bustle. A peaceful old-fashioned village, where one almost feels the breath of the XNUMXth century. If it weren't for the plastic bottles ….
A great day.
P.S. Matching Song: Jethro Tull - Bungle in the Jungle
And here the journey continues ...
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