Hammocks time

The ride to Nong Khiaw was another memorable one. This time nobody vomited from the window but it still was far from comfortable. The minivan that was to take us there should not fit in more than 15 passengers but our driver thought it wasn't enough, so off we went, 17 people crammed in an old Toyota van. I had the young Lao boy's leg literally glued to mine the entire journey as he was squeezed between me and his dad.

When we finally got to Nong Khiaw we had only two goals to achieve - find a working ATM, and do nothing. The first wasn't an easy one as the ATMs we have encountered so far were almost all broken or refusing international cards which left us almost out of cash after Oudomxay. So there was much rejoicing when we found the machine that worked and ran our cards through several times since you cannot withdraw more than a million lao kip (cca 100 euros) at a time here.

The second goal was far easier to reach. We got a room overlooking the river and spent the rest of the day relaxing, walking around the town with the Swiss in search for new flipflops for Michel (we found none but we crashed a karaoke party instead) and eating.

And the prize for the best karaoke singer goes to...

Nong Khiaw doesn't have much to offer except for some walks around but the views here are great and people come here to simply unwind and watch the beautiful scenery.

Views from the bridge

Children everywhere!

But we decided to move a little bit north for more secluded relaxation so we said goodbye to Gisela and Michel who went down the river, and we took a boat going upstream instead to the little village of Muang Ngoi.

Going up the Nam Ou River

Muang Ngoi was once a little more than a pretty village at the banks of the Nam Ou River but several years ago it was discovered by backpackers and now its main dusty street is one guesthouse and restaurant after another. So we weren't sure how much seclusion we could actually get but when we found our bungalow we knew we did the right thing coming here.

We took a short hike outside the village to see the cave where people used to hide during the US bombing in the Vietnam War era, and to another village further down the valley.

Women carrying wood and leaves to Ban Na Village

Local fauna

And for the rest of the time we made a good use of the hammocks outside our bungalow, writing, reading, sleeping and enjoying the view.

Oh yeah

If the setting of Nong Khiaw is beautiful, then the Muang Ngoi's is just stunning. The village has no cell phone signal, it only has the electricity from 6pm to 10pm, most of the guesthouses only have cold showers and WC that don't flush, and you can forget about a good long night sleep as the roosters and other animals wake up early but none of that really matters to the people who come here like us by boat, the only way to get to the village. Or maybe it is exactly this that draws more and more tourists here.

The boat landing in Muang Ngoi

The main street

We were lucky that the high season has only just started and so we didn't feel like the village would be overrun by crowds. But there was something else that made us feel quite uneasy. Ten years ago the locals probably used to smile more at the few tourists that showed up in their village, but since it was invaded by the foreigners, they logically don't anymore. Somehow the people here felt much less friendly than in other places, and we saw more derision in their looks than anything else. We loved the views and the mountains around are spectacular and we could spend ages in our hammocks but we didn't feel welcome. So after two nights in this little paradise, cut away from the (more) civilized world we decided to go back to Nong Khiaw and continue further down to the ancient city of Luang Prabang.