{"id":702327,"date":"2025-08-16T14:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T14:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/702327\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T14:00:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T14:00:20","slug":"laos-wildest-trails-lost-tribes-and-jungle-roads-deadliest-journeys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/702327\/","title":{"rendered":"Laos\u2019 Wildest Trails : Lost Tribes and Jungle Roads | Deadliest Journeys"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title = \"Laos\u2019 Wildest Trails : Lost Tribes and Jungle Roads | Deadliest Journeys\"   width=\"580\" height=\"385\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GeYTXloj_6o\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<br \/>\nLaos\u2019 Wildest Trails : Lost Tribes and Jungle Roads | Deadliest Journeys<br \/>\n<br \/>\nNakai, a small village<br \/>\nlost in central Laos. When the monsoon ends, the<br \/>\nitinerant traders are smiling again. Among them, Suta, she will be able<br \/>\ngo back to sell his wares, Through isolated villages. I try to reach my clients. No signals! Due to the torrential rains, His clients were unreachable<br \/>\nfor three months. I can&#8217;t reach them. The phone does not go through<br \/>\nIt is not a good sign. The journey is going to be difficult,<br \/>\nbut Kem, Suta&#8217;s husband, Is obliged to make a profit<br \/>\ntheir new truck. We bought it with our money. Like that, we<br \/>\nowes nothing to the banks, You don&#8217;t have to pay interest. The family agreed<br \/>\nand we raised the funds to buy it. It cost almost 22000\u20ac,<br \/>\na fortune in Laos. Kem and Suta have no<br \/>\nthe right to disappoint the family. Unfortunately, the country&#8217;s roads<br \/>\nare not kind to mechanics. landlocked country, Laos is one of the last regimes<br \/>\nMarxist Leninist of the planet. Its inhabitants have long<br \/>\nlived in isolation from the rest of the world. The recent opening at<br \/>\ncapitalism has little, Improved the lives of 6 million<br \/>\nand a half of Laotians. Three quarters of the roads<br \/>\nare not paved. We are risking our lives. You have to go slowly. You won&#8217;t go there! Some roads end<br \/>\nswallowed up by the monsoons. I love driving really fast! Faced with natural constraints, men<br \/>\nsometimes have to give up mechanics, For brute force. I have to be very careful, If the cable breaks,<br \/>\nI risk going there. But another danger<br \/>\nprowls underground. Days of walking<br \/>\nin the heart of the tropical forest, Wild regions serve as<br \/>\nsanctuaries to mysterious ethnic groups. Long before dawn, Suta and Kem are standing<br \/>\nto load their truck. There&#8217;s work ! We take cakes, soups<br \/>\nChinese, beer. You can spread them more! No need for them<br \/>\nstack that high. At home Nao<br \/>\ntheir 12-year-old daughter, She also travels,<br \/>\nprepare the sticky rice. Enough to last two days. For his part, Suta buys the coal<br \/>\nfor bivouacs. &#8211; How much is it?<br \/>\n&#8211; 5\u20ac. Go ahead, door. Lets&#8217; go! In Laos, gas<br \/>\nand electricity are expensive. Most families<br \/>\ncook over a wood fire. coal making, It&#8217;s a livelihood<br \/>\nfor the poorest. Maye is 22 years old, Her husband, Seygue, 28. They work here from morning till night<br \/>\nto feed their two children. To make charcoal you need<br \/>\nfirst lay out the wood. Then we set the fire<br \/>\nand cover it with earth. Then we leave it<br \/>\nburn out slowly. &#8211; It&#8217;s hard.<br \/>\n&#8211; Yes, it&#8217;s hard. We do this because we have nothing to eat. It&#8217;s our only way to win<br \/>\nmoney and buy our food. Seygue and Maye ruin their lungs<br \/>\nin the toxic fumes, For a quarantine<br \/>\neuros per month. We are not healthy with the<br \/>\nsmoke in the nose all day long, I have a sore throat and I cough. &#8211; Do you have a sore throat?<br \/>\n&#8211; Yes a lot. In Laos, a quarter of the population<br \/>\nlives below the poverty line. With their trucks<br \/>\nfilled with goods, Suta, Kem and their daughter<br \/>\nsinks into the jungle. The father may well know<br \/>\nthe path by heart, Each year the track is different. There, the path lasts because<br \/>\nit has been raining a lot lately. At the end of the rainy season, The roads are broken,<br \/>\nit&#8217;s dangerous. Torrential rains<br \/>\ndescended on the region. They dug these deep furrows, And took away portions<br \/>\nentire roads. Kem must constantly slalom<br \/>\nbetween the ruts. Fortunately there is<br \/>\npower steering. On this kind of road, we<br \/>\ncouldn&#8217;t drive without it. 2 hours later, the track<br \/>\nturns into a roller coaster. Kem is only afraid of one thing, Damage their precious truck. Gently. It hits below. You know, my vehicle, I want it<br \/>\nlike the apple of my eye. So the harder it is,<br \/>\nthe more I lift my foot. Break this little gem at 22000\u20ac, And that would be ruin<br \/>\nfor the whole family. At the bottom of this slope,<br \/>\nthe first leg of the journey, The village of Vang Vieng. Here, we lack everything and the<br \/>\nvisit a street vendor, Is a highly anticipated event. Come ! I have soup, cigarettes,<br \/>\nshoes and beer. These peasant women are shy, but<br \/>\nSuta knows how to hook fish. You will leave well<br \/>\ntempted by these dresses? Come on, let&#8217;s see! But it&#8217;s not free! It&#8217;s cheap !<br \/>\nIn town, we only wear that. I really like this color. &#8211; Yes, she is very beautiful.<br \/>\n&#8211; Yes, she is really pretty. The approach maneuver<br \/>\nhas its effect. I also have lighters. Suta, does not sell drugs, But she always<br \/>\na miracle product to offer. Me, I don&#8217;t feel<br \/>\nnot very well right now. Buy me an energy bar,<br \/>\nit gives strength. I&#8217;m looking for flip flops, do you have any? Flip flops ? Yes, flip flops,<br \/>\nI do not have. It&#8217;s \u20ac1.60. \u20ac1.60? I sell them for \u20ac1.70 at my shop. Come on, I&#8217;ll give you a price,<br \/>\nbut I must live! Suta sets the prices she wants, Here, no competition,<br \/>\nthen customers have no choice. It&#8217;s not everyday<br \/>\nthat there are merchants passing by, They are happy. The little merchant is<br \/>\na tough businesswoman. Can you do it for me for 5\u20ac? No I can not. How&#8217;s business? Suta, you have<br \/>\nwell sold today? Yes, just a little. Thanks. The recipe does not exceed 100\u20ac, This barely reimburses the fuel. It is to be hoped that in Ban Tom,<br \/>\nthe next town. Business will be better. On the road, the memories<br \/>\nmonsoon are still fresh. By insisting too much, Kem risks<br \/>\nto dig his own trap. You won&#8217;t go there! Only one solution, gain momentum<br \/>\nin an attempt to force through. But thirty minutes later&#8230; Looked ! Wait, there is no place<br \/>\nhere to turn around. We will stop there to have a look. It&#8217;s hard there. We will do<br \/>\nmay not be able to pass. my husband went<br \/>\nto take a look at. The plain is totally flooded. Only these electric poles,<br \/>\nreminder that a road passed by there. The trip was very hard<br \/>\nand we&#8217;ve come all this way for nothing. Unable to pass,<br \/>\nwe have no other choice, You have to turn around and go back. This year&#8217;s monsoon<br \/>\nwas particularly strong. We will have to wait several months<br \/>\nbefore the water recedes. Until then, Kem and Suta will<br \/>\nhaving to find new villages, To make up for this shortfall. Laos has many other<br \/>\ninaccessible places, Like these vast tropical forests. Their precious wood attracts<br \/>\nall lusts. To fetch these rare essences. Man has a powerful ally whose<br \/>\ntraces date back more than 6,000 years. Elephants are the only ones who can<br \/>\nwork in these steep forests. Advance ! To the left ! Kambou is a 28 year old male. To direct it, Boun Yang, its mahout,<br \/>\nuses only his feet and the sound of his voice. The animal has only one fault,<br \/>\na huge appetite. Stop eating, move on! He swallows nearly 250 kilos<br \/>\nof plants per day. Move right! He is moving too slowly.<br \/>\nCome on, come help me. Loggers pay<br \/>\nBoun Yang and his elephant, To fetch the cut wood<br \/>\nin the most inaccessible places. Come on, get rid of this! My other elephant got hurt trying<br \/>\nto climb a slope like this. It was raining, the ground was slippery, He skidded and<br \/>\ntwisted the front paw. We&#8217;re going to tilt the trunk. That way, we will be able<br \/>\nlift it to pull it. Advance ! To the left ! Go ahead my daddy! Raised ! Still. Push! Head down. Still ! On such a steep slope, The symbiosis between man<br \/>\nand the animal is capital. To the right ! Come down. Still. Still. To disassemble<br \/>\nthis trunk of 850 kilos, The elephant only needs<br \/>\nof about ten minutes. Kambou, is the pride of his mahout. This elephant, we trained it<br \/>\nwhen he was three years old. Today, he is 28 years old, And he obeys me to the finger and the eye. Bring down that heavy logs of wood<br \/>\nis a slow and perilous operation. If the trunk rolls down the slope, it can<br \/>\nbreaking Kambou&#8217;s hind legs. To avoid the accident, the assistants<br \/>\nmust act as counterweights. Overcome passages<br \/>\nthe most difficult, Defeat Zones<br \/>\nthe most inaccessible This is the fate of the elephants of Laos. In a final effort, Kambou draws his<br \/>\ncharge to the top of this hill. Soon, trucks will come to take away<br \/>\nthe rosewood brought back by the elephant. These trunks will end up in woodwork<br \/>\nor in luxurious furniture, In Beijing, Hanoi or elsewhere. Come on, let&#8217;s go swimming! For the elephant, the bath is<br \/>\nmore than just a refresh. Behind this solid look,<br \/>\nit hides very sensitive skin. Water kills parasites and<br \/>\nto prevent his skin from drying out. On your knees, get on your knees! Go on ! Bend down ! The operation turns quickly to the game<br \/>\nbetween humans and animals. Catch me! When you&#8217;re mahout, you have to love<br \/>\nhis elephant is important. The elephant is our life.<br \/>\nWithout it, we don&#8217;t make money. We love each other with this elephant,<br \/>\nwe go everywhere together. Come on, come here, you! This bond lasts<br \/>\nfor twelve years already. Man and animal have noticeably<br \/>\nthe same life expectancy. Hopefully, Kambou and Boun Yang<br \/>\nwill continue to work together, until their old age. Mahouts are itinerant workers<br \/>\nwho move according to the contracts. This time, Boun Yang was lucky<br \/>\nto find a house to rent, in this nearby village. But it&#8217;s not always the case. Most of the time,<br \/>\nwhen we work, We have nowhere to sleep. We have to sleep in the forest. Here, at least, it&#8217;s comfortable. This is our kitchen. This is where the meals are prepared. Usually we have to<br \/>\nto bivouac in the middle of the jungle. Here is my family. They all work with me<br \/>\nand elephants. He is my wife&#8217;s brother. She, my wife&#8217;s mother. Him, my uncle<br \/>\nand she, my aunt. These peasants got into debt<br \/>\nto buy Kambou. It cost them almost 18000\u20ac, almost as expensive as a truck. We stay in this village<br \/>\nas long as there is work. If there is enough<br \/>\nthings to do, We can stay again<br \/>\ntwo or three months. Then when there&#8217;s no<br \/>\nno more wood to pull, We&#8217;ll go somewhere else<br \/>\non another farm. An elephant can bring<br \/>\na lot of money, From 400 to 3,000\u20ac per month,<br \/>\naccording to the difficulties of the work. To make a big hit,<br \/>\nthe mahouts are ready for anything. In a few days, Boun Yang<br \/>\nwill leave for a perilous mission. Despite their strength, elephants are<br \/>\ngradually abandoned in favor of these trucks, Antiques that go back<br \/>\nin the Soviet era. Seygue has been driving one for four years. The tires are what<br \/>\ndeteriorates the most. The engine, on the other hand,<br \/>\nhe doesn&#8217;t often have a problem. I say,<br \/>\nit doesn&#8217;t look like that! This truck was designed in Ukraine<br \/>\nin the early 60&#8217;s. It&#8217;s a Kraz 255. 1000 times modified,<br \/>\ncleared of the superfluous on one side, And heavily reinforced on the other, There&#8217;s not much left to see<br \/>\nwith the original model. If no parts are found,<br \/>\nwe make them ourselves. We are looking for metal<br \/>\nto make new ones. We tinker. With such a machine, even a simple<br \/>\nfull is a complicated operation. Open this. It takes 300 liters of diesel<br \/>\nto fill the tanks. How much does it consume? One liter for two kilometres. No less than 50 liters per 100. He is very foodie ! Seygue hits the road<br \/>\nwith Tant, his assistant. Nearly 9m long for 2m75<br \/>\nwide and 3m60 high, This truck is one of the biggest<br \/>\nSoviet trucks ever built. Not easy to handle these<br \/>\ntwelve tons of scrap metal, During the Cold War era, Power steering<br \/>\nwas not yet in series. Visibility also leaves something to be desired. At the entrance to the forest,<br \/>\nthe assistant must play lookouts, To guide the driver<br \/>\nbetween the trees. Further, an entire trunk<br \/>\nis lying across the road. The two men are used to<br \/>\nthere is a solution. In the hands of Seygue, The truck also becomes<br \/>\nefficient than a tank, And no obstacle resists them. 25 kilometers and 5 hours of driving later, Seygue and Tant reach<br \/>\nfinally to the places of unloading. These pine logs are intended<br \/>\nto a furniture company. Each weighs between three and five tons. Take the hook<br \/>\nand hook the underside. To move them, both<br \/>\nmen have only a simple winch. I&#8217;m done. Drawn ! To move such a mass with means<br \/>\nso derisory is done in stages. Once the front has entered,<br \/>\nyou have to lift the back. If you tie it at the other end,<br \/>\nit will go up more easily. First I attach<br \/>\nthe cable around the trunk. Then I&#8217;ll get to safety. Finally I cry out for<br \/>\nengage the winch. Drawn ! The danger is omnipresent,<br \/>\nespecially when you have to remove the cable. The trons are unstable. Attention ! The risk also comes from the material<br \/>\nthreadbare. I have to be very careful. If the cable breaks,<br \/>\nI risk going there. Have there ever been any accidents? Yes, there already have been. Of what genre ? Can the truck overturn? It happens when that cable breaks. Go ahead ! Winch! This gigantic game of mikado<br \/>\nlasts about 3 hours. The trunks are twice<br \/>\nlonger than the trailer, To prevent the truck<br \/>\ndon&#8217;t fall back, The load must be<br \/>\nadvanced to the max. Let&#8217;s go ! Seygue, though modest in size, will have<br \/>\nenough to raise your head. Bring back these 30 tons of wood and<br \/>\nscrap metal on such soft ground, Rise to the challenge. When it goes down hard,<br \/>\nthe brake should not be used. I do everything on engine braking, Otherwise it would get too hot. Because of all that wood in the back, To climb hills,<br \/>\nI have to use this, The low speeds, Otherwise the motor would not follow<br \/>\nnot in the ribs. It&#8217;s all a matter of experience. I control my truck. It&#8217;s like that<br \/>\nthat I can continue. Both men are paid<br \/>\nper cubic meter of wood moved. Today&#8217;s trip<br \/>\nwill earn them 37\u20ac, Two-thirds for the driver,<br \/>\nthe rest for his assistant. If the job is dangerous,<br \/>\nit has the advantage of paying well. In Laos, two thirds of the inhabitants, Live on less than \u20ac1.50 a day. 700 kilometers further,<br \/>\nin the heart of the jungle, Boun Yang, the mahout, fetches<br \/>\nhis elephant for a dangerous mission. It is here, in the middle of the forest,<br \/>\nlet Kambou spend his nights. Keep an elephant near the village,<br \/>\nit&#8217;s impossible. There is not enough grass to eat. So we keep them away. Otherwise they would swallow all the plants<br \/>\nand the trees in the gardens of the villagers. Untie the chain. Come on, shoot! I tell the elephant to pull his chain, That way we don&#8217;t have to lift it. Pull the chain! elephant&#8217;s trunk<br \/>\nhas 40,000 muscles. As agile as it is powerful,<br \/>\nshe can pick up a coin, Like maneuvering a trunk<br \/>\nseveral hundred kilograms. Today, Boun Yang and his team<br \/>\ngo to get a piece of rosewood, Of exceptional quality. It&#8217;s the promise of a gain<br \/>\nof at least 1200\u20ac. The road is hard. Only an elephant is<br \/>\nworthy of such work. The stump must weigh<br \/>\nwithin five tons, One and a half times the weight of Kambou. Only problem, an elephant cannot<br \/>\ntow more than its own weight. Advance ! Left again! Still ! Gently ! Still. Despite his efforts,<br \/>\nKambou can&#8217;t do it. The chain slips on the trunk. Usually we place<br \/>\nthe chain around the trunk, So that the elephant can lift it. But here we have a problem. I can not<br \/>\nnot pass the chain below. Boun Yang changes strategy. He will use the head of his elephant<br \/>\nto kick. Lower ! Kambou ends up just releasing<br \/>\nenough space to pass the chain. Go ahead, slide it to the other side. We&#8217;ll have him pulled over there. Drawn ! That&#8217;s it, she gets up. The mahout manages to slip a lever. One more effort! By debiting the stump<br \/>\nin several pieces, These men would spare themselves<br \/>\nmuch trouble. It does not work.<br \/>\nThe lever slips every time. If we manage to pass it this way,<br \/>\nit should work. I wish I could<br \/>\ntake away the whole log. If we have to cut it, The owner will<br \/>\nwe lower the price. Go on ! After 40 minutes of effort, The elephant finally ends<br \/>\nby extracting the wood. Stop! But his ordeal<br \/>\nis just beginning. Now he has to drag his load<br \/>\nthree kilometers to the village. How&#8217;s it going<br \/>\nin front with the rock? It is really huge! After 3 hours of desperate effort,<br \/>\nthe elephant is exhausted. The stump did not move<br \/>\nthan about ten meters. Boun Yang resolves<br \/>\nto throw in the towel. Today we don&#8217;t have<br \/>\nmanaged to pull this log. We have to cut it in half. Then we can move it<br \/>\nbut only tomorrow. Today, enough is enough. My elephant is tired. The wood will lose a lot of value, But if Boun Yang had been stubborn, The consequences would<br \/>\ncould have been dramatic for Kambou. Other mahouts are not<br \/>\nnot as considerate. William, a young veterinarian from<br \/>\nthe Elefantasia association, Getting ready to treat her first<br \/>\npatient of the day. Three weeks ago this mahout was<br \/>\nobliged to fire a gun at his elephant. It was the only way to calm the animal. He had entered<br \/>\ndementia attacks, Which make these behemoths dangerous. He had broken his chain, I couldn&#8217;t<br \/>\ndo nothing, he was going to kill me. What weapon did you have? A rifle. Then the elephant<br \/>\nmust have suffered a lot. What did you do ? Yes, he was in pain. I took a rope<br \/>\nand I gave him a tourniquet. Weren&#8217;t you scared? Yes, very much. This elephant is very<br \/>\ndifficult to cure. He is very nervous and unpredictable. He can show himself<br \/>\nsuddenly aggressive, You have to be very<br \/>\nvery careful with him. Because the elephant never forgets<br \/>\nwhen a man hurt her. We&#8217;ll leave it alone<br \/>\nfor the moment. The elephant is so big and mighty, That if he catches me with his trunk, If he lays his head on me, It could be fatal to me. Are you ever afraid? If I&#8217;m scared? Sometimes I&#8217;m nervous. I&#8217;m not afraid of elephants to the point<br \/>\nto no longer be able to do my job. But I have a deep<br \/>\nrespect for them. Known in the Middle Ages as the kingdom<br \/>\na million elephants, Laos would only have 800. If traditions and<br \/>\nelephants disappear, The country remains<br \/>\nstill very rural. Two-thirds of the population<br \/>\ndepend on growing rice for a living. Still a craft activity. There is not much rice. The harvest is not very good. My family is very large, We just have enough to eat. This thankless work,<br \/>\nhides an unsuspected risk. Some rice fields are riddled<br \/>\ncluster bombs. When I dig the earth,<br \/>\nI happen to find some. Sometimes they are<br \/>\nright on the ground. I catch them<br \/>\nand I swing them away! Because I want to do<br \/>\na paddy field there, me. I don&#8217;t want them to explode<br \/>\nwhen I pass with my plough, So I throw them away. Every year peasants are killed<br \/>\nor mutilated by this kind of bombs. During the Vietnam War,<br \/>\namerican planes, Spilled more than 200 million<br \/>\ntons on Laos. They wanted to destroy<br \/>\nthe Ho Chi Minh trail, This road network used<br \/>\nby the Vietnamese communists, To ship weapons through Laos. For ten years, Laotians have suffered a<br \/>\nbombardment every seven minutes, thus becoming the people most<br \/>\nbombarded with history. It is not uncommon to find<br \/>\nthese reliefs of war, Converted into everyday objects. To clear its territory, Laos had to<br \/>\nappeal for international assistance. Michel Dolke, a former Swedish soldier,<br \/>\nworks for the British NGO MAG. That&#8217;s a BLU 26. There is a paddy field<br \/>\na few meters from here. Most likely, a peasant<br \/>\nfound him in his field, And took it to put it here. It happens very often. It means that she<br \/>\nno longer dangerous? Absolutely not. You can take it ten times in a row, And the 11\u1d49, it can very well explode. Among these deminers,<br \/>\nthere are more and more women. Nang leads a team<br \/>\nof about thirty young girls. They all earn 170\u20ac per month, An excellent salary for Laos,<br \/>\nbut proportional to the risks involved. Every square inch of land<br \/>\nmust be inspected. When the bombs go off, They shoot balls<br \/>\nmetal everywhere. If anyone is around,<br \/>\nhe cannot escape. This swarm of deadly projectiles can<br \/>\nfly nearly 400 meters around. The work is tedious because<br \/>\nthe detectors constantly panic. There are a lot of shards<br \/>\nshells in this area. It may take two or three<br \/>\ndays to secure everything. At each alert, young people<br \/>\ngirls have to stop, And dig with<br \/>\nthe greatest precaution. we never know<br \/>\nwhat we are going to come across. Attention ! Evacuate the area!<br \/>\nImminent explosion. 3, 2, 1&#8230; Between summer 2011 and summer 2012, The artificers destroyed<br \/>\nmore than 15000 bombs, And cleaned near<br \/>\n1200 hectares of land. In the northwest of the country, the city of Luang<br \/>\nPrabang, the former royal capital, Celebrates her daily ritual. The Tak Bat ceremony. Every morning,<br \/>\nmonks roam the streets, To seek the offerings<br \/>\namong the population. Sticky rice, cakes,<br \/>\nfruits or even soap, These bonzes depend<br \/>\nalms to live. Sumsak, go to the temple<br \/>\nbefore each of his trips. Each morning,<br \/>\nbefore taking my boat, I go to the pagoda. I come to do **** there. A prayer for the ancestors<br \/>\nwhich will bring me luck and happiness. I do this so it doesn&#8217;t happen to me<br \/>\nnothing during the trip. Beneath her gentle and pious airs, This 42 year old man<br \/>\nlead a dangerous life. He is a speed boat pilot. The speed boats, these are the stars<br \/>\nrapids that spin on the Mekong. For passengers in a hurry,<br \/>\nit is the ideal solution, Provided you have<br \/>\nguts tight. It&#8217;s been fourteen years<br \/>\nthat Sumsak does this job. His boat is the encounter<br \/>\nbetween a nutshell, and a powerful engine. That&#8217;s a Toyota engine, It&#8217;s from a car. It is 1440 cubic centimeters. It can peak at 70 km\/h. To achieve this result, It cost him 3000\u20ac<br \/>\nand a good dose of system D. This engine here, We took it apart first.<br \/>\nand then we modified it to fit it. Everything that was used for the car,<br \/>\nwe got rid of it. The clutch, the gearbox<br \/>\nor the transmission shaft, We removed them and added<br \/>\nthis muffler and a propeller. The Speed Boat Corporation<br \/>\nis very well organized. It sets the tariffs and imposes<br \/>\na system of rotation between the pilots. It must be said that customers<br \/>\ndo not jostle. Tickets are expensive.<br \/>\nBetween 14 and 30\u20ac. The equivalent of several weeks<br \/>\nsalary for a peasant. So, while waiting&#8230; Whose is that? The pilots indulge<br \/>\nnational sport, A game that is curiously reminiscent<br \/>\nthe south of France. If not for this time,<br \/>\nit will be for the next one. You touched one of their balls! Missed ! Go ahead, you can make a square there! Several decades of colonization<br \/>\nFrench have left some traces. You would have touched that one, she would be<br \/>\ncome back and we would have had the point. The arrival of customers<br \/>\nshort haircut to the part. Sumsak is casting off. This is this one, this is ours. Here, they have to put this on. Give him the black helmet,<br \/>\nthat way, you will all have the same. After the distribution<br \/>\nsafety equipment, The pilot cleverly measures<br \/>\nthe balance of his frail skiff. Come a little more over there,<br \/>\nyou over here. He will stand next to you. His destination for the day, Pak Beng, One village, 150 kilometers<br \/>\nfurther west. The pilot must be able<br \/>\nto get there in less than 3 hours. With a classic boat, This trip takes the whole day. I love to drive really fast. Sumsak is speeding at 70 km\/h. This is very fun ! In a speed boat, every minute counts. This is why passengers<br \/>\nhave paid so much Despite the noise and the jolts. My passengers are not afraid because those<br \/>\nhave already done the speed boat. But of course, the first time,<br \/>\nit&#8217;s always a little scary. Afterwards, we are used to<br \/>\nand what&#8217;s more, we love it! Above all, you have to put your fate back<br \/>\nin the hands of the pilot. Speed boats are not famous<br \/>\nfor their responsiveness. To brake, you have to<br \/>\nthe propeller stops spinning. It&#8217;s not like a car<br \/>\nwhich will suddenly stop. We take a little longer And if we don&#8217;t anticipate, we can<br \/>\neasily get hit by a rock. Depending on the level of the Mekong,<br \/>\nthe rocks disappear or appear. Sumsak must remember<br \/>\nfrom each of their locations. I was born into a family<br \/>\nspeed boat pilot. My whole family works there. When I was little, I had<br \/>\nused to accompany my father. I did a lot of back and forth<br \/>\non the Mekong, And over the years I&#8217;ve ended<br \/>\nby knowing it like the back of my hand. But you also have to know<br \/>\nanticipate the unexpected, Like tree trunks<br \/>\ncarried by the river. The pilot plays the taxis of the Mekong, And drops off its passengers<br \/>\nduring the trip. Thanks a lot. Sumsak continues its course<br \/>\nagainst the watch. But how much longer will he<br \/>\ncontinue this dangerous work? With road competition, The speed boats are disappearing<br \/>\nlittle by little of the Laotian landscape. For ten years, the country<br \/>\nis changing. But this is not the case of Phongsaly. Here, the propaganda of the single party<br \/>\nstarts at 5 a.m. From morning to evening, the loudspeakers<br \/>\nnational radio, Flood the inhabitants<br \/>\nof their incessant litanies. Phongsaly is the only agglomeration<br \/>\nof this northern region, Located on the edge<br \/>\nfrom China and Vietnam. On the market, Next to the meats,<br \/>\nFruits and vegetables, We find products<br \/>\nmuch more unusual. What is that ? It&#8217;s a rat! And it&#8217;s good ? Yes, delicious. You have to taste. How much does it cost ? 60000 kips. Almost \u20ac6. Considering its price, this meat<br \/>\nshould be a delicacy. Phongsaly is nestled in a basin<br \/>\nat 1400 meters above sea level. Here begins the first<br \/>\nHimalayan foothills. These rugged landforms<br \/>\nand this thick jungle, Served as a refuge<br \/>\nto persecuted peoples, Driven out of Tibet, China<br \/>\nor Burma. They still house today<br \/>\ndozens of forgotten ethnic groups. Tong is a teacher, he is preparing<br \/>\non a difficult journey. When I hit the road<br \/>\nI take clothes and food, Especially packet soups. And then, of course,<br \/>\nmy class stuff. The young man leaves<br \/>\nhis family for four weeks. He goes to teach Cha Kam Pa,<br \/>\na remote village in the mountains. Even though he has just become a father, Farewells are made without effusion. In Laos, we externalize<br \/>\nhis feelings little. Come on, I&#8217;m going. Hi ! Take care of the children. His journey begins with the small port. He embarks on the Nam Ou River. Only axis to reach<br \/>\nisolated areas. This journey of fifty minutes<br \/>\nmust lead him to the village of Vatai. It&#8217;s over there, in the heart of a region<br \/>\nleast populated in Laos, Let the track for Chakhampa begin. Tong rushes for several<br \/>\nhours of walking. He wants to take advantage of the last<br \/>\nmoments of freshness, And the morning is already well advanced. It may be weeks before<br \/>\nsomeone else takes this path. If the teacher gets hurt<br \/>\nor slide down a ravine, No one will help him. The humidity level exceeds 80%, Making walking even more painful. Under this lush vegetation<br \/>\nlurks an insidious threat. Come to see !<br \/>\nThere, there is something. It&#8217;s a centipede. It&#8217;s very dangerous. Its bite is extremely poisonous. Tong averts the danger today<br \/>\nwith a single kick. But that didn&#8217;t<br \/>\nalways been the case. He was 20, the first time<br \/>\nthat he confronted this hostile environment. At that time I was alone<br \/>\nlike today. I was scared. The jungle was dense and oppressive. My main anxiety<br \/>\nit was the serpents. I was afraid to step on it. Let them bite me. Besides, I&#8217;m still afraid of that. Besides, the place<br \/>\nteeming with pests. What is that ? It&#8217;s a leech. Are there many around here? Yes, there are plenty. Leeches can interfere with<br \/>\nmost intimate bodily orifices. Their bites leave lesions<br \/>\nwho are at risk of infection. After getting rid<br \/>\nabout twenty of them, Tong resumes his walk<br \/>\nthrough the jungle. 3 hours later, he enters<br \/>\nin Haka territory, One of the most ethnic groups<br \/>\nmysteries of the country. At the top of this hill,<br \/>\nChakhampa village. The Hakas watch fiercely<br \/>\non their traditions. Women wear these dresses<br \/>\nindigo open on the chest, And those intricate headpieces. These clothes tell us about<br \/>\nthe status of those who wear them, Single or married. Here, a pig represents<br \/>\na valuable asset, And we don&#8217;t kill them<br \/>\nonly on rare occasions. Today we celebrate the return<br \/>\nof the teacher. But when Tong arrived,<br \/>\nFour years ago, things were far away<br \/>\nto be so simple. Not easy to convince<br \/>\nthose fierce men, Let their children go<br \/>\nat school rather than in the fields. I had to consult<br \/>\nthe council of 7 elders, And the Nai Ban, the village chief. I said to them, &#8220;How do you want<br \/>\nto do my job? What are you expecting from me ?&#8221; I listened to them<br \/>\nand I followed their advice. Haka society is patriarchal. Cooking, growing rice<br \/>\non the mountainside, Cut firewood, Weaving dresses or spinning wool, Hakas Women&#8217;s Day<br \/>\ndoesn&#8217;t stop until late at night. In the morning they are<br \/>\nthe first standing. Before the mist lifts,<br \/>\nthey fetch water from the well, Several dozens<br \/>\nmeters below. A set of bamboo like this, Can weigh twenty pounds. Tong prepares for<br \/>\nhis working day. This is where he lives, in this cabin<br \/>\nabout ten square meters, Built by the villagers. At 8 a.m., it rings for the start of the school year. Five days a week he learns<br \/>\nLaotian language and culture, To fifty children<br \/>\naged 6 to 14 years old. Everybody is here. Rest. The teacher does not joke<br \/>\nwith discipline. Come on, come in! You ! What is this shirt?<br \/>\nCome on, button! Before returning to class, he spends<br \/>\nreviews each of his students. Show me your hands. Wash your feet. Go between! Hello. Sit down. Tong takes care of six classes alone. get up and tell me<br \/>\nHow do you call this. A coconut tree. A coconut tree and this one? A palm. Cheer ! Clap your hands for Sumsay. We applaud! Behind this colorful school<br \/>\nof the Lao People&#8217;s Democratic Republic, A political tool is hidden. For 20 years, the authorities have been seeking<br \/>\nto control minorities, Going to move hundreds<br \/>\nof thousands of people. The fate of Chakhampa&#8217;s Hakas<br \/>\nis already sealed. In three years, they will be forced<br \/>\nto leave the mountains, To settle near a city, Leaving behind their<br \/>\nlands and their traditions.<br \/>\n<br \/>\nDeep in the heart of Laos, forgotten tribes survive in isolation. From wild jungle trails to the raging Mekong, follow daring truckers, river traders, and elephant riders as they brave the impossible roads to reach remote villages. Meet Tong, a devoted teacher on foot; Bountieng, a jungle wood hunter; and Southa &#038; Khem, fearless merchants on a mission. A raw journey across one of Asia\u2019s last untamed frontiers.<\/p>\n<p>Director: Julien Felix<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Laos\u2019 Wildest Trails : Lost Tribes and Jungle Roads | Deadliest Journeys Nakai, a small village lost in centra<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[144576],"tags":[288233,160285,39619,395256,395257,86803,395270,395258,395268,395269,395267,86604,181718,308691,395266,395259,395260,395265,287548,27848,395261,163561,395272,395262,395263,395264,3849,395271,443,677,1081,89322],"class_list":{"0":"post-702327","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hokkaido","8":"tag-asie","9":"tag-automobile","10":"tag-aventure","11":"tag-camion","12":"tag-commerce","13":"tag-documentaire","14":"tag-elephant-trekking","15":"tag-episode","16":"tag-ethnic-minorities","17":"tag-extreme-travel","18":"tag-impossible-roads","19":"tag-jungle","20":"tag-laos","21":"tag-mekong-river","22":"tag-off-the-grid","23":"tag-pays","24":"tag-planete","25":"tag-remote-tribes","26":"tag-reportage","27":"tag-route","28":"tag-routes-de-limpossible","29":"tag-rural-life","30":"tag-survival-journey","31":"tag-terre","32":"tag-territoire","33":"tag-voiture","34":"tag-voyage","35":"tag-wooden-truck","36":"tag-443","37":"tag-677","38":"tag-1081","39":"tag-89322"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702327"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702327\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wacoca.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}