Ban Ngoy-Nua

Muang Khua > Muang Ngoy

After my first breakfast in Laos (which I'm somewhat ashamed to say was a banana pancake) I packed my bags and headed 1 minute down the road to the dock for 9.15 as I was told the boat left at 9.30. My aim was to go all the way down to Nong Khiaw but they could only give me a ticket to Muang Ngoy and I could see if there was another boat from there. In total, it was only me and 2 other guys - who were both tourists - and we had all been told different times.

Eventually though, about an hour later than I thought, we hopped on the boat. Then, after another 15 minutes, so did our driver. We pushed off of the jetty and waved goodbye to the group of kids who were swimming, jumping off our boat, and washing their clothes in to the river. I think I'm starting to learn that in Laos, schedules are a bit more relaxed and you should never be in a rush to get anywhere (which is true in all of South East Asia to be fair). We floated down the Nam Ou River at a decent pace and for the most part it was pretty relaxing (if you ignore the deafening roar of the engine only a few meters from us). I was wearing my ear plugs but still, it was pretty loud.

For most the journey it was just us, but we ended up picking up people along the way, until there was about 15 of us. I spent the whole journey writing blog posts so I kept myself occupied but I could have easily sat and enjoyed the views. When we passed villages there were small ramps of mud that constituted a pier and all the kids would wave as we went by. Unfortunately, due to the Chinese's love of building dams in other countries, we had to hop off to go around. We waited for a while at a little stop before hopping in the back of a raggity truck to the other side of the huge dam. We helped the only local left with us with her heavy sacks of who knows what carry them down the hill onto our new boat then we set off again down the Nam Ou.

This last section was really scenic as we got some great views of cliffs and mountains along the river. When we arrived in Muang Ngoy I decided I would stay the night and get the boat tomorrow (which I don't think I had a choice about anyways). Without having to make any effort a lady greeted us at the docks and said that she had a room for only the equivalent of $5. This was good news as everything on Booking.com seemed super expensive so maybe I just have to wait until I arrive somewhere before booking online in Laos?

The rooms were okay, they quickly cleaned them before we checked in but there were quite a lot of geckos and ants chilling about. First things first, I changed into my LIDL shorts and went for a swim in the river, swimming over to the other shore, having to fight the current. The other side was nice but had alot of trash and broken glass from what seemed like a big party so I thought I should stay on the side of caution and get back in the river to avoid any potential gashes.

After that, Paul (a French man) and I went on a hike together towards a cave and a viewpoint for sunset. As we made our way, an adorable dog decided to be our guide for the day and led the way. We paid our entry and made our way up the mix of trail and bamboo ladders to the cave, occasionally having to lift our new friend above the harder bits as she seemed to get a bit confused. The cave was pretty nice, it was somewhat lit and at the end there was a little shrine which is always cool. The highlights were definitely the tree roots that were hanging from the ceiling like large bundles of ropes, making their way through the ground and into a cave - pretty cool. Also, seeing bats flying and being able to hear nothing but their wings flying, no squeaking or anything, felt pretty rare.

Still with our trusty friend by our side, we went to to end of the trail to the viewpoint which overlooked the whole of the town, as well as the mountains and river. Due to burning season still being a thing in Laos, the sun had disappeared behind a layer of smog in the air and there was definitely a thick haze floating about but the view was nonetheless really nice. I think the dog was quite thirsty as she was panting quite alot so I got a water bottle and cupped my hand and allowed her to drink as much water as she wanted. It turned out to be a whole small bottle which I'm glad as it seemed she really needed it. Pietro (an Italian) ended up joining us, and Paul went back down with the dog so I ended up wandering back down with Pietro after we had chilled for a while.

For some reason Laos was hotter than Vietnam was, and it was sitting just under 40° even at sunset. I think the smog helped it feel cooler as you never had the sun directly on you but any amount of trekking (especially in my full hoodie outfit) was a pretty hot endeavour. I walked around the town for a little bit, getting a feel for the place. Half of the main street was either restaurants or places that offered trekking, fishing, kayaking, or tubing but there was also a few shops, a weiving place, and even a couple massage places. I met Pietro up for dinner at a place close by and we stumbled upon Paul too. I ended up having a Lao dish called laap which was fish and vegetables and was really nice but quite spicy. I also had some vegetables spring rolls and a Lao beer called BeerLao (great marketing in my opinion). We all talked for a few hours and we heard about alot of interesting travel stories from Paul who had been travelling for 2 decades.

After that, I thought it was time to shower and head to sleep but all of a sudden I got a knock at my door. Opening it, I got a simple question from Paul "Do you wanna see a Scorpion in my bathroom". Not sure if I did, I reluctantly went in with Paul and Pietro and he shows us a small (but maybe still deadly? Who would even know?) scorpion chilling on the back of his door. And I was complaining about all of the ants forming a colony on my floor! Now being too scared to look at anything in my room too closely, I showered and headed to bed in my very hot room with nothing but a fan to cool me down.Read more