Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi (at last!)

So, after deciding to U-turn in Laos to visit Nong Khiaw, we eventually ended up here (having revisited everywhere else we'd already been on the way!)

After our bus dropped us off we jumped in a jumbo with some other tourists to get across the bridge to our chosen guest house. It took about two seconds to get there and there was absolutely no need to get transport, but we didn't realise that at the time!

We followed another couple down a dirt track, past some chickens and puppies belonging to the occupants of the little stilt houses to a guest house they'd picked from their 'Rough Guide'. We were a little dubious at first- it was hard to distinguish the guest house from the other houses on stilts- but we quickly began to appreciate our more 'authentic' accomodation. The appearance had been decieving, and actually the only similarity to the other houses was that it was made of wood and built on stilts. It had a restaurant on a platform overlooking the river, a chillout area with roll-mats and cushions as well as internet access so we had nothing to complain about... though we found it hard to come to terms with using the outside toilet at night as many large insects liked to inhabit it after dark. (You see, we are not hard-core like the many travellers we meet who claim to enjoy squat toilets and cold-water washes from a bucket in the shed.)

The area was very beautiful with wooden houses lining the hills either side of the river, in front of mountains surrounded by mist. There were few tourists when we visited so it was very peaceful and, unlike Vang Vieng, the area is not yet filled with movie bars and nightspots playing loud music beside the river. Though, we stood looking over the river from the guest house and imagined that in the near future it is likey that Nong Khiaw could develop into another Vang Vieng.

Due to our time constraints, we could only spend one night here before moving onto Muang Ngoi Neua one hour away by boat. The boat journey was comical as there were many of us crammed onto two benches either side of the long boat without enough room in the middle for two sets of legs, so everyone ended up intertwined and couldn't move. To top it off, it was raining, the roof leaked badly, and when we went over some rough water it was as though someone was scooping up buckets from the river and was throwing it at us.

We arrived an Muang Ngoi pretty wet, though the sun came out and we were pleased to find that the average price of accomodation was $1(US) per night. After some searching we found a guest house we preferred, got some lunch and went in search of a path mentioned in our 'Lonely Planet' leading to a cave and a village.

We found the path and began to walk through the school yard happily on our way to the caves when Suzanne emersed her foot in a fresh cow-pat/buffalo turd wearing no more than a flip-flop to cover her skin. So with a cow poo coated foot Suzanne continued on her 40 minute walk to the cave with Steve. Fortunately the cave we were heading to had a stream running inside it so when we arrived she was able to clean herself. We would have liked to continue walking to the village but time was getting on and we didn't want to be trying to find our way back in the dark.

The cave was nice, though we are unsure whether we actually reached the right one as a local insisted you can swim into the cave, or climb through to an area that stretches so far back that a tourist once got lost and died in there!

That evening we had dinner in a restaurant with two women we met on the boat, Geraldine and Jackie. The 15 year old waiter spoke very good english and entertained us for most of the meal, though he had difficulty coming to terms with the name Geraldine... Apparently there is a similar sounding Laos word that means your are very nice (at least that's how he explained it) and everytime he looked at Geraldine he couldn't keep a straight face. He was also very amused when he found out that Jackie is short for Jacquiline as apparently in Laos this is a small animal that lives in the trees.

After our meal we retired to our room for a game of cards before bed ready to catch the boat back to Nong Khiaw in the morning (Muang Ngoi has no road so to move on we had to go back). Unfortunately, our bedroom (with wooden walls) was next to the balcony which had been occupied by what we asumed was a family playing cards and listening to a 'Love songs' tape including classic by Bryan Adams, Stevie Wonder, Michael Bolton and Glenn Medeiros. As their punishment we sang along loudly then crept out the next morning to catch our boat so that they couldn't identify us!

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