A very pleasant surprise
Trip Start
Mar 03, 2005
1
36
80
Trip End
Apr 08, 2006
Muang Ngoi,
Louangphabang,
Lao Peoples Dem Rep
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Jana and I left Luang Prabang around 9am, squeezed into the back of a sawngthaew. This is Laos' major form of public transport off the major routes, and it basically consists of a pickup truck with benches on the back for you to sit on. They are marginally safer, better and more comfortable than the pickups in Cambodia! In here we met Joe, an AYAD working in Vientiane along with three of her counterparts. All of them suggested Jana and I skip Nong Khiaw, and instead get a boat an hour up river to the village of Muang Ngoi instead. It sounded like a good plan, and now that we were actually on the road, I'd forgotten which of the places the others had recommended. Was it Nong Khiaw, or Muang Ngoi?!
The scenery out the back of the sawngthaew was fantastic. More huge limestone peaks rose on each side of the road, although there were significantly more villagers living here than between Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. We arrived in Nong Khiaw around 12:30pm, and were informed that the boat for Muang Ngoi wasn't for an hour. Over lunch with Joe and her counterparts (one of whom interviewed me for a survey they were conducting on tourism in the area) I said that I just couldn't imagine Muang Ngoi being nicer than Nong Khiaw! Nong Khiaw was a beautiful village, and the guidebook said there was heaps to do. Muang Ngoi barely even rated a mention, apart from the fact you could get there by boat. "You wait and see" they told me.
About 20 of us crammed onto a rickety wooden slow boat for the journey up river. The further we got away from Nong Khiaw, the more beautiful the scenery became. The mountains just grew and grew all around us. After a few short stops to let off some villagers we soon caught glimpse of Muang Ngoi on the eastern bank. Bamboo thatched huts lined the river for around 300m, with huge mountains on both sides of the river surrounding them. I don't think I've totally fallen in love with one place and one surrounding at first site like this since I went to Milford Sound in southern New Zealand in 2001. Every word that means the same as spectacular describes the scenery here.
A very funny and friendly man named Saylom greeted us off the boat and proudly boasted that his bungalows had the best river views in the village for only 10000kip (less than a dollar). That was an offer too good to refuse so we had a look, and weren't disappointed. We did check out two other guesthouses, but Saylom was correct, his were the best! Jana and I got a bungalow with private balcony each, and swayed on the hammocks for an hour or so, marvelling at the view and wondering what guiding force led us to such a pristine place! A quick dip in the river was followed by a short stroll around the village, saying "sabaai-dii" to everyone and continually saying to each other that the place was incredible. The villages isolation also meant there were no cars or motorbikes, only a handful of bicycles. It was Vang Vieng 10 years ago, only a thousand times better, with a better view and friendlier people!
The next morning I did a little investigation to see if it was possible to do a hill tribe trek in the region, and as luck would have it, Saylom's nephew Saang was a trekking guide. Saang showed me a map in the one tourist office in town, and pointed out a trek we could do in two days. It was to include a 1200m climb, an overnight stay in a Khamu village, and 40 minutes walking through a river, before emerging some 15km upriver, where we would get a slowboat back down river amidst more spectacular scenery the following afternoon. It was perfect. I whacked down a $20 deposit, and made plans to meet Saang the following morning.
Not content to spend all day lazing around on hammocks, Jana and I decided to do a little trekking ourselves for a few hours. One name I could remember from the couples who'd recommended Muang Ngoi was "Ban Na", a village two hours walk from Muang Ngoi. We set off around 10am, and after about an hour of walking along side beautiful green rice fields at the foot of the mountains we came upon two small caves. A river flowed inside one of them, passing underneath some rock before emerging out the other. It was a good place to cool off for half an hour or so.
After another 20 minutes of walking (and two river crossings!) we came upon huge expanses of rice fields. The trail weaved it's way through them, and although yet again the scenery was mindlblowing, we were a little concerned we'd lost the trail as the village was nowhere in site. We met one villager along the trail, who obviously knew what we were looking for, and confirmed that we were headed in the right direction. Before too long we stumbled upon Ban Na, where we slumped in some plastic chairs with a warm sprite and average fried rice for lunch. We spent a little time wandering through the village, although some very loud Italian tourists ruined the atmosphere somewhat, so we decided to head back to Muang Ngoi, where we could swing on our own personal hammocks for a few hours before the sunset. The first few hours of darkness, as with the previous evening, were spent at a restaurant playing cards by candlelight looking at the wonderful sillhouette of the mountains against the nearly full moon and clear starry sky.
In Luang Prabang Laos met my expectations. In less than two days in Muang Ngoi it exceeded them!
