Camp Near a Jungle Cave

Venture into the Nam Ha NPA to a jungle camp, cook “forest food” in bamboo kitchenware, listen to wildlife, and spend the night in an Akha village on this three-day trek. Your journey starts after a 20-minute drive north, where the trail cuts through the NPA’s fields and steep rock walls as you climb and descend the mountains to Tah Long. After a brief visit at a Khmu village, head west through dense jungle, old forests, and bamboo groves to the Maamaint Cave (more common name?) and your campsite. The guide will prepare dinner using bamboo tubes to cook local food and mountain rice, before a good night’s sleep in a banana-leaf shelter or tent. Awaken to the sounds of black-cheeked gibbons, monkeys, and wild chickens, and then explore the cave. Next comes a trek to Ban Tah Leng (Akha), during which the guide teaches you how to make soup inside a bamboo tube, construct simple spoons and cups from leaves and bamboo, and brew tea from forest herbs. Enjoy an Akha home-stay, which starts with a traditional welcome massage, and continues through dinner when you learn about the Akha culture. The next morning, you can walk around the village to watch the villagers feed the animals and work in the fields, while the fog lifts over the surrounding mountain peaks. Continue on a three-hour hike down a dirt road before lunch on the trail, and then on to the Vieng Phoukha Valley and the covered pickup truck ride back to town.