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Published: January 20th 2013
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Sign at the cave entrance
I walked about two miles out of town to this cave on 25 December. 25 to 27 Dec: Messing about in Nong Khiaw (note: a number of photos appear towards the bottom of the page).
Nong Khiaw is such a restful and relaxing destination you can help but slow down and take it easy. I’ll leave my photos to capture some of what I saw and did. Highlights of this time included:
1. I completed two full books during this time. Reading either on my bungalow’s balcony or at the local eating/drinking establishment.
2. I met a number of fascinating people and had a number of interesting conversations. One particularly memorable individual was a guy named John and his wife Maggie, who live in Korea (teaching English), but was originally from Newport, Oregon. John was a character and was well known by the locals as they had spent three months in Nong Khiaw last year.
3. On the 25
th I walked a couple miles out to a cave in a rock outcrop. You can see the cave in my photos. I enjoyed sitting on the cave ledge looking out over the rice paddies and reading my Kindle.
4. I tried
a Laos BBQ. I highly recommend you take anyone up on the offer of a Laos BBQ if you’re invited. It consists of a clay pot of very hot coals, a metal circular slotted dish (shaped like a Frisbee) with a small trough around the perimeter to boil water. On the slotted dish portion you quick cook thin pieces of chicken/pork/beef and in the trough you cook noodles and vegetables. Yum….
5. Took advantage of the local herbal steam room / sweat lodge. Came out feeling invigorated and ready for more hiking.
6. I think the reason why I enjoyed Nong Khiaw so much as it maintained a feeling of an authentic town that only partially had been affected by tourism. Other villages in Laos that were supposed to be so special had been overrun by tourists and now caters more to westerners than locals. Nong Khiaw doesn’t need to fully rely on tourists as it is at a crossroads for river/road trade of local goods and produce.
7. 27
th I did the same boat trip back down the river, only this time it was much quicker (two hours shorter). I
Up the stairs to the cave
These were steep stairs and the handrails came up to my knee. was ripped off by the boat ticket vendor for this leg of the trip. He took my full payment for the fare, but in Lao scribbled a note that I was going to another destination that was only a quarter of the cost. Just as we were about to shove off the boat captain collected the tickets and wanted to kick me off as he said I was going to the wrong place. I briefly tried to explain the situation to him, but it was clear he understood very little of what I was saying. Quickly doing the math I realised it was a matter of US$10, so I gave up and grudgingly paid the additional fee. Given the relative small loss I quickly got over my frustration and marked it up to lessons learned.
8. I cannot reiterate the point enough that if you get a chance to visit Laos – don’t miss Nong Khiaw. A very unique and special destination.
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