Nam Ha forest, three days with village guides

Nam Ha is a protected area of 2,224 square kilometres in Luang Namtha province, rising from about 500 metres to 2,094 metres. In 2003 it became an ASEAN Heritage Park. Trekking here grew out of the Nam Ha Ecotourism Project, started in 1999 by UNESCO and the Lao national tourism authority: village guides lead the walks, villages are paid set fees for meals and beds, groups are kept under ten people, and the project won the Equator Prize in 2006.

This trek is for walkers who want forest under their feet for most of a day and who can handle steep, muddy, root-laced paths. It is shorter than our Vietnam treks but more physical, because the trails are narrower and less used.

Grade 3 on our route scale: two consecutive days with 700 metres or more of climbing, on paths that see few walkers. After rain, expect leeches on day two; long socks and leech socks help (see the packing list). There is no vehicle access on day two, so turning back means walking back.

The first night is in a village house: bamboo or wood walls, a sleeping area with mats or thin mattresses and nets, and a fire for cooking. Washing is at a village water point or stream, often with a sarong for privacy. There is usually no hot water and sometimes no electricity after dark.

The Nam Ha project's case study gives a sense of how the money flows: at the time, villages received a set fee per meal and per night from each trekker, guides were paid per day, and part of the revenue went into village funds. Rates have changed since, but the structure is the reason the trek exists in this form.

A travel wiki lists the local guide service's own treks at an average of around USD 30 a day, for groups of four to eight, with the cost per person falling as the group grows; a private trek for two with an added English-speaking trek guide costs more per head. The pricing page explains why, and how to book covers the steps.

The protected area's own tourism page describes treks as led by trained local guides with village visits and homestays, and that is the only way we run it: our English-speaking guide walks alongside guides from the villages, who decide the line of the path. Follow their lead on village customs, especially at gates and spirit houses, and ask before photographing people.