A travel piece in the Arizona Star describes hiking through the wild forests of Southeast Asia between the Mekong River and the Chinese border

The afternoon reveals the real splendor of Nam Ha as we forge our way into the ever-thicker jungle. Our track dwindles to a single-file trickle, muddy in parts and crowded by the forest’s anarchic mass. It’s stunning, adventurous and hard; the needles burn, but the unscathed wilderness is worth it. Even the entrepreneurial leeches give rise to camaraderie, and by the time we reach our overnight destination, we know when to talk, when to laugh and when to hush. We’re a 10-person marriage.

Punk rock band name of the day: Entrepreneurial Leeches!