Lost and found in northern Laos

Nong Khiaw – November 2022

After a delightfully lazy week in Luang Prabang, my fellow solo traveling companion Nerea and I decide to leave the comforts of the provincial capital for the wilderness in the northeast of Laos. A Spanish couple she has met in Vietnam arrives just in time for our departure and so, the four of us board a very full tuk-tuk to the bus station early on a Tuesday morning. Shortly after leaving the town premises, we are asked to change to a minibus. Remembering a German couple‘s recommendation, I make sure to secure a seat on the left side of the car to avoid the burning sun. As expected, the 100-kilometer ride along a pot-hole-filled road takes a lot longer than it should. And so, we arrive in Nong Khiaw at midday.

Like the true backpacking adventurers we are, we haven‘t booked any accommodation in advance, trusting that we will find a nice place for a good price upon arrival. So the four of us stroll down the street from the small bus terminal and ask any open guesthouse located at the riverside about their availability. After a few fully booked or overpriced places, we finally hit the jackpot with „Sabaidee Nong Khiaw River View”. We are shown 2 rooms with big windows overlooking the river and a private terrace. We negotiate the price to 4 USD per person and night and quickly drop our backpacks in the rooms before looking for a lunch place. During the walk through the remote town, all of us decide that this is one of the best places we’d visited so far.

We can‘t stop marveling at basic things like the chickens running around, kids eating balls of rice on the street side and the afternoon PE lessons in the local school‘s courtyard facing the main street. We peek into people‘s living rooms and are surprised by the number of pharmacies and phone shops. After rejecting a few western style restaurants, we settle on a Lao place and order delicious green curry soup, curry fried rice, and fried chicken noodles. Over lunch, I convince the 3 Spaniards to join me on a day tour to the even more remote town up the river called „Muang Ngoy“. They originally planned to stay there overnight, but with 1 girl feeling a bit under the weather, they don’t want to risk being stranded in a town that remote.

So, fully stuffed and satisfied, we head to a nearby tour-operator and enquire about the price for 4 people. His offer is quite good, but we know that we are not being quoted the best deal available. We kindly explain that we will get back to them after completing the sunset hike to a popular viewpoint, and returning to the guest house to pick up some water. Judith decides to stay behind for now and rest. And so Nerea, José, and I continue the adventure as the three musketeers. While the heat of the mid-afternoon sun is still strong, on the bridge we have to cross to reach the starting point of the trail, blows a pleasant breeze. We quickly stop to look at the passing long tail boats bringing schoolkids, women with baskets filled with vegetables, and fisherman to their destinations.

On the other side of Nam Ou river, we enquire about tours with another company and then buy our ticket to the viewpoint trail. The narrow trail meanders around the steep hill and here and there offer marvellous views. The humidity makes the 20-minute hike a quite demanding undertaking, and the three of us are glad that we chose the lower viewpoint because of the lack of time. What cheers us up though, are the different emojis hand-painted on the trees lining the trail for motivational purposes. Shortly after the last emoji, we reach the wooden terrace and enjoy the marvellous view of Nam Ou river running between the steep green hills towering high above Nong Khiaw. The scenery is unlike anything I‘ve seen before and with the bright red setting sun, makes for an unreal experience.

Shortly before the complete darkness engulfs the jungle town, we head back down the hill and meet Judith at an Indian restaurant for dinner. The food is delicious, but due to a big group of Israeli travelers ordering just before us, we have to wait for it for nearly 2 hours. At least we can use the waiting time to book the next day’s tour for Nerea, José, and me through WhatsApp. People who ordered after us slowly seem to loose their minds when we finally finish and return to our guest house. The walk through the quiet town is just what we needed after this eventful day. We watch the countless stars sparkling bright above the jungle and head to bed early. The next day, I am awakened by the sun peaking through the thin curtains. I quickly get dressed and in my hiking attire step out on the narrow terrace to take in the tranquil morning atmosphere.

After a classical Lao breakfast of eggs, toast, and fruits, we three adventurers head to the town centre where we find the group of 13 other western tourists waiting for us. We discreetly pay the reduced price for the tickets and off we are to the trail leading down to the river where 2 wooden long tail boats are waiting for us. Once both boats are full and no more tourists at the riverside, the captains turn on the exposed engines, and we start our upstream journey toward Muang Ngoy. Between the brown water and the lush green bushes lining the river is a strip of light brown, muddy sand. Wherever the strip is wider than a meter or two, there are water buffaloes and small local cows chilling in the stream. Sometimes there are openings in the bushes and small trails leading to hidden away villages appear.

We see kids playing in the water and men fishing with nets and spears. Women fetch water and wash clothing in the river. At some points, islands of mangroves grow far into the river. We pass Muang Ngoy village and stop a few hundred meters upstream where the trail to a popular viewpoint begins. All of us get off the boats, mosquito spray is passed around and sandal straps are fastened. Then we head up the steep wooden stairs/ladders to caves and views. A bunch of pictures and another slippery climb later, we‘re back at the makeshift pier. But for now, the boats have to wait. We‘re in for a walk through the small village in the middle of the jungle. Sights include a temple (the gate has to be closed at all times to keep the free-roaming cows out), a main street (unpaved) with cafés, and local houses with bicycles and tractors on the porch which would be considered antiquities in Europe.

We pass a sign that reads: “World cup on TV tonight“ and spot some school children on their way back home. And then it‘s already time to head back to the boat, so we can make it to the next activity. We now ride downstream and soon arrive at the entrance to the next jungle trek to a waterfall. The path leads along a small river and across rice fields, which isn‘t as much fun as walking in the shadow of trees during the sunny afternoon. When we finally make it to the waterfall, we find it hard to decide if we first want to go for a refreshing dip in the cold waterfall pool, or still our hunger with fried noodles in a banana leaf. Refreshed and full, José, Nerea, and I are the first to follow our guide‘s instructions to head back to the town we left the boats at.

We enjoy the quiet walk without distraction from the other members of the group, as they stay far behind us. Once back in the village (Sop Kong) there is still no trace of any other tourists, and we realize that we might have to wait for a while. So we sit down at the town square (literally the intersection of the only 2 streets) and enjoy an hour of the theatre that is rural Lao’s daily life. There are ducks, pigs, roosters, and chickens running around. A little boy sitting next to us continuously waves and blabbers. The village people hanging out there to try to ask if we go to Muang Ngoy or Nong Khiaw and are noticeably confused about our presence. Then the school finishes and a few dozen kids with “Frozen” backpacks run down the street. A cow appears out of nowhere and a vendor on a motorbike drives up to the square hoping to sell some clothes, toys for kids, and plastic buckets.

At 4pm there is still no sight of the rest of the group and the sun slowly starts to set. Just when we start to get nervous and begin to go through our options, we finally see some westerners walking down the hill. They are just as relieved as we are. It turns out they‘ve been looking for us, as we were supposed to stop at an organic farm between the waterfall and the village. But we‘re not too sad about having missed that activity, as it seems we had a more entertaining time. As we‘re now all reunited, we return to the boats taking us back to Nong Khiaw. Judith meets us at the pier, and we enjoy a delicious Lao meal at a restaurant overlooking the river. The next morning, it‘s time for us to leave. Kindly enough, Judith has seized her day in Nong Khiaw and bought the bus tickets for our journey back to Luang Prabang. But this bus ride is a story for another day.