Trekking to Lake Nong Fa South of Laos
Lake Nong Fa is said to be a sacred place in Laos in the heart of the national park, one possible explanation is that it was formed by a volcanic eruption many thousands of years ago. Walking to this lake was definitely an off the beaten path adventure following parts of the Ho Chi Minh Trail along the valley peaks. We reached the lake on the fourth day and after about 90 km it was worth it when we saw the beauty of this lake and enjoyed ourselves. a nice cool swim in one of the most remote places on earth.
To my knowledge no westerner had attempted to hike to the lake before, there is access most of the way by 4×4, but the plan was to get in and out using different routes and examine the route for possible future drives. Consultations led us to Attapeu to a local army guide who also spoke the local indigenous language, he was born in a small village about two days’ walk from the lake, but his family has now moved to the village. After meeting him and talking about the trip, we and my fellow two hikers put together a review of the gear we would need and started shopping for supplies, buying soups, canned fish and rice and of course chocolate and candy for that much needed burst of energy. . Finally we had dinner together in the city trying to eat as much as possible to supply ourselves with energy and especially protein that would be necessary to get us through the next few days.
The next morning we got up very early and after checking and dividing our equipment and food equally, we left Attapeu and headed to the village of Pa-am on part of the Ho Chi Minh trail, a reminder of this trail is the old Russian. surface-to-air missile that is still in place.
The Vietnamese used to head south with troops and supply reinforcements along various trails during the Vietnam War against the Americans. They crossed into Laos to avoid battles with US troops, as Americans were not officially allowed to enter Laos, this is the reason why Laos is known as the most heavily bombed country on the planet to date. Since US troops could not enter Laos, they could bomb it, US pilots were encouraged to dump the rest of their ammunition in Laos on the way back from Vietnam to their bases in Thailand. Old ordinances still litter the trails dropped by American B52s to try and hit Vietnamese soldiers and cut off their supply lines.
From Pa-am, we hiked up the mountain as far as our comfortable car could go before checking our gear one last time and beginning our adventure.
The first day involved climbing the mountain through rough terrain passing through small towns and ethnic communities. We traveled 20km along the old Lao army training route not realizing at first how heavy our backpack would be. They certainly started to weigh us in toward the end of the day. Our guide knew the local area and language well, however he did not speak English so my Lao skills definitely came in handy.
We arrived at the village of Ban Chilinxay in the evening, after showering in a nearby stream we spent the night in one of the villagers’ huts who surprisingly spoke a little English. We bought him a chicken and he cooked it for us along with some steamed rice and local vegetables and soup trying to get our energy back and relax our legs as much as possible. The second and third days followed a similar pattern, enjoying some hot chocolate at sunrise, buying fresh eggs and vegetables from the villagers and walking about 20-25 km per day, the afternoons were spent with the local guide organizing the stay in house, recovering and baths.
The main priority at night was to boil enough water for the next day, so that the next day it would be cold enough to fill our plastic bottles. Dinner usually included steamed chicken and rice bought from the villagers and a couple of cans of canned fish which was good because it meant less to take away the next day.
Day four was the day, we could feel our approach, woke up, and began our seemingly normal routine of washing up in the nearby creek, eating breakfast, and packing up our gear. It was a few miles on flat ground to the river where we crossed it in a dug-out canoe. The canoe was definitely not the most stable of boats and the water was moving pretty fast but there was only about 100m or so to the other side, paddling hard and sitting low in the boat helped us get across without too much trouble. From this side of the river we stopped to contemplate the impressive beauty of the virgin nature that surrounds us.
From here, it was a 15 km trek up the steep slopes of the mountains to the village of Vangetat. It was a tough hike through the valley tops, but the scenery and views made it worth it. When I arrived at Vangetat around 2 p.m. moving on, we could reach Nong Fa Lake in another 2 hours or so.
The last few miles to the lake were tough being directly in the scorching sun and it was all uphill to the summit but spirits were high knowing we would be there soon.
We arrived, after 4 days of solid hiking, we could hardly believe it, the first thing we did was swim and relax our muscles in the cool water. Spending about an hour at the lake we decided to head back to Vangetat when we saw a park ranger who had a 4×4 and this might be our plan out.
It only took us about 45 minutes to get down from the lake with little effort as it was all downhill. Our theory with the ranger paid off and we managed to hitchhike to Km100 about 10km from the Vietnamese border. It was a bumpy ride and not possible without a 4×4. After about 60 km or 3 hours we finally saw a paved road and were glad to know we were safe and back to civilization. Unfortunately due to lack of hotels in this area we slept in the Lao army barracks in a noodle soup tent however it was a great night’s sleep this is probably due to how tired we we were in place of sleeping conditions.
The next day, after a bowl of tasty soup, we thanked our hosts, gave them the remaining rice, and said our goodbyes. Now we try to hitchhike back to Attapeu. It didn’t take long after about 20 minutes we managed to get on a Vietnamese logging truck back to Attapeu around lunch. All in all, it was a wonderful and unforgettable trip.