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Published: October 28th 2006
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Nong Khiaw...
...and the surrounding landscape. Crossing the Thai-Lao border, the difference in travel-style is immediately apparent. Most places I'm used to, you could just jump onto a reasonably comfortable, decent-sized coach, train, plane or boat and be whisked off to your respective destination in relative boredom. Travelling in Laos, though, adds a whole new dimension of interest. Firstly, comfort and travel here don't really go together in the same sentence. Secondly, the country hasn't fully developed a decent travel network at this time - sure, you can get around without too much trouble, but it's a lot more hassle than, say, the UK or Thailand.
For us, the whole experience is made a little harder by the fact that our guidebook really isn't suited to our style of travel (we're using the Footprint Guide to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, which is full-colour and pretty to look at, but is generally a little above our price range, and seems a little inconsistent in the amount of information it gives about getting from A to B). No worries, though - and element of uncertainty also adds an element of adventure.
The final, and possibly the key point, that really brings the whole experience of trqavelling in
Laos together, is the landscape. It's big. Forested mountainsides and towering precipices jut out of the ground on all sides, interwoven with a vast and intricate network of rivers. Just staring out at it all as you travel by is an experience in itself.
Our journey to Muang Ngoi started when we bought a ticket on the public bus to Nong Khiaw. When we got to the Luang Prabang bus station, we realised the public bus (which, in say, Malaysia, would have been a nice big air-conditioned coach) was a little cramped minibus. I was lucky enough to get the seat with legroom, though (I'm about twice as big as the local people). Our 3 or 4 hour drive took us along long, potholed, single-lane roads, dotted with wooden-hut villages, winding through the mountains. This was the first chance I really got to fully appreciate the scenery in Laos. It was nice along the Mekong, but not as majestic as the rest of Laos. Jen and I had a chat with a local woman from Luang Prabang for an hour or two (she got off about halfway through).
Nong Khiaw is a dusty one-horse town on the Nam
Ou (nam means water or river) that I assume mostly takes its money as a changeover point for tourists. Didn't see many tourists, but there was some pretty expensive 'net access advertised and a couple of guesthouses. After a half-hour wait, we were bundled onto a little motorboat with a few other tourists and some locals, and commenced the boat-trip porion of our journey.
If the scenery from the bus had seemed good, this boat ride was when I really started to fall in love with the Majesty of the Lao landscape. More mountains and forests, really, and photos really fail to capture the size of it all, but I'll attach a few anyway. I spent the whole trip just gazing out of the boat in awe. I could spot Muang Ngoi a mile off - a row of wooden riverside chalets adorned the riverside, nestled under more of those mountains.
There are few places that can really get away with being a tourist resort. I mean, that can really pull it off without being irredeemably spoilt in the process. Muang Ngoi is one of them. As we stepped off the boat we were picking our jaws off
the ground. Little wooden huts and a dirt-road town beside a great brown river. Dogs asleep in the street and people burning charcoal. Not a car in sight.
There were loads of guesthouses, and not enough tourists for them. The look on the girl's face when we said we'd take it for US$2 was one of sheer relief. She bowed her head and thanked us twice. It's something we've noticed about the Lao tourist industry quite a bit, recently - though it's not quite peak season yet, I don't think there's ever quite enough demand for what's on offer here. It's quite sad, really.
That night, we ate a meal at our guesthouse (we were the only people there for the full 3 nights) and the family who ran it joined us. I'd say we talked, but in truth we communicated. I learnt a few more words in Lao (Meow is cat, Pa is fish). And a local lad, Khao, offered to take me fishing with him the next morning.
I'd say Muang Ngoi has been something of a highlight so far in my travels - sure, we had no electricity to speak of, and all the
Fishing Boats on Nam Ou
Much like the one I went fishing on. facilities were about as basic as you get, but the place was just so damned gorgeous. The highlight of the highlight was definitely fishing with Khaoon the Nam Ou and the Nam Ngoi, paddling along the river with one of those southeast asian bamboo hats on my head looking up at the mountains thinking "bloody hell, am I really doing this?"
We dug up some worms, and I failed to catch any with the rod (the hook came off after a short while). I mostly followed him with a little wicker fish-basket at my waist, shoving a fish in everytime he caught one with his net. I had a go with the net, too, and managed to catch a couple (though he really put me to shame). When we returned, the family at the guesthouse barbecued the fish for us and we ate it with sticky rice and a strong chilli dip, washed down with some particularly lethal Lao rice whiskey.
That afternoon, Jen and I walked half an hour along a track to some nearby caves. The river out here was crystal clear, and came right out of one of them. You could wade in a little
The Family at our Guesthouse
Khao is the lad on the left. That's the grandmother on the chair, and I think the kid in the foreground is her great granddaughter. way. Someone had left a candle burning in a little natural alcove. Heading back, I noticed my foot was bleeding from underneath, and discovered than an unfurtunate leech had taken up residence on the sole of my foot while I was wading into the cave. It didn't look very happy. Surprisingly, I had no problem with it's presence. The tiny wound bled quickly for a short while then stopped altogether.
Much of our time here was spent in hammocks, reading or looking out at the mountains and pinching ourselves to make sure we weren't dreaming it. I think I have much more fun beside a river than beside an ocean.
I was sorry to leave Muang Ngoi after such a tranquil and relaxing time there. We departed for Luang Prabang by the same route we took, planning to spend one more night there before moving on to Vang Vieng.
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Michael G
non-member comment
Wow!
Hi Sam - came across your blog from your MSN sign-in, and looking forward to reading some of the entries properly when I get time. Looks like a fantastic trip and you seem to have met lots of friendly people. The trees here in Nottingham are in their glorious autumn colours, but otherwise it's a grey weekend back home. Love to you and Jen - Michael.