Nam Ngum Lake Tour on the Rosewood Boat

• The Nam Ngum Lake has been created in 1968 for electricity production and is today one of the main source of revenue for the Lao PDR.
• With its 400 square kilometers, this area offers a large variety of landscapes, from cliffs to mangrove, passing by sand beaches and a lot mores.
• Even if it would take months to discover all the lake, our cruises allow you to get a glimpse of this amazing country with a perfect alliance between comfort and authenticity.

Location: Ban Tha Heua, Nam Ngum Lake, 25 Km. south of Vang Vieng District, Vientiane Province, along North 13 Road.

The Lake’s Creation

The construction of the first dam began in 1968 in the south of the valley, which was originally fields and forests, in order to contain the flow of one of the largest rivers of Lao PDR: The Nam Ngum. Later, The Nam Song River from Vang Vieng had been redirected to go through the lake, too.

Soon, the valley was filled up with water down to 70 meters deep in some areas, creating a 350 square kilometers reservoir. This was the first hydroelectric project in Lao PDR, which was followed by many others. Now, the electricity production represents up to 35% of the economy, but do have some consequences of the environment like any other project of this importance would.

For more than 40 years, the people build some large boats in order to get some of the most valuable trees still at the bottom of the lake, which was rich of many exotic hard wood such as the most famous one: the rosewood. Going deep under the surface with a pneumatic chainsaw, they cut and drag them back to the shore in order to make high quality furniture, pillars and other construction material.

Then, when there were no trees to cut anymore, the people living in this area changed their way of life from hunters to fishermen, using various techniques such as the night fishing: on their floating bamboo structures with nets, they attract very small fishes with a light powered by a truck battery. Then the fishes are sun dried on the island before getting fried with garlic and dried chili pepper. This local specialty is usually eaten like chips along with beer or other beverages.

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The Surface Fishing Nets

You will notice during this cruise a lot of small white objects floating on the surface, they are not trash but water wings for the nets used to trap the fishes. The technique is quite simple even if it demands a lot of patience and balance. After putting the 2 meters high net into the water, the fisherman turns around on their small boats shaking the water with long sticks equipped with metallic bells in order to scare the fishes, so in their panic they get trapped inside the net. Sometimes other technique are used such as harpoon, square nets and traps depending of the season and the kind of fishes they are looking for.

The lake is also a production point for charcoal, after cutting the trees in small pieces they are put in holes dug into the islands and burned very slowly with very little oxygen to make the best charcoal possible. Depending on the wood quality the price of one bag can triple.

You may see few fields of mountain rice too. Unlike the regular rice, it does not need to grow in water and is usually planted on hills just before the rainy season. After the harvest, this rice is used to make the sticky rice. On the other side of the Phu Bia Mountain, the highest in Lao PDR, is one of the biggest gold mine of South East Asia.

The Rosewood

Our Boat, the Rosewood, has been built to offer a maximum of comfort and security in order to allow all our guest to explore the Nam Ngum Lake.

We are proud to organize cruises that can reach everybody’s expectations. The Rosewood features two chill out areas including a rooftop, toilets, running water and a bar with a wide variety of beverages including very typical ones, are available on board.

Our Cruises

The sunrise cruise from 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM
Admire the Nam Ngum Lake during the early morning to discover the traditional fishing techniques.

The lunch cruise from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM
Enjoy a delicious Tilapia fish and more local dishes on a private island. One hour activity on site, fishing or swimming in the lake.

The sunset cruise from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Watch the colorful sunset on the mountain and the local life and activities around the Nam Ngum Lake.

For more information please contact us.