Muang Ngoi is an idyllic village surrounded by majestic mountains. The village is only accessible by boat from Nong Khiaw and is very peaceful as there are no cars and motorbikes. We stayed 2 days and an half and we wished we could have stayed longer. We met very nice people, travellers and locals, saw very nice landscapes and had a relaxing time in this special place.
Initially we wanted to go to Nong Khiaw from Luang Prabang by local transport (4h, 32.000 Kips for a seat in a songthaew) however when we arrived at the Northern bus terminal at 8am, the 8.30am bus had already left! This is how we found out that in North Laos the local buses always leave when they are full which is in general well before their official departure time. Nobody told us this when we asked for the bus times in the agencies in town and later on travelling further North we noticed that the ticket sellers at the bus stations will always give us the official time without warning us that the bus will leave before. Well now we know and we always arrive more than an hour before the official time! Not wanting to wait for the next local bus we decided to go back in town (10.000 Kips for a samlo, an old motorbike with a side car) and we booked a VIP mini-van trip to Nong Khiaw (60.000 Kips each after negotiations). We wanted to make sure we will arrive on time to catch the last boat to Muang Ngoi (at 2.30pm). The mini-van picked us up around 9am and during the 3h trip to Nong Khiaw we met nice fellow travellers, Sophie and Amy from Sydney (Australia), Simone and Jelena from Zurich (Switzerland).
In Nong Khiaw we had to wait for the boat to Muang Ngoi, so we had time to wander in this very small village with more guesthouses than tourists. The boat trip to Muang Ngoi was pleasant as the landscapes are quite nice along the way. We also had some fun as the boat had to go through strong rapids and as we had some jumping spiders travelling with us!!!
We were lucky, while waiting for the boat we met an Austrian guy who advised us a good guesthouse, Riverside Guesthouse. The basic bungalows with shared bathroom cost 20.000 Kips and the ones a bit more comfortable with attached bathroom cost 40.000 Kips. What makes this guesthouse so special is its terrace which offers stunning views on the river and has a "Lao" living-room feeling where everyone meets. Moreover the owners are very nice and they cook very good food reasonably priced!
The girls we met on the mini-van trip from Luang Prabang stayed at the same guesthouse and we all ended up having a great time! We spent our first afternoon exchanging our travel experiences in Asia comfortably seated on the terrace. The next day we all went for a very nice walk to visit caves and villages located nearby. The walk starts at the back of the school and the path is very easy to follow. First we walk through the bushes before reaching the caves where you have to pay a fee to continue the walk (10.000 Kips each). The caves are very small but it is nice to enter the biggest one to cool down. Walking further we had to cross three rivers (not deep at all) jumping from one rock to another before reaching rice fields from which we enjoyed stunning views on the surrounding mountains. Walking through the rice fields we reached two boards indicating two different villages. We picked the one on the right (can't remember the name) and walked another 20min before reaching the village. There are two very basic guesthouses in the village, we picked the one on the right (again!) to have cold drinks, which were not that cold! We walked a bit further the village to have a look at waterfalls but as we thought the waterfalls were not going to be that impressive and as we started to be hungry we decided to walk back to Muang Ngoi. In total we walked 5h (including numerous breaks!) and had a great time.
For our last day we opted for a kayak trip (40.000 Kips each). A boat dropped us 30min up the river and it took us 3h to paddle back to Muang Ngoi (including 30min break to have a swim in the river!). Paddling back was harder than we thought as the river current was not strong at all so we had to use our muscles a lot! Going through the only small rapids just before Muang Ngoi was fun.
We also took some time to explore this authentic village organised around one straight unsealed main street. We saw people building houses (the Asian way!), kids playing kataw (a sort of local volley ball, players kick with head and feet a woven rattan, 12cm in diameter) or petang (a local version of the petanque introduced by the French), women weaving, we also met the monks at the local temple...well there is lots to see and experience in this small village, Laurence witnessed a spontaneous fight between two roosters and Amy saw a little boy holding a bat. What we also liked about the place is that we did not see many tourists in the village as they were all relaxing in their guesthouses. It was very hard to leave Muang Ngoi, our favourite place in Laos so far.
Initially we wanted to go to Nong Khiaw from Luang Prabang by local transport (4h, 32.000 Kips for a seat in a songthaew) however when we arrived at the Northern bus terminal at 8am, the 8.30am bus had already left! This is how we found out that in North Laos the local buses always leave when they are full which is in general well before their official departure time. Nobody told us this when we asked for the bus times in the agencies in town and later on travelling further North we noticed that the ticket sellers at the bus stations will always give us the official time without warning us that the bus will leave before. Well now we know and we always arrive more than an hour before the official time! Not wanting to wait for the next local bus we decided to go back in town (10.000 Kips for a samlo, an old motorbike with a side car) and we booked a VIP mini-van trip to Nong Khiaw (60.000 Kips each after negotiations). We wanted to make sure we will arrive on time to catch the last boat to Muang Ngoi (at 2.30pm). The mini-van picked us up around 9am and during the 3h trip to Nong Khiaw we met nice fellow travellers, Sophie and Amy from Sydney (Australia), Simone and Jelena from Zurich (Switzerland).
In Nong Khiaw we had to wait for the boat to Muang Ngoi, so we had time to wander in this very small village with more guesthouses than tourists. The boat trip to Muang Ngoi was pleasant as the landscapes are quite nice along the way. We also had some fun as the boat had to go through strong rapids and as we had some jumping spiders travelling with us!!!
We were lucky, while waiting for the boat we met an Austrian guy who advised us a good guesthouse, Riverside Guesthouse. The basic bungalows with shared bathroom cost 20.000 Kips and the ones a bit more comfortable with attached bathroom cost 40.000 Kips. What makes this guesthouse so special is its terrace which offers stunning views on the river and has a "Lao" living-room feeling where everyone meets. Moreover the owners are very nice and they cook very good food reasonably priced!
The girls we met on the mini-van trip from Luang Prabang stayed at the same guesthouse and we all ended up having a great time! We spent our first afternoon exchanging our travel experiences in Asia comfortably seated on the terrace. The next day we all went for a very nice walk to visit caves and villages located nearby. The walk starts at the back of the school and the path is very easy to follow. First we walk through the bushes before reaching the caves where you have to pay a fee to continue the walk (10.000 Kips each). The caves are very small but it is nice to enter the biggest one to cool down. Walking further we had to cross three rivers (not deep at all) jumping from one rock to another before reaching rice fields from which we enjoyed stunning views on the surrounding mountains. Walking through the rice fields we reached two boards indicating two different villages. We picked the one on the right (can't remember the name) and walked another 20min before reaching the village. There are two very basic guesthouses in the village, we picked the one on the right (again!) to have cold drinks, which were not that cold! We walked a bit further the village to have a look at waterfalls but as we thought the waterfalls were not going to be that impressive and as we started to be hungry we decided to walk back to Muang Ngoi. In total we walked 5h (including numerous breaks!) and had a great time.
For our last day we opted for a kayak trip (40.000 Kips each). A boat dropped us 30min up the river and it took us 3h to paddle back to Muang Ngoi (including 30min break to have a swim in the river!). Paddling back was harder than we thought as the river current was not strong at all so we had to use our muscles a lot! Going through the only small rapids just before Muang Ngoi was fun.
We also took some time to explore this authentic village organised around one straight unsealed main street. We saw people building houses (the Asian way!), kids playing kataw (a sort of local volley ball, players kick with head and feet a woven rattan, 12cm in diameter) or petang (a local version of the petanque introduced by the French), women weaving, we also met the monks at the local temple...well there is lots to see and experience in this small village, Laurence witnessed a spontaneous fight between two roosters and Amy saw a little boy holding a bat. What we also liked about the place is that we did not see many tourists in the village as they were all relaxing in their guesthouses. It was very hard to leave Muang Ngoi, our favourite place in Laos so far.
