AKHA TRIBE, NORTHERN LAOS

In 2012, with the help of a local guide, I trekked into the mountains in Northern Laos in search of the Akha tribes. The Akha people live high in the back mountains in small villages close to the Chinese border. They are happy people, mainly farmers, growing cotton, food, and opium.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by a small man, chewing red betel nut which gives you euphoria and is very addictive. He was the chief of the village and invited me into his little hut. It was a dark one-room hut a few metres off the ground, with a fire in the middle and small beds around the edges.

Without a word, he sat down and started burning a piece of resin on a candle. He then added this resin into a small bowl, added a bit of unknown powder then packed it into the biggest smoking pipe I’ve ever seen. He then lay on his side and started puffing on his pipe. The puffing went on continuously in and out without a break for at least a minute… He was smoking Opium. He then prepped the pipe and passed it to me….