Boat to Nong Khiaw, Laos
We were a bit rushed catching the boat from Luang Prabang on Wednesday (3 January) morning, but ended up waiting about 45 minutes once we hurried to get onboard. The boat was much smaller than the one we had taken from the Thai border to Luang Prabang. But there were two boats full of people heading to Nong Khiaw so I suspected the water was too low for a larger boat.
The scenery was fantastic and I was happy I had chosen the boat over the bus. But we kept making several annoying stops. I think we made 3 or 4 'toilet' breaks in just over an hour after going about 2 hours before the first break. No one could figure it out. Then the boat broke down. After probably 2 hours of the driver and various passengers working on the engine, the driver flagged down another passing boat also heading up river. More work commenced, before our driver told us we would have to get into the other boat and pay that driver $5 to take us the rest of the way (we had already paid an exorbitant $10 for the boat ride). No one even considered paying as we knew this was just another scam. I think travelers are getting more scam-savy these days. We stood our ground and paid nothing. We left the original boat and boarded the new boat and continued up river. The last 1.5 hours were in the dark, under the full moon. Although we missed the scenery, it was a pretty surreal experience to be cruising up the Nam Ou (river) under a full moon in a narrow, open air, wooden boat. It was a bit scary too as the river was low and we had been avoiding rocks all day long and they were harder to see at night. Eventually we arrived in Nong Khiaw. I gave the driver a left over $0.70 bottle of whiskey from our New Years party (we had also finished a $0.50 bottle of Lao-Lao rice wine New Years Eve, supplemented with many, many $0.80, 650-ml bottles of Beer Lao. Can you say "cheap alcohol"!) which he was happy to have. We checked into the first guesthouse we came too, which turned out to be a good one ($3 for a room).
The next morning (Thursday, 4 January) we had a few hours to kill before we took the boat further up river to Muang Ngoi Neua at 2 PM. We wandered around the village for a bit looking and being looked at. It was a nice little village with lots of things going on and villagers going about their lives. We only saw the occasional transitting tourist, such as ourselves.
The hour long boat ride further up the Nam Ou to Muang Ngoi Neua was also fantastic. We had to get out and walk about a 20 minute section due to low water but finally we arrived in the geographically isolated river village of Muang Ngoi Neua. Because the village is isolated from the surrounding cities by a steep mountain range and the river, there were no cars there which was a nice change of pace.
The scenery was fantastic and I was happy I had chosen the boat over the bus. But we kept making several annoying stops. I think we made 3 or 4 'toilet' breaks in just over an hour after going about 2 hours before the first break. No one could figure it out. Then the boat broke down. After probably 2 hours of the driver and various passengers working on the engine, the driver flagged down another passing boat also heading up river. More work commenced, before our driver told us we would have to get into the other boat and pay that driver $5 to take us the rest of the way (we had already paid an exorbitant $10 for the boat ride). No one even considered paying as we knew this was just another scam. I think travelers are getting more scam-savy these days. We stood our ground and paid nothing. We left the original boat and boarded the new boat and continued up river. The last 1.5 hours were in the dark, under the full moon. Although we missed the scenery, it was a pretty surreal experience to be cruising up the Nam Ou (river) under a full moon in a narrow, open air, wooden boat. It was a bit scary too as the river was low and we had been avoiding rocks all day long and they were harder to see at night. Eventually we arrived in Nong Khiaw. I gave the driver a left over $0.70 bottle of whiskey from our New Years party (we had also finished a $0.50 bottle of Lao-Lao rice wine New Years Eve, supplemented with many, many $0.80, 650-ml bottles of Beer Lao. Can you say "cheap alcohol"!) which he was happy to have. We checked into the first guesthouse we came too, which turned out to be a good one ($3 for a room).
The next morning (Thursday, 4 January) we had a few hours to kill before we took the boat further up river to Muang Ngoi Neua at 2 PM. We wandered around the village for a bit looking and being looked at. It was a nice little village with lots of things going on and villagers going about their lives. We only saw the occasional transitting tourist, such as ourselves.
The hour long boat ride further up the Nam Ou to Muang Ngoi Neua was also fantastic. We had to get out and walk about a 20 minute section due to low water but finally we arrived in the geographically isolated river village of Muang Ngoi Neua. Because the village is isolated from the surrounding cities by a steep mountain range and the river, there were no cars there which was a nice change of pace.
posted by Dustin at 6:40 AM
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