Small Village Paradise

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Luang Prabang, Nong Khiawn Muang Ngoi Nuea, Luang Prabang
Jason & Kirstyn O Travelled by local bus (no chickens) to Nong Khiaw. From here we caught a boat up the Nam Ou (River) to the tiny village of Muang Ngoi Neua. The boat was more like an oversized wooden canoe and the driver was very adept at getting us up the rapids without tipping us out!

Muang Ngoi Neua has a population under 1000 people and there is only really one main dirt street in town. We found it to be one of the most relaxing places we have found so far on our trip. The town itself has several guesthouses and restaurants but is otherwise dependant upon farming and other industries such as making tools and fabric weaving within the local area. Power is provided by generator only between the hours of 6pm and 10pm but somehow we still managed to get lovely cold Beer Lao every afternoon.

Stayed in a little Bungalow on the river run by a family. Spectacular view from our little balcony. At the dirt cheap price of $2US. We trekked in from the river a couple of times and visited some local caves and walked up to a tiny remote village. We stopped here and met a lovely local man and chatted with him over a not so cold softdrink. The following day Jason and fellow traveller Andy braved exploring the cave further and climbed around in the dark for a few hours.

Final day we ventured further upstream in a small motorised canoe accompanied by a rubber tube each. We visited another village briefly before embarking on drifting back down the river to town. Beautiful scenery with rugged mountains flanking the river and sheer limestone cliffs. Floated down a couple of rapids although most of the time was hard work paddling our tyres. Problem with travelling at the end of the dry season we guess.

Finally left after three lovely nights, back down the somewhat scary rapids, but were mostly dry at the end. We were originally planning to travel east from Nong Khiaw, but it was proving too hard to do on our budget (both money and time!The ticket man said it would be "1 million thousand kip for 4!!) so we ventured back to Luang Prabang. From here we will head out to the mysterious Plain of Jars near Phonsovan.

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Photos

Dinner and Drinks Meuang Noi Neua
Andy and Nicola who we met on Gibbon experience

Tubing at Meuang Noi
Very different to Vang Vieng! We were the only people on the river apart from the locals fishing. Was hard work paddling due to the dry season.