Ban Ou – Trums Travels

Above is the village of Ban Ou just outside of Luang Prabang. This is a Planeterra project which is a big part of G Adventures travel company. Planeterra is the leading non-profit using community tourism to change lives. Tourism is a global industry, but many local businesses suffer so Planeterra steps in and shows them how to encourage tourism and thereby making money. That’s what they did in Ban Ou.

We went first to have some village elders show us a traditional Baci ceremony which is a warm welcome. Each elder tied a string around both of our wrists. It’s a spiritual tradition to bring us good luck and well being. I think I had about 12 strings tied around each wrist when they were done. You are supposed to leave them on for at least 3 days and so I did.

Afterwards we sat out on their patio and they served us lunch which was very good.

Our guide took us around the village and we were taken to a house where a lady makes pashminas, so they said but pretty sure they were imported in bulk. I did buy one, it’s very pretty. On to a house where they made noodles and I got to try my hand making noodles. It was an interesting process. We did not eat any of the noodles though.

Clint bought a small bottle of whiskey at their local still and we were shown how that all worked. It was a really wonderful memory and the people were absolutely lovely and welcoming. So below pics show the still where they make the whiskey, cement tubs in the ground and boilers where it’s cooked or boiled or whatever they call that process. And they gave a drink to whoever wanted to try it.

After we left the village, our day was not done! We headed to Tat Kuang Si, about an hour drive from the village. Tat Kuang Si is a park with waterfalls and cascades and trails to walk. We had to take a tuktuk partway up a hill and then walk the rest of the way. On the main trail heading into the park, they said we would see bears, in an enclosure. We did not see “real” bears but we did see bears!