We arrived at the bus station, our destination: Nong Khiaw. There was no direct bus, so we went to Oudomxay (it cost us 40,000 kips / person) and from there we had to take another one to get closer … we did not have it very clear. The other alternative was to go directly to Nong Khiaw paying 100,000 kips per person in a van, not to mention … too expensive, tourist option !! So we arrived at Oudomxay and at the ticket office of the station they told us that we had to go to Pak Mong for 40,000 kips / person and once there to take a tuk-tuk to Nong Khiaw … it gave us a bad feeling, they did not respond to our questions … so we asked more and discovered that there was a new station with more options, guess … 8 km …
Well, we went there … We hitchhiked again, we were taking the gustillo. We were caught by a very shy Laos couple, they almost did not speak to us. We got on the back of his truck and to the station !!
Once in the new station they told us we could go to Pak Mong in a van (this time for 30,000 kips) and there take a tuk-tuk to Nong Khiaw … we accepted, there was no other option. The van left at 1:00 p.m. When the time came, the van did not leave, we were the only passengers … they told us that it would leave at 2pm … well, patience … and it did not come out either. Action-reaction, we got angry and asked that they give us back the money … I ordered them! So, we had the money but no transportation alternative … With a couple of noses we hit the road and did a hitch, we had 106 km ahead … hahahaha …
We were very lucky, we were picked up by a small truck that was going in the same direction. Without understanding, or where he was going or where we were going, we climbed. In the cargo area, outdoors, we traveled with two bikes, a boy, a chicken and a lady. Without knowing how much journey would go in our same direction we started the march! What a thrill!!! We controlled where we were going with the mobile browser. Finally, we arrived, the truck took us to Pak Mong !!!! Good luck … Ole ole ole!
Third part of the journey, from Pak Mong to Nong Khiaw … well to continue trying … this time we did not stop anyone … we went to take a tuk-tuk when suddenly we saw a kind of bus full of locals, we asked if they were going to Nong Khiaw and everyone nodded. We climbed almost with the vehicle underway and already on the way !! In one of the stops the driver told us that we would cost 50,000 kips the two, we told him that better 40,000 kips and he agreed … it’s done!
Nong Khiaw is one of the most beautiful places we have been. It is a village crammed into a small valley between steep mountains, covered with dense vegetation, jungle, in a space created by a large river, the Nam Ou. The town is divided in two by the river and connected by a large bridge.
We got accommodation in Phulisack Guesthouse, a room with bathroom and hot water, all very clean, for 50,000 kips a night, perfect !!!! In the village you can also hire trekings, kayaking, biking, etc … You can climb a lookout overlooking the entire valley, which costs 20,000 kips per person, you can also visit the caves where people were sheltered during the bombing , they also cost 20,000 kips.
We walk up the road, an earthly paradise of nature … beautiful. Also, some friends on a previous visit met a local boy and his father, and they passed us their contact. His name: Ku, a boy from a village upriver from Nong Khiaw, Sop Vanh. We met and chatted a little. He invited us the next day to visit his town, we would come to look for him in his boat, we would visit his town and then we would have a picnic, all bathed in LaoLao whiskey … what excitement!
The next day, at 8 am, he came to look for the river with his narrow canoe, typical of the area and with a typical Asian motor, these are a stick with a propeller at the end that gets in and out of the water … We sailed about 30 minutes upstream, the scenery was spectacular … beautiful, television documentary … and finally we arrived, the Sop Vanh jetty. They were bamboo sticks stuck in the shore to tie up the canoes, a clay beach, with a staircase sculpted in the mud. Among the streets of the village music was heard, do not forget that we are still in the Pi Mai Lao, the end of the Buddhist year, the whole village was based on dirt and mud. The houses were made of cement, bamboo and natural fibers. As usual, the typical food animals were walking through the streets, including a water buffalo, a beautiful animal that we could even touch … that meek and adorable. We also visited the temple, simple but beautiful, we talked to the monks while everyone, especially the younger ones, looked at us with curiosity …
We entered his house and were greeted by his parents, very charming. They prepared the table with different dishes, after a while other people from the village came in and we all sat around. Touching the table with the fingers of the right hand and raising the left recited a series of words that we did not understand, were like wishes or prayers, each one did it individually, but all at once … suddenly they got up and they all came to us , and they began to tie some white cotton cords on both wrists, while reciting good wishes for us … very emotional.
We finished with about 10 cord bracelets on each wrist … then we ate a little of the dishes they had prepared: noodles with pork, glutinous rice, soups with various herbs, all very rich, for dessert there was sweet rice dough (Kaopat), Coconut with a kind of black beans (Kanumneap) and a pumpkin dish with coconut milk and some balls that was delicious (Kenvan). And from time to time we got a shot of laolao whiskey, a high-grade white liquor. All a ceremony in our honor, they wished us good entrance of the year, the next day they would do it for themselves.
Then, with his brother and sister-in-law, we went for a picnic on the river. We were 5 in his boat, loaded with baskets with food and a speaker for music. We continue up the river, wonderful place and stopped at a small beach. There, in a moment they lit a fire, picked banana leaves as a tablecloth, cut some branches so that they fixed the fish we were bringing to put on the fire. It was a fish barbecue! Then they picked some leaves from the place, covered them with a banana leaf and cooked them in the fire, when they opened the leaf they were cooked, they were very good, they were like borage but more tasty! All bathed with lalao whiskey shots and boiled water.
After eating everything, we went back to town in the canoe. We unloaded in his house and just as he was going to take us back to Nong Khiaw it started to rain … as we were tired, we decided to ignore the rain and that Nong Khiaw would take us, all right. We took the canoe and when we were on the way it began to pour down !! We were in a canoe 2 feet wide and one high, crossing a huge river, falling a downpour I had rarely seen … it was exciting … and of course, the landscape was still spectacular, a fantastic natural combination of land and water … Mention that when going down to the canoe on the jetty and when we got ashore when we arrived, we almost gave ourselves a couple of slips with the reddish mud that covers everything near the river.
This is the end of an impressive day, living one of the most authentic experiences we are going to experience on this trip … we will not forget it easily …
Finally we did not go to Muang Ngoy, as we had anticipated, because it was hard to get there, we had to spend the night there and we had already taken our authentic experience on the river and in a village in the area …
From Nong Khiaw we went to Luang Prabang. At 8 a.m. we were at the Nong Khiaw bus station, from there, at 9 a.m. the bus left to the northern station of Laung Prabang. The ticket cost us 40,000 kips per head … Great! Next stop … there we go!