jesseroth
longtail driver
Posts: 10

#1 Posted: 16/12/2007 - 06:22


I'd like to actually walk from village to village on the Bolaven Plateau and stay in villages overnight - has anyone done this, with or without a guide?

Travelfish says there are 273 tribal villages in Sekong - does anyone know if there's an area with small villages clustered 5-10 miles apart, and what it would be like to try to buy food or a homestay in them without a guide?

If I need a local guide, does anyone have a recommendation?

thanks

somtam2000
admin
mahout
Posts: 2548

Located in:
Indonesia

#2 Posted: 16/12/2007 - 09:12


Hi,

It's a great idea, but neither Sekong nor anywhere on the Bolaven Plateua is at all geared to travellers wanting to do something like this independently.

If you mean a trek style trip with overnight stops in villages like the kind of thing people can easily do in northern Thailand, then it's going to be quite a bit more challenging in this area.

I'd suggest contacting some of the guesthouses in the area and seeing what kind of response you get -- Kingfisher Ecoodge in Baan Khiet Ngong springs to mind as a good spot to bounce your questions off.

There's a number of challenges you'll face, mainly that you may not be allowed to stay in many villages by the authorities, so you'd definitely need a guide to smooth things over. Food also will be an issue, as most villages will have little in the way of shops, so you'd be buying direct off the villagers.

Less of an issue, but still an issue, is that landmines remain an issue in some of the wilder parts of southern Laos -- so again this reinforces the need for a guide.

Generally speaking, Sekong and Salavan get very, very few independent travellers, so you're best to set it up in a more popular spot - eg Tad Lo, Pakse, or, at a stretch Attapeu.

Another idea, would be to go down to Chamapasak and across to Don Deng - it is possible to do a homestay there, and perhaps from there you'd be able to organise something further into the hinterland.

Hope that helps -- and please report back on how you go -- it would be a very interesting trip.

jesseroth
longtail driver
Posts: 10

#3 Posted: 16/12/2007 - 13:54


thank you so much. of course, the difficulty just makes me that much keener to do it. I will definitely let you know how it goes.