<figcaption>Upper Xekong gorges map</figcaption>

Upper Xekong is locat­ed in south­ern Laos, in an Annamese cordillera occi­den­tal mean­der con­sti­tut­ed of rugged land­scapes, long south­ward ori­ent­ed moun­tain ridges, pro­found val­leys, impetu­ous rivers, unin­hab­it­able forests and myth­i­cal groves. One of the last remain­ing vir­gin zones of the Indochi­nese Penin­su­lar, Upper Xekong is a lost par­adise where sev­er­al south­ern Pro­to-Indochi­nese clans, most of whom are from the ​“Katouic” lin­guis­tic group (as are the Katu, Bru, Alak, Tal­ieng, Harak, Nye, Dakkang), the oth­er lan­guage group is the ​“Bah­nar­ic” (as with Tri­ang, Jru, Heuny, Harak, Ta Oy, Jru, Dak and the Lavi). These pop­u­la­tions usu­al­ly live at a dis­tance from the mod­ern world, in moun­tain­ous dis­tricts, glades, jun­gle copses, or small vil­lages along a water source. They prac­tice slash-and-burn cul­ti­va­tion, ani­mism, shaman­ism, hoax sac­ri­fices, and they nur­ture a close spir­i­tu­al con­nec­tion with the jun­gle, which they con­sid­er a ​“house of genies”.

<img alt="Xe Xap national park" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images/programmes/upper-xekong/xe-xap-national-park-1578312727.jpg" />
<figcaption>Xe Xap nation­al park</figcaption>

<img alt="Katu people" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images//upper-sekong-katu-1578314477.jpg" />
<figcaption>Katu peo­ple</figcaption>

The Katu vil­lages are locat­ed south of the Xe Xap nation­al park. Boast­ing a broad, rolling mas­sif with sum­mits at an aver­age of 3500 ft and cov­ered by vast jun­gle, the XeXap is a nat­ur­al sanc­tu­ary. The under­growth is refuge to over forty mam­mal species of inter­est includ­ing tigers, wild ele­phants, gaurs, munt­jacs, bears and endem­ic species includ­ing the beard­ed lan­gur mon­keys. There are also more than a hun­dred bird species and fifty rep­tile and amphib­ian species, among which is the molu­rus python.

<img alt="Black mamba" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images//upper-xekong-black-mamba-1578314554.jpg" />
<figcaption>Black mam­ba</figcaption>

Dur­ing colo­nial times, Upper Xekong was unknown, unex­plored, closed, feared, con­sid­ered a land of rebels and blood hunters. The region was sub­dued by the French only in 1938, which last­ed for just one year before a fierce armed revolt ensued. Dur­ing the Indochi­nese War, it became a Viet Minh sanc­tu­ary; dur­ing the Viet­nam War, the North Viet­namese army estab­lished mil­i­tary bases in the region and cut branch­es of the ​“Ho Chi Minh Trail”. Thus, the area was heav­i­ly bombed by the USAF.

<figcaption>Inside Upper Xekong forest</figcaption>

<img alt="Upper Xekong gorges" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images/programmes/upper-xekong/upper-xekong-gorges-1578392399.jpg" />
<figcaption>Upper Xekong gorges</figcaption>

From late 19^th cen­tu­ry until 1938, var­i­ous French explo­ration mis­sions failed to sur­vey and con­trol Upper Xekong, thus the riv­er became some­thing of a myth: an Indochi­nese Heart of Dark­ness. Dur­ing the Viet­nam War, this wild land was trans­formed into a North Viet­namese Army maquis which was mas­sive­ly bombed, then re-fell into oblivion.

<img alt="Katu kids" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images/programmes/upper-xekong/upper-xekong-1578314919.jpg" />
<figcaption>Katu kids</figcaption>

<img alt="Katu totemism" src="https://www.secretindochina.com/upload-images//upper-xekong-totemism-1578314757.jpg" />
<figcaption>Katu totemism</figcaption>

From 2011, Secret Indochina’s pro­duc­tion depart­ment has led var­i­ous sur­veys in the heart of Upper Xekong, con­se­quent­ly cre­at­ed spe­cial ethno­graph­ic and adven­ture pro­grams to the Katu land.

The Haut Sékong trek leads through the ephemer­al world of Upper Xekong, an adven­ture across a wild land that forms a nat­ur­al bar­ri­er to the uncer­tain influ­ences of the world beyond, an unseen small Laot­ian Ama­zo­nia. The jour­ney is a chance to immerse in the lost par­adise of the south­ern Pro­to-Indochi­nese clan Katu, who prac­tice slash-and-burn cul­ti­va­tion, ani­mism, shaman­ism, and buf­fa­lo sac­ri­fices while nur­tur­ing a close spir­i­tu­al con­nec­tion with the jun­gle, which they call the ​“house of genies”.