You could easily spend a day wandering around the shady pathways to the ginger, palm, bamboo, organic and educational gardens, the arboretum, mist house, caves and orchid nursery. The ethno-botanic garden is especially absorbing, full of medicinal plants and natural remedies. And the tropical flowers are a riot of colour, shape and size.
Pha Tad Ke is cared for by over 50 Lao staff and a team of dedicated scientists including botantist Bryony Smart, a New Zealander who has been working at the gardens since it opened. What a surprise to find a Kiwi there!
Bryony, who was previously a botanist at Kew Gardens in London, says working at Pha Tad Ke is a totally different experience to an established botanic garden.
“My role here is very diverse, and I really enjoy the opportunity to have a hand in all the scientific work, from field work to publications to education and public engagement,” says Bryony.
“I also enjoy being a big part of shaping the botanical programmes for the future, and building the foundations for the work at Pha Tad Ke in years to come.”
Field tripsRecent work has included doing field trips with partner organisations to collect and assess the plants in several different locations in Laos.
“We also run education courses in horticulture, botany, ecology and ecotourism, and have published ‘Pha Tad Ke: The Mountain to Untie and Resolve’, our most recent book.
“Our organic garden was also started a few months ago and provides students and visitors with information on organic horticulture methods,” she says.
“As the first ever botanic garden in Laos, we want to develop a regional research centre with an excellent living collection of the flora of Laos, and provide opportunities for botanical research, collaborations and education.
“We are focused on contributing to the sustainable development of the region and supporting conservation in Laos.”
The gardens are a real credit to the vision of their founder, Rik Gadella, and the passion of the team who have transformed a swathe of tropical jungle into 10 lovingly-landscaped, uniquely different gardens. A cool, tranquil oasis on a hot day in Luang Prabang.
Lunch at the breezy open air Pha Tad Ke café was also a superb experience — we were treated to a feast of delectable Lao dishes.
Getting to the gardens is an adventure in its own right. We boarded a long boat in Luang Prabang and journeyed 15-20 minutes down the wide and swirling ochre-red Mekong River passing graceful villas from the French colonial era, the golden spires of Buddhist pagodas and villages where children were splashing in the shallows and fishermen were working on their nets.
The mighty Mekong River is born in Tibet and flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam on its way to the South China Sea. The longest stretch of the 4350km river is in Laos.
