Sometimes when travelling, it is nice to take time out and relax in a beautiful spot.  In northern Laos, Nong Khiaw and Muang Ngoi Neua are just such places.

(Title borrowed from Black Muddy River by the Grateful Dead)

 

The older I get and the more I travel, the less I want to do: in a funny way less is more and time spent chilling out in a pretty spot can be just as rewarding as any amount of scurrying around and non stop sightseeing.

In northern Laos I found just the place, where days spent lazing dreamily in a hammock segue painlessly into weeks, where the everchanging patterns on the river and the slow progress of the sun across the sky are the only indicators of time, until the soft light of evening marks the end of another day.

 

 

Gentle entertainment indeed, but unfortunately, one has to get there first – and this been our first venture outside Luang Prabang, we had no prior experience of Laotian mini buses: we sat in the back seat!!

Four weeks later, I could have told you that one of the most important pieces of travel advice pertaining to that country is: Don’t sit in the back seat!!

 

However, on this, our first trip in Laos, we did: a 3 ½   hour trip from Luang Prabang north to Nong Khiaw. Admittedly, the road was largely bitumen, but what wasn’t, was pothole – and our driver found all of them.

We rapidly discovered that it is possible to bottom out on the roof, as heads, necks and backs were slammed repeatedly upwards, only to be jarred just as badly on the way back down by the plunging hulk of the mini bus rising up to the meet our return.

Nong Khiaw and Ban Sophoun

 

Shaken, stirred and every degree in between, we emerged rather the worse for wear at Nong Khiaw bus station. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that is near town either: it is a good 20 minute walk and with backpacks, much easier to jump into the waiting tuk tuk.

Strictly speaking, the village of Nong Khiaw lies on the west bank of the Nam Ou river, the settlement on the eastern bank actually being Ban Saphoun which has more tourist stuff and better views.

However, Delilah’s is on the Nong Khiaw side and we recovered with a very good lunch there. It is the backpacker choice and has a good atmosphere, but we wanted somewhere with a river view, so crossed the scenic bridge to Ban Saphoun.  This gave us our first opportunity to appreciate the rugged limestone mountains to each side of the river, thick with lush forest.

 

 

We ended up staying at the Sunset View. Here we got a decent en suite room with balcony and the required river view for 100,000 kip.

After chilling out for the rest of the afternoon, we ate that night at Deen’s, one of the best Indian restaurants that we found in Laos.  Their butter chicken was excellent and we had a veritable feast of vegetable dishes, rice, naan and drinks for only 7000 kip.

 

 

It would be easy to linger for longer in this little town, but we were headed 40 km further north up the Nam Ou river to Muang Ngoi Neua.  After an excellent Delilah’s breakfast the next morning – tasty Lao omelettes with the luxury of real plunger coffee – we ambled down to the nearby boat dock and paid 25,000 kip each for a seat on a wooden longboat to Muang Ngoi.

Muang Ngoi Neua

The trip north on the wide muddy river instantly removed us from the bustle of civilisation and into a timeless rural backwater. Wooden shacks balanced precariously on stilts near the water, children herded leggy cattle and fishermen in traditional hats hauled in nets.  The scenery was lovely, the jagged karst mountains fading into the distance, and it was all very peaceful.

 

After about an hour we arrived at the little jetty of Muang Ngoi, and followed a cheerful girl in search of accommodation. We finally settled on the Riverside View Bungalows. Here we had a choice of a stone built building with balcony for 100,000, or the more informal rush bungalows, though still with an en suite bathroom, for 80,000 kip. We chose the latter, preferring their greater degree of relaxed informality, and were soon ensconced in those hammocks on a wooden balcony high above the river.

 

 

The nice thing about Muang Ngoi is that there isn’t very much of it. The main street is only about 500m long, with a gaily painted temple complex at one end. There are a scattering of rustic houses, restaurants and general stores along the dirt road but you have pretty much seen the village in an hour. A wander down to the river bank to see what is happening can always provide some entertainment but the whole place has a very relaxed atmosphere. The villagers are friendly without being obtrusive and quietly get on with their everyday lives. There are hardly any vehicles and people go to bed early. (Sadly, I have a sneaking suspicion that there may now be a road bulldozed through from Nong Khiaw so things may soon change..)

 

 

Early on, we made a minor effort and wandered out, past the village school, to the Tham Pha Kaew cave, situated by a pretty bamboo bridge and rice paddies. We had to pay a 10,000 kip fee each just before it, which was supposedly going towards a new bridge, though I thought the old one was rather nice.

 

 

There isn’t much accessible cave but there is a sparkling shallow pool at it’s mouth to splash around in and it is a pleasant spot. We thought about wandering on along the dirt road to the local villages but decided it was much too hot and we couldn’t be faffed.

 

Those lazy river views and hammocks were just too tempting and our days thereafter consisted firstly of an amble down for the excellent 30,000 kip breakfast buffet provided by our enthusiastic host and her Swedish husband in their Riverside (it wasn’t!) restaurant just down the road. We would try one of many riverview restaurants for a light lunch or drinks, but in the evening we only ever went to Gecko’s.

 

 

Ah! Gecko’s – I remember it fondly yet.  Located just off the main street, there was no river view but this little place would have held it’s own in London or Sydney. A smart open plan, largely open air seating area, cool water features and the most charming one armed boy in charge – a victim of an American bomb? I didn’t dare ask.

Mama in the kitchen produced the tastiest local specialities that we had eaten in Laos while the 2 for 1 cocktail hour transported us with delight: order 2 cocktails and 4 would arrive, a brilliant and far more sensible interpretation of the more usual format.

 

We curled up here every night for  hours and what with Gecko’s, our riverview hammocks and the charm of this little place, we found it very hard to leave.

Yet one day we did.  But in a parallel existence it is still there and I am back in a hammock swinging lazily over the brown muddy river. Go! You won’t regret it – and have a cocktail at Gecko’s for me.