Complete itinerary: PAKSE – TAD LO (first night) – COC PHOUNG TAI – PAKSONG (second night) – PAKSE
Coffee plantations: by Mr. VIENG (on the road to Tad Lo) and by Mr. HOOK (in the village of Coc Phoung Tai)
Waterfalls seen: TAD PASUAM, TAD LO, TAD HANG, TAD YUANG, TAD CHAMPEE, TAD FANE
These days were a blaze of experiences and emotions, immersed in an authentic nature, with small earthly paradises: the waterfalls.
Here, there are many waterfalls, and everyone is different: some very high and spectacular, others small and less impetuous, others wide and others still narrow and sinuous. They are beautiful, and each of them has the ability to enchant and leave us speechless.
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Every time that we decide to go and discover one, we have to – positively speaking – leave the main road and follow a less busy, full of potholes and gravel, where the thick vegetation and the pastures of goats are the masters.
As we move closer the naturalistic site, the colors change nuance: we pass in a very short time from the red of the earth, to the intense yellow of the dry vegetation, to the bright green of the coffee plantations, to the dark and intense green typical of the forest.
The sound of the waterfall becomes louder, more defined, like a call. Here the creativity of water, in its most free and wild form, meets the rigor and inflexibility of the rock. And in less than no time, we find ourselves facing one of the most beautiful shows in nature.
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Little thought: we miss our bikes too much!
Traveling by scooter is different!We move fast, and our eyes don’t have time to observe every little detail. We move fast, and the mind can’t metabolize all the wonder we live. We move fast, and the smell took a break: with all this air we can’t perceive anything. And think a bit: we even hurt the seat for the different sit! ✌️😅😂
We spend most of the day visiting some coffee and tea plantations, accompanied by a local guide.
We’re immersed in the daily working life of the inhabitants of these small villages, and it’s thanks to them that we can appreciate the slow passage of time on a hammock and their genuine products. Finally, after months of instant coffee, we can drink a real one, made with moka, in true italian style!
We’re immensely grateful for this! ☀️🙏😊
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We also have the opportunity to visit the village of Coc Phoung Tai. They explain to us that children start smoking at the age of 3, because the high levels of nicotine in the blood keep mosquitoes away; to drink Lao-Lao (typical Laotian whiskey) at the age of 7 and to tattoo their boby at 10 years old: in both cases, they do it during important rituals of passage.
At 8, they get married and they are polygamous (the man can get married with more wives), and of course, as soon as Mother Nature grants them, they become parents. Women give birth in the forest, and only after a week the child can be accepted in the village, after an important ritual in which both the shaman and the father have to accept the new arrival.
They firmly believe that the earth is flat. They don’t use writing, but only the word as a form of communication: this is how knowledge is handed down from generation to generation.
Talking about the future is bad, and dreams can only be shared with the shaman, who can interpret them.
Nature is used as the first form of care: roots, berries and leaves are their medicines. In the most extreme cases, the help of magic to the guru is required, and of the black magic to the shaman or to the “medium”, she who mediates between the divine spiritual principle and men.They are animists, not buddhists: they attribute spiritual properties (a soul) to natural phenomena, to living beings and objects.
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They welcomed us with open arms, but at the same time we’re put to the test, and all of this excites us and makes us to reflect: we treasure everything we learned, and open our hearts to diversity. The small journey inside this village is a curious, pleasant and incredible discovery.
They asked us to don’t take pictures, for respect, and therefore everything we see, we immortalise and keep in our memory.
These populations must be known, appreciated, and without any doubt respected. Here it’s still like when it all began.
