Nong Khiaw - Day 1

Today taking a 5 hour boat down the Nam Ou river to Nong Khiaw. Got money out of the ATM first thing yay! Then wandered around the village interacting with locals. Everyone here is so smiley and happy when i say hi - its very infectious. There's chickens and roosters all over the streets haha.. i love it. Something big was going on at the temple so checked that out for a bit. Everyone was carrying some sort of gold or silver urn with them. And there was a constant parade of women carrying big platters of food in and out of the temple. Blessing the food? Apparently today is Buddha day, the biggest of the month. So, happy buddha day to everyone reading this!

Boat ride was awesome. Motoring down the river past rural laos villages, winding through towering mountains. Regularly passing by fishermen and water buffalo taking a bath in the river. The journey was as great as the destination. Everything is so lush and jungly. But hot! I was really hoping for a bit of a break of the heat in the mountains... but i think its worse with the much higher humidity. I booked a nice cabin right on the river with a cute deck in front. See pic :)

Chilled for a few hours by the river on my deck, then found a restaurant with amazing views of the river and surrounding mountains. Not much happening for nightlife so will likely be another early night. Which is good because i want to try one of the high mountain hiking trails tomorrow and best to do early.Read more