Nong Khiaw and Meung Ngoy

Nong Khiaw and Meung Ngoy

 

Located in the beautiful northern region of Laos lies Nong Khiaw, a sleepy town nestled between two majestic mountains on the banks of the Ou River. 

This picturesque landscape provides a peaceful backdrop for a plethora of activities but we are here to rest after our 14 hour journey yesterday. 

Luckily our gorgeous floating 2 star Hotel provides the perfect rest spot where we can watch (and listen to) the river traffic some of which were quite noisy as they chorused their karaoke songs in celebration of….who knows what. 

The advertised outdoor swimming pool (turned out to be the river) is delightfully refreshing and the local kids splash around enjoying it too. 

Our rest day is perfect with a bit of ambling around the shops buying old (maybe) silver, checking out the birthday, wedding, funeral celebrations, all complete with “happy water” and karaoke, which seem to be happening everywhere. Must be the season.

Barber shop with a (reflected) view.

We managed to organise a boat trip up the river to Meung Ngoy and surrounding villages and the “travel agent” also booked our transfers and Bus back to Luang Prabang. 

We can relax now and tomorrow enjoy a couple of days up river. 

Nong Khiaw is such a pretty spot, and the sunset over the limestone cliffs is magic. 

This sleepy little town has lots to offer and is highly recommended for a few days visit.

The kids eagerly await their dinner.

Our long boat ride up the Nam Ou river to Muang Ngoy has lots of stops. 

The first stop is at the village of Ban Had Sao (our boat driver’s village)  where we saw some basket weaving.

the pigs and chickens do the clean up. 

Then  onto Sop Vanh where we watched a man basket weaving and a group women preparing temple decorations. the kids were also keen on the lollipops (chuppa chups) that we bought for them.

Our third stop was at  Sop Keng where we walked through the village and rice paddies to the gloriously refreshing waterfall, home for a myriad of dragon flies.

Our return route was through the inspirational organic farm, which sadly was closed for the day.

With great planet saving ideas they shared

Then on to the highly anticipated Mueng Ngoy we go! Yay.

Through the rapids. Exciting

Kids diving into and splashing into the river welcomed us to Meung Ngoy.

Sadly we had pre-booked our accomodation as the locals were keen to offer us a room during this quieter season and it would have been a better option rather than to support a Chinese proprietor, but nonetheless our bungalow was great 

The view from our hotel balcony and breakfast spot.

Everyone is super friendly and we are keen to explore this tiny village.

Just completed, a concrete road running parallel to the river bisected the village and must be a godsend to the place during the heavy rains.

The kids love it too and race their scooters, bikes and other wheeled vehicles with their mates along it.

The monks  (our neighbours) are chanting and bonging so we plan to wake early tomorrow to capture the essence.

 It rains and storms all night so  we stay in bed instead of arising pre-dawn  and the morning is slow and leisurely with a walk around town and a visit to a handicraft shop, 

and past the UXO de-activation unit to the river in an attempt to get tot the cave.

We only got as far as the buffalos beside the flooded river.

We did however take a hike up to the lookout, where we ran into our Danish friend and another single female traveller (of which there are many in Laos) plus some friendly leeches.

The view was spectacular, the trail precarious and steep, and I thought I was going to melt.

Back on the first long boat for the morning for the return journey to luang Prabang and the final port of call on our ZipThaiLaos adventure..