Traveling down the river by speedboat is one of the most amazing ways to see the country. It was so lush and green everywhere, the river was wide and calm, and the limestone mountains were absolutely breathtaking. Jordan and I were lucky enough to snag some of the seats that looked like they had been taken out of a car, while most of the rest the people had to sit on 2×4 boards along the side. We stopped for lunch in the village of Muang Ngoi Neua, where several of the people on our boat got off to stay. The village was cute, but it had a bit of a resort feel to it. Apparently they shut power off for the entire village at 10 pm every night. After grabbing a quick bite to eat for lunch we got back on the boat and Jordan and I decided to give up our seats to a French couple and we took the boards in the back. We snacked on some Oreos and at one point Jordan shifted sides in the boat and it caused the driver to stop the boat and have him shift back so the boat didn’t tip- just to give you an idea of the size of these boats.
River travel.
The landscapes were constant distractions. I couldn’t wait to explore.
After traveling downriver a bit we saw a large bridge spanning the river and we had arrived at our destination of Nong Khiaw. We headed straight to the Meexai Bungalows which had large rooms, but the beds were not much softer than the tile floor. We decided to rent bikes and head to the caves at Tham Pha Thok. When we arrived we were greeted by two young boys named Bia and Da, who immediately became our tour guides for the afternoon. The first cave we visited was massive, and it was where the government officials lived to protect themselves during the bombings in the second Indochina War.
Bia and Da were pretty hilarious tour guides, they didn’t speak much English, but would grab our hands to lead us through the cave then say “hello” and point to the sign for us to read to know information about the caves. They were quite the hams for Jordan’s camera- especially Bia. They took us to the second cave which was a little smaller and served as the bank during the war.
Our guides took us back through the rice fields and they asked us for 10,000 kip, which was to be expected, but we didn’t have enough small change so we paid them a little extra and asked them to take us to their village and show us where they lived.
Laotian trampolines
Bia took us to meet his grandma or great grandma in this small, single room home with some blankets on the floor. We decided to buy some more candy and next thing we knew, we were surrounded by many of the of the village’s children. Jordan noticed that Da’s shoes had holes all the way through the soles, so Jordan told him and Bia to come into town with us, and they brought their friend Bon with and when we got to town we went to a little shop on the other side of the bridge. We had Da pick out a brand new pair of shoes which cost $1.25, so we had Bia and Bon pick out shoes too. Then Jordan had Bia and Da pick out a large rain jacket and a headlamp for each of them, since they were cave tour guides, they needed flashlights. Seeing their faces light up was amazing, but seeing they joy Jordan had doing this for them was priceless.
After saying goodbye to Bia, Da and Bon we headed to a restaurant for dinner and as I was enjoying my meal of sticky rice and chili paste and Jordan had the traditional Laap- we realized it was Thanksgiving. It was definitely a change from our typical Thanksgiving. After dinner we went and sat on the side of the bridge and drank some Beer Lao while Jordan captured an amazing 45 minute long exposure shot of the town. After he captured the picture we headed to the restaurant called Alex, because she had key lime cheesecake that we wanted to try and it did not disappoint. Alex was run by the sweetest, most adorable older woman and it was a one woman show. It became our favorite spot to eat in Nong Khiaw (and the spot where I learned to love tomatoes).
The next morning we got up and packed our things and headed over to the spot where we had booked a day tour to go to a smaller village and hike to a waterfall near there. We arrived in the village and the tour guide gave us an overview of the village, then he set Jordan, myself and our new friend Nicole up with a local guide and he and the rest of the tour group headed further upriver for their tour. After meandering through rice fields and following the most peaceful rumbling brook, we arrived at the most stunning waterfall. We were all considering taking a swim in the pool below it until I noticed something on my ankle after wading in the water- a leech! Jordan and Nicole quickly realized they had a couple on them too! If it rains in Laos be aware of leeches being present, apparently that’s when they are more prevalent.
We arrived back in town after our hike and were excited to spend some time in the village with the children. Jordan and I had decided to go back to the shop where we had bought the items for the boys the day before and bought a soccer ball, candy, pens and paper for all the children. Jordan looked like Santa pulling presents out of his big red bag (backpack). Jordan was doing card tricks for the kids, playing soccer with them and looking like a super human. It was an indescribable experience to see the looks on all of the kid’s faces, and even Jordan’s.
After a couple of hours of hanging out with the village’s children we started our kayaking adventure back on Nong Kihaw. Now, the river in Laos is so wide that it has VERY little current, so you have to paddle to get anywhere and the kayaks we were on were not the best. Mine and Jordan’s kayak was practically underwater with both of us on it. Our tour guide said he would come back and pick us up at any time if we wanted, but really, he would just see us coming around the corner and then continue on. The kayak trip was a very interesting test on our relationship, let’s just say I was very happy to see the bridge spanning the river and letting us know we had finally made it back to Nong Kihaw.
Once we got back we decided that we wanted to try our luck to get on the local bus, you couldn’t make reservations for it, to Luang Prabang. The French couple from our boat the day before, Benjamin and Elise, were also trying to catch the same bus. While we were waiting, Nicole approached us about chartering a boat to take us as far down the river as we could go, the Chinese are building a dam, and then taking a van the rest of the way to Luang Prabang the next day. The bus was supposed to show up between 5:00-8:00, and 8:00 was the deadline to charter the boat through Green Discovery for the next day. As 8:00 came closer, the bus arrived- with 2 seats available. We almost took it, but then we decided to wait it out and stay the night in Nong Kihaw, again. I really did love it there, and wasn’t quite ready to leave, but the knowledge that Luang Prabang shuts down at 11:30 and the fact that we had no reservation at a place to stay there made us think it was probably better just to head there the next day. The boat cost about 160,000 kip ($20) a person, which was quite a bit more expensive than the bus, but we thought it would be way more enjoyable than being shoved into a bus.
Jordan and Benjamin went and booked us bungalows at Bamboo Paradise and then Benjamin, Jordan, Nicole and I all went to the restaurant Jordan and I had been at the night before and snacked on sticky rice and drank way too much lao-lao before calling it a night. Jordan and I tried to be ambitious and get up for a sunrise hike up to the viewpoint, but when we woke up it was foggy and rainy (a blessing in disguise) so we got a little more shuteye before heading to Alex one more time for a delicious breakfast. We headed down to the dock and got on our boat to start our journey to Luang Prabang. I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad as I watched the bridge of Nong Kihaw fade from view, the town and the people in it had stolen my heart, but I was equally excited to see what else Laos had to offer.