Muang Knoi

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After spending one night in Nong Khiaw, I travelled up river by boat to visit Muang Knoi. The village has become a tourist trap - very little of the original village left. I stayed for two nights, visiting the local cave, and admiring the construction of the walking bridge on the way to a mountain village. The bridge is made from bamboo, bamboo woven to make baskets filled with rocks to provide supports and bamboo railings.

I had hoped to take a kayak tour, they offered a two day kayak tour to Luang Prabang on the Nam Ou. You don't actually kayak the whole way, they ferry you by taxi boat most the way and you only ride the sections with rapids. I opted not to do the tour because of the quality of kayaks (open plastic tube kayaks with no skirts provided so you would be sitting in water the whole ride), the fact that it started pouring rain and the cost ($200 US).

I spent the afternoon of my one full day in the village stretched out in low seating by the riverside reading and drinking banana shakes. I'm reading Richard Dawkins, "the best show on earth". A 400 page tomb on evolution. Interesting read, since I haven't kept up on advances in the field.

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